MXenes for antimicrobial and antiviral applications: recent advances

ABSTRACT

With the rising drug resistance of bacteria, fungi and viruses, the need to design and use innovative structures with high efficiency is felt more than ever; the development of efficient antimicrobial agents against pathogenic bacteria are needed, especially for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and bacterial biofilms that are typically hard to be treated with conventional antibiotics. MXenes demonstrated attractive properties such as highly active sites, significant chemical stability, hydrophilicity, large interlayer spacing, huge specific surface area, and superior sorption-reduction capacity. These two-dimensional materials demonstrated efficient antibacterial properties against pathogenic bacteria. However, for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications of these materials with unique physicochemical properties, their biocompatibility and toxicity profile should be evaluated. Additionally, antiviral effects of MXenes , as well as their immune compatibility and anti-inflammatory effects of them on human immune cells have been illustrated. In this review, recent advancements pertaining to the antimicrobial and antiviral effects of MXenes and MXene-based materials are covered.

KEYWORDS:

• MXenes
• antimicrobial effects
• antibacterial activity
• photocatalytic inactivation
• antiviral effects
• sars-cov-2

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).