Recent Advances in Antibacterial Nanoscale Materials

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Biology and Medicines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 725

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Undesired bacterial surface colonization has been an ever-present burden to human societies, leading to food spoilage and poisoning, the biofouling of marine structures, and deadly infections, to name just a few negative consequences. Despite groundbreaking and disruptive advances in technology over recent decades, bacteria and their biofilms continue to be a major problem causing patient mortality and losses to the economy. The fast-spreading bacterial resistance to traditional antibiotics poses the alarming danger of losing the last defences against bacteria that are available to our civilization.

Fortunately, all hope is not lost. Creative efforts from scientists, engineers and medical practitioners have recently brought about exciting new technologies that hold significant promise. In particular, nanomaterials and innovative surface nanoengineering approaches provide a path forward. Examples of such technologies include ultrasmall metallic nanostructures made of silver or gold, biomimetic surfaces containing antibacterial nanostructures and liquid metal nanodroplets.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to bring together an exciting collection of primary research and review articles on the recent progress in the synthesis, fabrication and utilization of nanoscale materials for antibacterial applications. The goal is to include papers related to as many fields concerned with antibacterial technology as possible, including medicine, agriculture, marine fouling, food production and distribution, etc.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Synthesis of antibacterial nanoparticles and nanomaterials;
  • Nanoscale delivery vehicles for antibacterial agents;
  • Nanoscale coatings and surface modification strategies for antibacterial applications;
  • Responsive systems at the nanoscale for the delivery of antibacterial agents;
  • Nanoscale vehicles for the targeted delivery of antibacterial compounds;
  • Mechanistic pathways of nanomaterial antibacterial actions;
  • Methods for the detection of bacterial attachment and biofilm formation involving nanoscale materials.

Prof. Dr. Krasimir Vasilev
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • antibacterial
  • nanoparticles
  • nanomaterials
  • drug delivery

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 3895 KB  
Article
Biogenic Gold Nanocrystals Knock Down Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence via Quorum-Sensing and Antibiofilm Potential
by Sanket Kumar, Balwant Singh Paliya, Brahma N. Singh and Shivankar Agrawal
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(21), 1648; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15211648 - 28 Oct 2025
Viewed by 529
Abstract
Multidrug resistance has also been accompanied by the prolonged use of antibiotics that makes complications in treatment. Biofilm in pathogenic bacteria is the most serious challenge linked with chronic illnesses and also contributes to virulence and drug resistance. Several bacterial pathogens employ the [...] Read more.
Multidrug resistance has also been accompanied by the prolonged use of antibiotics that makes complications in treatment. Biofilm in pathogenic bacteria is the most serious challenge linked with chronic illnesses and also contributes to virulence and drug resistance. Several bacterial pathogens employ the Quorum-sensing (QS) mechanism to coordinate their collective behaviors like bioluminescence, virulence, and biofilm formation. Therefore, agents that inhibit or interfere with bacterial QS and biofilm formation are emerging as a new class of next-generation antibacterial. Recently, nanoparticles have been employed to improve the efficacy of existing antibacterial agents. In the present study, gold nanocrystals were synthesized by using Koelreuteria paniculata (KP) leaf extract. Synthesized nanocrystals were characterized by a face-centered cubic structure of ~20 nm by XRD, FTIR, Zeta sizer, and TEM. Biogenic Gold nanocrystals (BGNCs) exhibited extended QS inhibition in bio-indicator strains Chromobacterium violaceum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biosensor strains. BGNCs strongly suppressed QS-controlled violacein production in C. violaceum CV026, and elastase, protease, pyocyanin, alginate, and biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa (PA01). In addition, BGNCs notably suppressed the relative expression of PA01 quorum sensing, biofilm-forming, and virulence-regulating genes, as quantified by qRT-PCR. As a result of the broad-spectrum suppression of QS and biofilm by BGNCs, it is anticipated that these nontoxic bioactive nanocrystals can be employed as surface sterilization agents in nosocomial infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Antibacterial Nanoscale Materials)
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