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Journal article
Critical Assessment of Intrinsic Antibacterial Properties and Photothermal Therapy Potential of MXene Nanosheets
ACS applied nano materials, v 9(4), pp 1925-1948
13 Jan 2026
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Abstract
MXenes are well-known as highly biocompatible two-dimensional nanomaterials with a wide range of biomedical applications, including antibacterial strategies. However, the coexistence of high biocompatibility and reported strong antibacterial effects presents a fundamental contradiction that requires critical evaluation. In this study, we systematically investigated the antibacterial properties of pure Ti3C2Tx, Nb2CTx, V2CTx, and Ti3CNTx MXene nanosheets of varying flake sizes using multiple in vitro assays and an in vivo wound model. High-resolution structural and chemical characterizations confirmed the use of high-quality, minimally oxidized MXene samples with well-defined surface terminations. Despite using multiple evaluation methods, including disk diffusion, broth microdilution, time-kill kinetics, ROS quantification, and electron microscopy, no significant antibacterial effects were observed at subtoxic concentrations. Furthermore, neither reactive oxygen species-mediated damage nor the hypothesized “nano-knife” mechanical disruption mechanism could be confirmed. This suggests that the previous observations of antibacterial properties resulted from incomplete removal of etching products or partial oxidation of MXene nanosheets. In contrast, we demonstrate that MXene-assisted photothermal therapy (PTT) under near-infrared laser irradiation offers highly effective and selective bacterial ablation. Ti3C2Tx MXene exhibited strong photothermal performance, achieving complete bacterial killing in vitro and significant wound healing efficacy in an in vivo rat model. Targeted PTT using antibody-functionalized MXene nanosheets enabled the eradication of Escherichia coli while sparing nontarget bacteria. These findings suggest that while intrinsic antibacterial properties of pristine MXenes are limited, their biocompatibility and photothermal responsiveness make them promising platforms for next-generation, externally triggered antibacterial therapies.
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Details
- Title
- Critical Assessment of Intrinsic Antibacterial Properties and Photothermal Therapy Potential of MXene Nanosheets
- Creators
- Yuliia Varava - Sumy State UniversityBaiba Zandersone - University of LatviaVolodymyr Deineka - University of LatviaYevheniia Husak - Silesian University of TechnologyKateryna Diedkova - Sumy State UniversityOleksandr Solodovnyk - Sumy State UniversityVjacheslav Kukurika - Sumy State UniversitySerhii Dukhnovskiy - Materials Research CenterRoman Moskalenko - Sumy State UniversityIvan Baginskiy - Materials Research CenterOksana Petrichenko - Latvia University of Life Sciences and TechnologiesOksana Sulaieva - Kyiv City Clinical Oncology CenterOlena Haidamak - Kyiv City Clinical Oncology CenterPavlo Shubin - University of LatviaVeronika Zahorodna - Materials Research CenterBłażej Anastaziak - Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańEmerson Coy - Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańIgor Iatsunskyi - Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańViktoriia Korniienko - Sumy State UniversityYury Gogotsi (Corresponding Author) - Drexel UniversityOleksiy Gogotsi - Nano CarbonMaksym Pogorielov - University of Latvia
- Publication Details
- ACS applied nano materials, v 9(4), pp 1925-1948
- Publisher
- ACS Publications
- Number of pages
- 24
- Grant note
- Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research: NA European Research Area for Health: NA Narodowe Centrum Nauki: UMO-2020/38/E/ST5/00176 Latvijas Zinatnes Padome: lzp2023/1- 0243 HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions: 101086184 European Research Area: NA
This research was supported by Horizon Europe MSCA-2021-SE-01 projects MX-MAP (#101086184) and Era.Net AntiMicroMXene project. M.P. acknowledges the financial support from LRC Project (#lzp2023/1- 0243) and Era4Health project TERMEX. I.I. acknowledges the partial financial support from the NCN SONATA-BIS project (UMO-2020/38/E/ST5/00176). MXene synthesis at the Materials Research Center, Ltd., and Drexel University was supported by the Research and Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC2D) at Khalifa University, UAE.
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001661095500001
- Other Identifier
- 991022153554804721