Investigation of effective factors on antibacterial activity of Pillared-Layered MOFs

Infectious diseases have become one of the main problems in the world, and many efforts are being made to deal with them. MOFs are new antibacterial agents that have received much attention due to their attractive properties. In this work, mono-metal [Cu2(bdc)2(dabco)] and mixed-metal [ZnCu(bdc)2(dabco)] pillared-layered MOFs, (H2bdc = terephthalic acid, dabco = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane), were synthesized by solvothermal and sonochemical methods. Compounds were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, ICP-OES and TGA techniques. The synthesis methods directly affected the stability of the MOFs, and the MOFs synthesized by the solvothermal method showed more thermal/chemical stability. The antibacterial activities of MOFs were investigated by agar well diffusion and broth dilution methods against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Factors such as stability, metal type, and morphology were influential in antibacterial activity. Mono-metallic copper MOFs showed more antibacterial activity than the mixed-metal ones. Also, solvothermal samples were more effective than sonochemical samples. The effect of compounds against Staphylococcus aureus strain was more than Escherichia coli strain. According to results, Pillared-layered MOFs can be considered as affordable antibacterial agents with long-lasting activity.