Acid-Induced Self-Catalyzing Platform Based on Dextran-Coated Copper Peroxide Nanoaggregates for Biofilm Treatment

Nanoantibacterial agents based on catalytic activity were limited due to the low levels of endogenous H 2 O 2 in the microenvironment of bacterial biofilms. However, the additional H 2 O 2 will trigger more side effects to healthy surroundings, which is still a great challenge. Herein, we report an acid-induced self-catalyzing platform based on dextran-coated copper peroxide nanoaggregates (DCPNAs) for antibiofilm and local infection therapy applications. The dextran-functionalized DCPNAs were mediated and conveniently purified via a dextran and ethanol precipitation method, which can also cluster nanodots into nanoaggregates and show good penetrability as well as biocompatibility. Bacterial biofilms were inhibited and destroyed by the reactive oxygen species generated from the Fenton reaction between the Cu 2+ and H 2 O 2 released from DCPNAs in an acidic environment, which did not require additional H 2 O 2 . As expected, the DCPNAs exhibit low cytotoxicity and excellent acid-induced antibacterial and antibiofilm ability. Moreover, the DCPNAs realized great therapeutic outcomes in the application for in vivo wound healing. The overall excellent properties associated with the DCPNAs highlight that they could be considered as a kind of ideal antimicrobial agents for microbial biofilm infection treatment.