Metal-polyphenol coordination nanosheets with synergistic peroxidase-like and photothermal properties for efficient antibacterial treatment

Bacterial infections pose a serious threat to human health and socioeconomics worldwide. In the post-antibiotic era, the development of novel antimicrobial agents remains a challenge. Polyphenols are natural compounds with a variety of biological activities such as intrinsic antimicrobial activity and antioxidant properties. Metal-polyphenol obtained by chelation of polyphenol ligands with metal ions not only possesses efficient antimicrobial activity but also excellent biocompatibility, which has great potential for application in biomedical and food packaging fields. Herein, we developed metal-polyphenol coordination nanosheets named copper oxidized tannic acid quinone (CuTAQ) possessing efficient antibacterial and anti-biofilm effects, which was synthesized by a facile one-pot method. The synthesis was achieved by chelation of partially oxidized tannic acid (TA) with Cu2+ under mild conditions, which supports low-cost and large-scale production. It was demonstrated that CuTAQ exhibited high antibacterial activity via disrupting the integrity of bacterial cell membranes, inducing oxidative stress, and interfering with metabolism. In addition, CuTAQ exhibits excellent peroxidase catalytic activity and photothermal conversion properties, which play a significant role in enhancing its bactericidal and biofilm scavenging abilities. This study provides insights for rational design of innovative metal-polyphenol nanomaterials with efficient antimicrobial properties.