Polyethyleneimine Functionalized Mesoporous Magnetic Nanoparticles with Enhanced Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity in an Alternating Magnetic Field

Despite a lot of research on the antibacterial effect of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, their interactions with biofilm matrix have not been well understood. The surface charge of nanoparticles mainly determines their ability to adhere on the biofilm. In this work, negatively charged Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized via a trisodium citrate-assisted solvothermal method and then the surfaces were functionalized using polyethyleneimine (PEI) to obtain positively charged Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of both negatively and positively charged Fe3O4 nanoparticles in an alternating magnetic field were then systematically investigated. The positively charged Fe3O4 nanoparticles showed a strong self-adsorbed attachment ability to the planktonic and sessile cells, resulting in a better antibacterial activity and enhanced biofilm eradication performance compared to the conventional Fe3O4 nanoparticles with negative charges. Fe3O4@PEI nanoparticles produced physical stress and thermal damage in response to an alternating magnetic field, inducing the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species into live bacterial cells, bacterial membrane damage, and biofilm dispersion. Utilizing an alternating magnetic field along with positively charged nanoparticles leads to a synergistic antibacterial approach to improve the antibiofilm performance of magnetic nanoparticles.