Synthesis of Dihydromyricetin Coated Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Antibacterial Activities

The weak antimicrobial property of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) hampers their use as an antimicrobial material. In the report, Dihydromyricetin (DMY) coated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-DMY) were prepared with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG1000) as a linker and evaluated for inactivating pathogenic bacteria. UV-visible spectra, FT-IR, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the MWCNTs-DMY. It has been shown that PEG and DMY are covalently attached to MWCNTs with excellent stability. Vibrio parahaemolyticus was employed as the target bacterium. Comparing with the raw and the functionalized MWCNTs (r-MWCNTs and f-MWCNTs), MWCNTs-DMY exhibited stronger antibacterial ability. The MWCNTs-DMY composite showed up to 10-fold higher antimicrobial property than pristine MWCNTs. The deposited DMY was suggested to play an important role in the bactericidal action of MWCNTs-DMY. The results of this study demonstrated that MWCNTs-DMY composite can serve as an effective and economical antimicrobial material.