Size-dependent antibacterial of carbon dots by selective absorption and differential oxidative stress of bacteria

Carbon dots (CDs), as one kind of zero-dimensional carbon-based nanomaterials, show great potential in combating emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial infections. CDs with outstanding optical properties and benign biocompatibility have been reported as excellent antibacterial agents. However, few reports were focused on the relationship between the CDs’ size and their antibacterial activity. Herein, the desired CDs (VCDs) were fabricated by a one-step electrochemical oxidation method using l-ascorbic acid as raw material, and four types of VCDs with different sizes were obtained by adjusting the reaction times. The effectiveness of antibacterial activity demonstrates the VCDs display size-dependent antibacterial activity, where the VCDs-2 (average size: 2.92 nm) exhibit superior antibacterial activity to others, attributing to the synergy of the absorption capacity of bacteria to VCDs and the ROS stimulated by VCDs. The VCDs-2 could more easily penetrate bacterial cells, stimulate the production of ROS, damage the cell walls of E. coli, and inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria. This work helps to understand the effect of CDs’ size on antibacterial properties, and provides a direction for the design of novel antimicrobials with drug resistance.