Conjugated Polymer/Porphyrin Complexes for Efficient Energy Transfer and Improving Light-Activated Antibacterial Activity

With the increasing antibiotic resistance of microorganisms, there is a growing interest in the design and development of new materials that are effective in killing bacteria to replace conventional antibiotics. Herein, a new anionic water-soluble polythiophene (PTP) and a cationic porphyrin (TPPN) are synthesized and characterized. They can form a complex through electrostatic interactions, and efficient energy transfer from PTP to TPPN occurs upon irradiation under white light (400−800 nm). The energy of TPPN transfers to triplet by intersystem crossing, followed by sensitization of oxygen molecule to enhance the efficiency of singlet oxygen generation related to TPPN itself. The positive charges of PTP/TPPN complex promote its adsorption to the negatively charged bacteria membranes of Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis through electrostatic interactions, and the singlet oxygen effectively kills the bacteria. The photosensitized inactivation of bacteria for the PTP/TPPN complex is efficient, and about 70% reduction of bacterial viability is observed after only 5 min of irradiation with white light at a fluence rate of 90 mW·cm−2 (27 J·cm−2). The technique provides a promising application in photodynamic inactivation of bacteria on the basis of enhanced energy transfer offered by light-harvesting conjugated polymers.