Zeolitic imidazolium framework (ZIF-8) and their derivative-based material for antibacterial study: a comprehensive review

Abstract Over the years, bacterial infections have become a threat to global health and the economy. In response to this, there has been the development of various antibacterial drugs. Increased use of such antibacterial drugs has resulted in the genetic drift within the microbial body, leading to the development of multi-drug-resistant strains (MDR) and anti-microbial-resistance strains (AMR), or super bacteria. Therefore, it is required to address this problem by developing a suitable alternative to eliminate such antibiotic resistive species and also by designing nanomaterial assisted antibiotic loading mechanisms. For which material science has come up with the gradual development of effective nanostructures such as zeolitic imidazolium framework-8 (ZIF-8), a sub-class of ZIF-metal organic framework (MOF), which has rooted as an operative antibacterial alternative because of its metal reservoir, higher surface area, tunable pore size, strong thermal stability, and biocompatibility. This review summarizes the current advancements of ZIF-8, different synthesis strategies, and their modification with different metals, metal oxides, noble metals, polymers, and antibiotics to enhance their performance towards antibacterial action on Gram-stained bacteria (positive and negative). This article also highlights some strategies to improve the antibacterial effect while acting synergistically. In addition to this, there is a prospect of future research direction of ZIF-8 based nanomaterials towards different antibacterial assays. Graphical Abstract