ICG@ZIF-8/PDA/Ag composites as chemo-photothermal antibacterial agents for efficient sterilization and enhanced wound disinfection

Bacterial infection has increasingly affected people's lives, therefore it is significant to explore novel antibacterial agents and strategies for efficient disinfection. Herein, we designed ZIF-8 based composites ICG@ZIF-8/PDA/Ag, which encapsulate photothermal agent indocyanine green (ICG) and grow polydopamine (PDA) on their surface for in situ reduction to generate Ag nanoparticles. With 20 min of 808 nm laser irradiation at 1.5 W cm−2, 100 μg mL−1 ICG@ZIF-8/PDA/Ag exhibited 100% bactericidal effects toward E. coli and S. aureus bacteria resulting from both hyperthermia of ICG and PDA and chemical toxicity of the released Ag and Zn ions. When the bacterial incubation period was extended to 12 h, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of ICG@ZIF-8/PDA/Ag was reduced to 6.25 μg mL−1, and this extremely low MBC was due to the long-term chemo-photothermal combinational effect induced by NIR irradiation. Additionally, the composites successfully promote the healing of S. aureus infected wounds on mice. This work constructed photo-responsive antibacterial composites that realize chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy.