Tuning Luminescence from Carbon Nanodots: A New Strategy for Antimicrobial Inactivation

dc.contributor.advisorGeddes, Chris D
dc.contributor.authorKnoblauch, Rachael Marie
dc.contributor.departmentChemistry & Biochemistry
dc.contributor.programChemistry
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-09T15:52:22Z
dc.date.available2022-02-09T15:52:22Z
dc.date.issued2020-01-01
dc.description.abstractBeyond antibiotics, sterilization techniques hold significant promise in combating the growing threat of bacterial antibiotic resistance—which has retained urgency in recent years. One such strategy is antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (APDI) of bacteria, also known as antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. APDI—which combines excitation light, molecular oxygen, and a photosensitizing agent to generate highly reactive oxygen species (ROS)—is broadly effective against many pathogens. Activity is controllable by modulating exposure light and tunable by photosensitizer properties. Although many photosensitizers are reported, many are small molecules limited in scalability by complex synthetic procedures, purification requirements, and costly reagents. Carbon nanodots present a promising alternative. These fluorescent nanoparticles are composed of many-layered oxidized graphene and are known combustion byproducts that may be easily and inexpensively collected. To date, most carbon dot research has focused on tuning fluorescent properties. In this emerging chapter of carbon nanodot research, we aim instead to tune the carbon dot properties for APDI. We report a simple set-up, employing the combustion of natural gas for nanodot collection together with an array of diverse precursors to gain novel photophysical properties. Namely, we report the collection of phosphorescent brominated carbon nanodots, and further characterize their ROS-generating capabilities (producing both singlet oxygen and hydroxyl radical) with 365 nm activation. Remarkably, we find them to be effective APDI photosensitizers against both gram-negative Escherichia coli and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. Further, we find that these properties are all enhanced by the principles of "inter” metal-enhanced fluorescence, employing the "Quanta Plate™” plasmonic silver platform. We conclude by suggesting further tuning of the synthetic regime to reach new applications in the titular objective: "Tuning Luminescence from Carbon Nanodots.”
dc.formatapplication:pdf
dc.genredissertations
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2nwxp-xhfn
dc.identifier.other12403
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/24163
dc.languageen
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Theses and Dissertations Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Graduate School Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Student Collection
dc.sourceOriginal File Name: Knoblauch_umbc_0434D_12403.pdf
dc.subjectantimicrobial
dc.subjectcarbon
dc.subjectnanoparticle
dc.subjectphosphorescence
dc.subjectphotodynamic therapy
dc.subjectplasmonic
dc.titleTuning Luminescence from Carbon Nanodots: A New Strategy for Antimicrobial Inactivation
dc.typeText
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