Graphene nanoplatelets/Cr2O3 nanocomposites as novel nanoantibiotics: Towards control of multiple drug resistant bacteria

Drug resistance resulting due to the abuse of antibiotics can possibly be fatal for human beings. It, therefore, is required to develop novel nanoantibiotics to fight with the bacterial infections. In this work, we report graphene nanoplatelets/Cr₂O₃ nanocomposites (GNPs/Cr₂O₃) as a potential nanomedicine. Antibacterial characteristics of GNPs/Cr₂O₃ nanocomposites have been investigated against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. GCr₂O₃-II with the optimized GNPs’ content shows excellent antibacterial performance with 84.25% growth inhibition of S. aureus (Gram-positive bacteria) and 80.76% growth inhibition of -P. aeruginosa (Gram-negative bacteria). This can be attributed to the synergistic contribution of Cr₂O₃ nanoflakes and GNPs/Cr₂O₃ nanocomposites, towards bacterial membrane disruption, that may be caused by the sharp edges of GNPs and induction of the oxidative stress by Cr₂O₃ nanoflakes. Therefore, this study suggests that GNPs/Cr₂O₃ nanocomposites can be employed as an innovative nanoantibiotics for pathogen control.