Fig. 3
(Reprinted with permission from [35]. Copyright (2020) American Chemical Society)
Size and composition affect the antibacterial activity of metal NCs. a Schematic illustration of the size regulation of AuNCs to significantly affect their antibacterial properties. b AuNCs showed high killing efficiency to S. aureus, which was absent when the cells were treated with AuNPs. The dead cells were visualized by SYTOX green (false color: red), whereas the Hoechst 33,342 (blue) helped to identify all cells. Scale bar: 25 μm. Reprinted with permission from [24]. Copyright (2017) American Chemical Society. Percentage of the dead S. aureus treated with AuNCs and AuNPs at the same Au atom concentration (c) and particle concentration (d) for 2 h. Relative intracellular ROS production level (e) and relative lipid peroxidation production level (f) of S. aureus after 2 h treatment of AuNCs and AuNPs at the same particle concentration. Reprinted with permission from [36]. Copyright (2020) KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. g Composition-dependent antimicrobial ability of full-spectrum AuxAg25−x alloy NCs. h Percentage of the dead S. aureus after treatment with AuxAg25−x alloy NCs