Bovine Serum Albumin Stabilized Chlorhexidine/Nickel Phosphide Nanohybrids for Antibacterial Disinfectants

Drug-resistant bacteria are widely detected in public premises and infected wounds, and this situation is prone to triggering the spread of pathogenic microorganisms and even cross-infection. Consequently, it is highly desirable to develop effective broad-spectrum nonantibiotic multifunctional bactericides that can be applied for disinfection in a variety of application scenarios. Herein, innovative antibacterial nanoplatforms based on chlorhexidine (CHX)/cage-like nickel phosphide (Ni2P) hybrids stabilized by bovine serum albumin (BSA) are envisaged to provide solutions for solving these issues. An optimized photothermal conversion efficiency (61.8%) and a high drug loading capacity (59.7%) of Ni2P nanocages as well as the swift drug release of the composites in response to pH and photothermal dual-switches synergistically result in robust bacterial killing performances of the composite antibacterial nanoplatforms, which could effectively kill 99.4% of MRSA and 99.9% of P. aeruginosa under mild temperature (about 50 °C) within 15 min. For demonstration, the nanoplatforms with low cytotoxicity toward mammal cells could effectively disinfect the infected wounds on the skin of mice and also completely eliminate the drug-resistant bacteria on the surface of medical devices within only 15 s, highlighting their application prospects for various antibacterial purposes.