Surface Chemistry of Gold Nanoparticles for Bacterial Detection and Antimicrobial Applications

Bacteria can infect the human body and cause disease, which endangers public safety. The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria poses a great challenge on the treatment of bacterial infections. Quickly detecting pathogenic bacteria and effectively killing them are of great significance for the targeted treatment of bacterial infections. On one hand, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) are widely used for the rapid detection of bacteria, because of their surface plasmon resonance properties that allow for a visible readout based on a color change. On the other hand, functionalized Au NPs with versatile surface modifications can show good bactericidal effects. The surface chemistry of Au NPs can be tailored for dual functionality that integrates bacterial detection and antibacterial activity. The dual-functional Au NPs can greatly shorten the interval between detection and treatment, which is beneficial for the early inhibition of bacterial growth. In this Review, we focus on the strategies for bacterial detection and antibacterial applications based on the surface chemistry of Au NPs. We discuss recent advances and prospects in the application of dual-functional Au NPs with bacterial detection and antibacterial features.