An Electroluminodynamic Flexible Device for Highly Efficient Eradication of Drug-Resistant Bacteria.

ABSTRACT

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has attracted wide attention in antibacterial applications due to its advantages of spatial-temporal selectivity, noninvasiveness, and low incidence to develop drug resistance. To make it more convenient, universal, and manipulatable for clinical application, a conceptually antibacterial strategy, namely "electroluminodynamic therapy" (ELDT), is presented by nanoassembly of an electroluminescent (EL) material and a photosensitizer, which is capable of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) in situ under an electric field, i.e., the fluorescence emitted by the EL molecules excites the photosensitizer to generate singlet oxygen (1 O2 ), for the oxidative damage of pathogens. Based on the scheme of ELDT, a flexible therapeutic device is fabricated through a hydrogel loading with ELDT nanoagents, followed by integration with a flexible battery, satisfying the requirements of being light and wearable for wound dressings. The ELDT-based flexible device presents potent ROS-induced killing efficacies against drug-resistant bacteria (>99.9%), so as to effectively inhibit the superficial infection and promote the wound healing. This research reveals a proof-of-concept ELDT strategy as a prospective alternative to PDT, which avoids the utilization of a physical light source, and achieves convenient and effective killing of drug-resistant bacteria through a hydrogel-based flexible therapeutic device.