Topographical Nanostructures for Physical Sterilization

The development in nanobiotechnology provides an in-depth understanding of cell-surface interactions at the nanoscale level. Particularly, several surface features have shown the ability to interrogate the bacterial behavior and fate. In the past decade, the mechanical and physical sterilization has attracted considerable attention, as paradigms of such do not rely on chemical substances to damage or kill bacteria, whereas it is associated with natural living organisms or synthetic materials. Of note, such antibacterial scenario does not cause bacterial resistance, as the morphology of nanometer can directly cause bacterial death through physical and mechanical interactions. In this review, we provide an overview of recently developed technologies of leveraging topographical nanofeatures for physical sterilization. We mainly discuss the development of various morphologic nanostructures, and colloidal nanostructures show casing the capacity of "mechanical sterilization." Mechanically sterilized nanostructures can penetrate or cut through bacterial membranes. In addition, surface morphology, such as mechanical bactericidal nanoparticles and nanoneedles, can cause damage to the membrane of microorganisms, leading to cell lysis and death. Although the research in the field of mechanical sterilization is still in infancy, the effect of these nanostructure morphologies on sterilization has shown remarkable antibacterial potential, which could provide a new toolkit for anti-infection and antifouling applications. The mechanical and physical sterilization has attracted considerable attention, as paradigms of such do not rely on chemical substances to damage or kill bacteria. Moreover, such antibacterial scenario does not cause bacterial resistance, as the morphology of nanometer can directly cause bacterial death through physical and mechanical interactions. In this review, we focus on the advanced development of various morphologic nanostructures and colloidal nanostructures that show the capacity of "mechanical sterilization."