Multifunctional tadpole-like bimetallic nanoparticles realizes synergistic sterilization with chemical kinetics and photothermal therapy

Bacterial infection has become a global health issue. The misuse of antibiotics has been resulting in increased drug resistance and bioaccumulation. Therefore, developing a highly safe antibacterial agent, with high antibacterial performance is demanding. Inspired by the natural motors performing automated tasks in complicated living environments, we demonstrate tadpole-like nanoparticles (TNPs) with several functions, including high photothermal conversion efficiency, peroxidase-like catalytic activity, glutathione peroxidase-like activity, and catalase-like activity. TNPs produce hydroxyl radical (•OH) at an extremely low concentration of hydrogen peroxide of 0.006%, which can damage bacterial cell membranes, proteins, and DNA. Moreover, the glutathione peroxidase-like activity disrupts the anti-oxidative mechanism of bacteria and improves the permeability of the cell membranes, consequently enhancing the killing effect of ROS. In addition, TNPs possess tadpole-like asymmetry to overcome Brownian motion, demonstrating strong directional motion propelled by O₂. The in vivo experiments indicate that TNPs could also shorten the inflammatory period and promote angiogenesis, making them a very promising antibacterial agent.