Recent progress in synthetic nanotechnology and the ancient use of metals in food preservation and the antibacterial treatment of wounds have prompted the development of nanometallic materials for antimicrobial applications^1,2,3,4. However, the materials designed so far do not simultaneously display antimicrobial activity and the capability of binding and capturing bacteria and spores. Here, we develop a one-step pyrolysis procedure to synthesize monodisperse superparamagnetic nickel colloidal nanocrystal clusters (SNCNCs), which show both antibacterial activity and the ability to bind Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria, as well as bacterial spores. The SNCNCs are formed from a rapid burst of nickel nanoparticles, which self-assemble slowly into clusters. The clusters can magnetically extract 99.99% of bacteria and spores and provide a promising approach for the removal of microbes, including hard-to-treat microorganisms. We believe that our work illustrates the exciting opportunities that nanotechnology offers for alternative antimicrobial strategies and other applications in microbiology.

合成纳米技术的最新进展和金属在食品保存和伤口的抗菌处理中的古老应用促进了抗菌应用的^1,2,3,4纳米金属材料的发展。但是，到目前为止设计的材料不能同时显示出抗菌活性以及结合和捕获细菌和孢子的能力。在这里，我们开发了一步热解程序来合成单分散超顺磁性镍胶体纳米晶体簇（SNCNCs），该簇既显示抗菌活性又具有结合革兰氏阳性菌（枯草芽孢杆菌）和革兰氏阴性菌（大肠杆菌）的能力。）细菌以及细菌孢子。SNCNC由镍纳米粒子的快速爆发形成，镍纳米粒子缓慢自组装成簇。这些簇可以磁性地提取99.99％的细菌和孢子，为去除微生物（包括难以处理的微生物）提供了一种有前途的方法。我们相信，我们的工作表明了纳米技术为微生物替代微生物策略和其他应用提供的令人兴奋的机遇。