Ti₃C₂T_X nano-sheets (MXenes) with excellent light-conversion capacity have gained importance in treating infectious diseases due to their limited bacterial resistance. In this study, we exploit this property to design photothermal antibacterial therapy using few- (FX) and multi-layer (MX) Ti3C2Tx nano-sheets. We demonstrate that FX have a higher cytocompatibility and conversion of light to heat, but MX show a better efficacy in inhibiting growth of S. aureus and E. coli due to MXenes’ reversible bacteria trapping. For MX (25 µg/mL), □37% of E. coli and □23% of S. aureus cells survived, while the effect was less pronounced for FX with □72% of E. coli and □46% of S. aureus viable cells after treatment. After using 100 µg/mL of MX, □11% of E. coli and □4% of S. aureus survived, while FX had only a mild effect on both species. The NIR laser treatment increased the efficacy of both materials: 100 µg/mL of MX combined with 5 min laser treatment at 5.7 W cm − 2 completely killed both species. For FX, the treatment with 3 W cm − 2 and the highest concentration (100 µg/mL) induced an effect comparable to MX (87% on E. coli, 95% on S.aureus). The combined NIR-MXene treatment causes an irreversible cell death linked to the loss of cell integrity (DNA release quantification and bacteria debris observation).

Ti ₃ C ₂ T _X具有优异光转换能力的纳米片（MXenes）由于其有限的细菌耐药性而在治疗传染病方面变得越来越重要。在这项研究中，我们利用这种特性来设计使用少量 (FX) 和多层 (MX) Ti3C2Tx 纳米片的光热抗菌疗法。我们证明 FX 具有更高的细胞相容性和光热转化，但由于 MXenes 的可逆细菌捕获，MX 在抑制金黄色葡萄球菌和大肠杆菌的生长方面表现出更好的功效。对于 MX (25 µg/mL)，□37% 的大肠杆菌和□23% 的金黄色葡萄球菌细胞存活，而对于 FX 的影响不太明显，□72% 的大肠杆菌和□46% 的金黄色葡萄球菌。治疗后的金黄色葡萄球菌活细胞。使用 100 µg/mL MX 后，□11% 的大肠杆菌和□4% 的金黄色葡萄球菌存活下来，而 FX 对这两个物种只有轻微影响。NIR 激光处理提高了两种材料的功效：100 µg/mL MX 结合 5.7 W cm - 2 的 5 分钟激光处理完全杀死了这两种物质。对于 FX，用 3 W cm - 2 和最高浓度 (100 µg/mL) 处理产生的效果与 MX 相当（对大肠杆菌为 87%，对金黄色葡萄球菌为 95%）。联合 NIR-MXene 处理导致不可逆的细胞死亡，与细胞完整性的丧失有关（DNA 释放量化和细菌碎片观察）。