Currently, microbial infections have posed an arduous challenge to global public health, whereas the rise of antibiotic resistance is rendering traditional antibiotic therapies futile, prompting the development of new antimicrobial technologies. Photoactive nanomaterials have thus garnered a thriving interest for disinfection owing to their superior antibacterial efficaciousness, favorable biosafety, and rapidness and spatiotemporal precision in excreting bactericidal actions. The review summarizes recent advances and emerging trends in the design, nanoengineering, and bioapplications of photoactive antimicrobials. It commences by elaborating fundamental theories on bacterial resistance, and antibacterial mechanisms of nanomaterials and phototherapy. Subsequently, the regulation of the antibacterial effectiveness of photoactive nanomaterials is comprehensively discussed, centering on criteria and strategies for tuning photoabsorption spectra, photothermal conversion, and photocatalytic efficiency, alongside tactics for enabling synergistic therapies. This is followed by comparative analyses of techniques and modalities for synthesizing and engineering photoactive nanomaterials with diverse structures, forms, and functionalities. Thereafter, the state‐of‐the‐art applications of phototherapies across various medical sectors are portrayed, and key challenges and opportunities are finally discussed to spur future innovations and translation. This review is envisaged to provide useful guidance for devising and developing nanomaterials‐based photoresponsive antimicrobials with application‐specific materials properties and biological functions.

中文翻译：

---

生物应用光活性抗菌剂的设计和纳米工程：从基础到高级策略

当前，微生物感染给全球公共卫生带来严峻挑战，而抗生素耐药性的上升使传统抗生素疗法失效，促使新型抗菌技术的发展。光活性纳米材料因其卓越的抗菌功效、良好的生物安全性以及快速和时空精确的杀菌作用而在消毒领域引起了广泛的关注。该综述总结了光敏抗菌剂的设计、纳米工程和生物应用方面的最新进展和新兴趋势。它首先阐述细菌耐药性的基本理论以及纳米材料和光疗法的抗菌机制。随后，全面讨论了光活性纳米材料抗菌功效的调节，重点是调整光吸收光谱、光热转换和光催化效率的标准和策略，以及实现协同治疗的策略。接下来是对合成和工程具有不同结构、形式和功能的光敏纳米材料的技术和模式的比较分析。此后，描述了光疗法在各个医疗领域的最先进应用，并最终讨论了关键挑战和机遇，以刺激未来的创新和转化。本综述旨在为设计和开发具有特定应用材料特性和生物功能的基于纳米材料的光响应抗菌剂提供有用的指导。