Science Daily January 13, 2020
An international team of researchers (Australia, USA – North Carolina State University) has shown that when gallium-based liquid metal (LM) droplets are exposed to a low-intensity rotating magnetic field, the LM droplets become physically actuated and transform their shape, developing sharp edges. When placed in contact with a bacterial biofilm, the movement of the particles resulting from the magnetic field physically ruptures the bacterial cells and the dense biofilm matrix is broken down. They tested the efficacy of the magnetically activated LM particles against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial biofilms. After 90 min over 99% of both bacterial species became nonviable, and the destruction of the biofilms was observed. This proof-of-concept offers a groundbreaking new direction in the search for solutions to the deadly problem of antibiotic resistance…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Abstract. Credit: ACS Nano 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX January 10, 2020Â