Cellulose acetate membranes loaded with combinations of tetraphenylporphyrin, graphene oxide and Pluronic F-127 as responsive materials with antibacterial photodynamic activity

The development of polymeric fabrics with photoinduced antibacterial activity is important for different emerging applications, ranging from materials for medical and clinical practices to disinfection of objects for public use. In this work we prepared a series of cellulose acetate membranes, by means of phase inversion technique, introducing different additives in the starting polymeric solution. The loading of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), a known photosensitizer, was considered to impart antibacterial photodynamic properties to the produced membranes. Besides, the addition of a surfactant (Pluronic F-127) allowed to modify the morphology of the membranes whereas the use of graphene oxide (GO) enabled further photo-activated antibacterial activity. The three additives were tested in various concentrations and in different combinations in order to carefully explore the effects of their mixing on the final photophysical and photodynamic properties. A complete structural/morphologycal characterization of the produced membranes has been performed, together with a detailed photophysical study of the TPP-containing samples, including absorption and emission features, excited state lifetime, singlet oxygen production, and confocal analysis. Their antibacterial activity has been assessed in vitro against S. aureus and E. coli, and the results demonstrated excellent bacterial inactivation for the membranes containing a combination of the three additives, revealing also a non-innocent role of the membrane porous structure in the final antibacterial capacity.