Rare Earth-Silver Synergistic Strategy: Preparation of a Potential Antibacterial Material for Wound Related Applications

Abstract Skin wounds usually cause delayed wound healing or infection due to the invasion of microorganisms, which seriously endangers human life and health. In the process of first aid and treatment, antibacterial dressings are usually used to achieve high efficiency in inhibiting infection and promoting wound healing. However, because of the widespread use of antibiotics or low-activity antibacterial ingredients in dressing fillers, research on dressing fillers is imminent. Here, we propose a preparation method for a high-performance dressing filler based on Y-based MOFs. Ag+ was adsorbed into the activation cavity of MOF-76-Y by supramolecular interactions and then reduced to zero-valent silver to anchor it in the framework structure of MOF-76-Y to prepare stable Ag@MOF-76-Y. Antibacterial evaluation of the system showed that Ag@MOF-76-Y has a high inhibition rate of 99.1% on Staphylococcus aureus, which is significantly higher than the antibacterial activity of MOF-76-Y. Further studies showed that its mild ROS generation rate, excellent bacterial removal efficiency, and excellent antibacterial activity were attributed to the host–guest synergy between Y-based MOFs and Ag. This work provides a new antibiotic-free, low-toxicity candidate for antibacterial dressing filler, promotes the development of next-generation dressings, and expands the application of rare earth compounds.