Empa's light-activated graphene coating kills 100% of resistant bacteria
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- Giacomo Reina at Empa's Nanomaterials in Health Lab synthesized four graphene acid-based antimicrobial coatings — reportedly the first of their kind — with the leading candidate eliminating almost 100% of one bacterial strain and ~91% of another in tests against two drug-resistant hospital bugs, beating silver-based coatings currently in use.
- Peter Wick's team activates the ultra-thin, transparent coating with near-infrared light that penetrates up to 2cm into body tissue, heating the material to ~44°C and triggering a reaction with oxygen that produces radicals damaging microbial surfaces.
- The graphene oxide coating, embedded in food-grade polyvinyl alcohol, showed no signs of microbes developing resistance in tests, passed skin cell safety screens, and can be repeatedly reactivated at routine check-ups without losing antimicrobial potency.
- Paula Bürgisser's doctoral project — supervised by Professor Roland Jung at the University of Zurich's Center for Dental Medicine and developed in St Gallen — is the team's first real-world medical target: coating dental implant surfaces that contact gingiva to prevent infections that can spread to the jawbone or whole body.
- Wick said the lab aims to bring a private-sector partner on board within 3-4 years for clinical trials, but cautioned that everyday patient use remains 10-15 years away.
- The graphene-acid concept originated with a research partner at Palacký University Olomouc in the Czech Republic, and Reina joined Wick's lab as project lead in 2023.
Why it matters: Antibiotic resistance is the explicit problem the lab is trying to solve, and the first material killed 100% of one resistant strain and 91% of another in tests — with no resistance observed. If dental implants become the first deployment, the 10-15 year timeline means a real-world test of light-switchable antimicrobial coatings on devices that currently risk jawbone and systemic infections.
