Bactericidal microparticles decorated by an antimicrobial peptide for the easy disinfection of sensitive aqueous solutions.

Silica and paramagnetic silica microparticles are surface-modified by an antibacterial macromolecular coating. For this, a hydrophilic copolymer brush based on oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates is grown on the particle surface by surface-initiated ATRP. Then, Magainin-I, a natural antimicrobial peptide, is grafted onto the hydroxyl groups of the brush through a heterolinker. The grafting of the peptide is evidenced by fluorescence microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Moreover, culturability and viability assays performed in the presence of the magainin-grafted particles prove their bactericidal properties. The rapid recovery of the bactericidal particles based on paramagnetic silica and suspended in solution is shown under magnetization. Such particles offer the advantage to treat efficiently various sensitive aqueous solutions while avoiding any dissemination of bactericidal substances in the environment. As a consequence, they are of a great interest for various applications in medical, cosmetic, or biomedical fields.