Light-induced Antibacterial Approaches using Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

The general focus of this thesis was the investigation and exploration of novel antibacterial and antibiofilm approaches based on metallic nanoparticles, and in particular gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Two different types of Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized and characterized as Gold nanospheres (GNPs) and Gold nanostars (GNSs). Both AuNPs were fabricated using chemical synthesis routes and were functionalized with different coatings and chemical moieties according to the intended antimicrobial use. We evaluated the potency of two light-induced antibacterial approaches, in parallel to deploying our synthesized AuNPs: The antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) and the antimicrobial photothermal inactivation (aPTI) approaches.