A Strategy to Combat Bacterial Biofilms Mediated by Plant-Derived Carbon Dots: A Green Shield for Clean Water

Biofilms in water distribution systems are complex and tenacious populations of microbes surrounded by a protective matrix that may lead to significant water-borne diseases due to contamination and compromised quality of water. To tackle this issue, several small-molecule-based antimicrobials and engineered nanomaterials were developed that show much promise in combating biofilms. Herein, organic carbon dots (LC-CDs) were successfully synthesized from Lantana camara leaf extract, which is an invasive plant, using a one-pot hydrothermal method, requiring no chemical modifications. These LC-CDs were found to be less toxic and exhibited antibacterial and antibiofilm properties, indicating their potential use to combat biofilms. While natural carbon dots have been extensively studied for bioimaging, their antibiofilm activity has not been widely explored. Our study explores the antibacterial activity of naturally derived carbon dots through the generation of reactive oxygen species, thereby expanding the industrial prospects of this system as an antibacterial and antibiofilm agent. The LC-CDs may serve as antibacterial and antibiofilm agents to facilitate clean water production.