Emerging Nanomaterial Strategies for Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Applications: Innovations in Bacterial Detection, Mechanistic Understanding, and Therapeutic Interventions to Address Antibiotic Resistance

The rampant increase in antimicrobial resistance and stagnant pipeline of antibiotic development is a global concern. Biofilms further make the infections more persistent and incurable by providing a protective environment to the microbes. It demands the development of innovative therapeutics without delay. Nanomaterial-based therapeutics is a promising approach to combat deadly bacterial infections. The distinct shape, size, and physical characteristics of nanomaterials (NMs) make them able to target biofilms through various mechanisms and thrash recalcitrant deadly infections. This comprehensive review describes (i) historical perspective of antibiotics and their role in combating microbes; (ii) different mechanisms through which bacteria develop resistance against antibiotics; (iii) different sensing mechanisms to detect bacteria; (iv) NMs to treat planktonic bacteria; (v) NMs to treat biofilms (both oral and wound biofilms); (vi) different types of NMs (e.g., metal NMs, polymeric NMs, carbon NMs) along with photothermal effects to combat microbes.