A Small Library of Copper-Based Metallenes with Superior Antibacterial Activity

Metallene, composed primarily of under-coordinated metal atoms, has emerged as a new category of two-dimensional materials. Via cryo-pretreatment assisted-liquid phase exfoliation method, we report a small library of copper-based metallenes, which were denoted as copperene, brassene, bronzene, cupronickelene and AlCuZn trimetallene, respectively. Benefiting from mixed-valence copper-induced oxidative stress and cleavage effect of layer structure, the obtained metallenes could efficiently eliminate drug-resistant bacteria even at a concentration of as low as 1 μg/mL. Due to alloying engineering-induced change of the release rate of metal ions, CuZn metallenes exhibited much better antibacterial ability than other metallenes and three clinical antibiotics. We believe this work not only expands the category of emerging 2D metallenes, but also proposes the strategy combining 2D and alloying engineering to improve the antibacterial properties of copper materials.