The Synergistic Effect of Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticles Uniformly Deposited on Silver Nanowires for the Biofilm Inhibition of Candida albicans

Near-monodisperse zinc ferrite nanoparticles (ZnFe(2)O(4) NPs) are synthesized by a co-precipitation method and deposited on the surface of silver nanowires (AgNWs), employing a stepwise solution method. The resulting hybrid nanostructures (ZnFe(2)O(4)@AgNWs) show a thin and uniform layer of ZnFe(2)O(4) NPs at an optimum weight ratio of 1:6 between the two component nanostructures. The hybrid nanostructures retain the high crystal quality and phase purity of their constituents. It is demonstrated that the ZnFe(2)O(4)@AgNWs hybrid nanostructures are effective at inhibiting the biofilm formation of Candida albicans cells. The biofilm inhibition activity of the hybrid nanostructures is estimated to be more than 50% at a low concentration of 100 µg/mL from both crystal violet assay and XTT assay, which are more than 8-fold higher than those of pure AgNWs and ZnFe(2)O(4) NPs. This greatly enhanced biofilm inhibition activity is attributed to the ZnFe(2)O(4) NPs-carrying membrane penetration by AgNWs and the subsequent interaction between Candida cells and ZnFe(2)O(4) NPs. These results indicate that the ZnFe(2)O(4)@AgNWs hybrid nanostructures have great potential as a new type of novel antibiofilm agent.