As-prepared mesoporous silicon nanoparticles, which were synthesized by electrochemical etching of crystalline silicon wafers followed by high-energy milling in water, were explored as a sonosensitizer in aqueous media under irradiation with low-intensity ultrasound at 0.88 MHz. Due to the mixed oxide-hydride coating of the nanoparticles' surfaces, they showed both acceptable colloidal stability and sonosensitization of the acoustic cavitation. The latter was directly measured and quantified as a cavitation energy index, i.e., time integral of the magnitude of ultrasound subharmonics. The index turned out to be several times greater for nanoparticle suspensions as compared to pure water, and it depended nonmonotonically on nanoparticle concentration. In vitro tests with Lactobacillus casei revealed a dramatic drop of the bacterial viability and damage of the cells after ultrasonic irradiation with intensity of about 1 W/cm2 in the presence of nanoparticles, which themselves are almost non-toxic at the studied concentrations of about 1 mg/mL. The experimental results prove that nanoparticle-sensitized cavitation bubbles nearby bacteria can cause bacterial lysis and death. The sonosensitizing properties of freshly prepared mesoporous silicon nanoparticles are beneficial for their application in mild antibacterial therapy and treatment of liquid media.
Keywords: acoustic cavitation; antibacterial effect; low-intensity ultrasound; porous silicon; silicon nanoparticles; subharmonics.