Deformation of Bacterial Cell Membranes by Action of Metal Surface under Plasmon Resonance Condition

TL;DR

This study models how surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enhances the mechanical deformation of bacterial membranes via Van der Waals interactions, suggesting SPR's potential in antibacterial applications.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical model showing SPR increases bacterial membrane interaction area, offering qualitative insights for future experimental and antibacterial strategy development.

Findings

SPR significantly increases interaction area between bacteria and metal surfaces.

Theoretical calculations cover wide, physically meaningful parameter ranges.

Results offer qualitative estimations for physical properties of bacterial membranes.

Abstract

This paper is devoted to studies of the mechanical deformation of the S. aureus cell wall. The bacterium is modelled as a thin elastic membrane containing cytoplasm, which is treated as an incompressible fluid. Deformation occurs via Van der Waals interactions between the bacterium and a solid metallic surface, both with and without the influence of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Our modelling results indicate that the excitation of surface plasmons significantly increases the effective interaction area between the bacterial membrane and the nanostructured surface. The elastic and dielectric properties of the bacterium's components are uninvestigated. Therefore, theoretical calculations are performed in wide, physically meaningful ranges. Thus, the results of studies give only a qualitative estimation. However, they are novel and, with further experiments, can solve the inverse problem of obtaining physical properties. The paper highlights the potential of SPR to enhance antibacterial strategies, inspiring further research and innovation.