Antimicrobial carbon nanospheres

. Meanwhile, the QCNSs showed excellent cytocompatibility towards normal human liver and lung cells and good hemocompatibility towards red blood cells. Moreover, in bacteria-infected macrophage cells, the QCNSs could selectively kill bacteria while the macrophage cells remained unaffected, which further confirmed their biocompatibility. Besides, we have also elucidated the antibacterial mechanism of the QCNSs by disrupting the bacterial cell walls/membranes via the bacterial adsorption and insertion of the long alkyl chain-containing quaternary ammonium groups on the particle surface. The present work provides a novel method for the preparation of functional carbon nanomaterials, which may promote the development of metal-free antibacterial agents.