Wearable blue OLED patch using natural antibacterial phytochemicals for non-antibiotic treatment against staphylococcus aureus.

Since the Corona era, people's interest in health management has increased significantly compared to before. In addition, the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria through antibiotics has begun to have a great impact on human health. Therefore, the research team would like to report the synergy effect of antibacterial activity using wearable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and natural antibacterial substances against staphylococcus aureus. This is research on a platform that is more convenient than past treatment methods and can suppress the development of multidrug-resistant (MDR) staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).

A research team led by Yongmin Jeon from Kyung Hee University and Gachon University in South Korea recently conducted a study to confirm the synergistic antibacterial activity of wearable OLEDs and natural phytochemicals against S. aureus, the most common and deadly pathogen. Infection with these can cause a variety of dangerous skin diseases. Previously, they were treated with antibiotics using penicillin, but there is a risk that meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) may occur depending on the method of administration and treatment.

Wearable OLEDs are flexible, lightweight, and integrated into daily life compared to existing rigid optical platforms [such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lamps, and lasers]. Additionally, natural phytochemicals are substances derived from plants in nature that have the potential to benefit human health. Among these natural phytochemicals, the research team utilized the root of the cucumber plant [scientific name: sanguisorba officinalis L. (SO. L.), 地楡], which is widely used in oriental medicine and can be found in various countries in East Asia and Europe. By integrating these two, the research team published an article in Nano Research in 2025 about a platform that can provide real-time treatment in daily life without having to visit a hospital and minimize the occurrence of MRSA.

In this study, the research team report on a human-friendly designed natural antibacterial phytochemical OLEDs patch. This can be used by simply attaching it to any part of the skin infected with S. aureus, and can provide effective treatment. The research team said about this study, “By integrating natural phytochemicals used in oriental medicine and advanced visible light phototherapy medical devices, we have developed a platform that is non-invasive, has low human toxicity, and can effectively treat MRSA.”

The research team created wearable OLEDs using a PEN substrate and applied them to a band-aid to make it flexible and attachable. This device was driven at an intensity of 17 mW/cm² in the blue light (465 nm) of the visible light range, and the operating temperature was also approximately 31°C. This confirmed that the device is safe against photodamage and low-temperature burns to the skin. In addition, to verify the flexibility of the device, it was tested for bending up to 3,000 times at a radius of curvature of 3 cm, and showed stable output. In other words, they have developed wearable OLEDs that can operate stably in various operating environments.

Natural product-based phytochemicals were produced using SO.L., which can be easily obtained from the nature of Eurasia. The roots of the cucumber plant were collected, dried, decomposed, and dissolved in a solution for use.

The research team confirmed the synergistic effect by mixing these two natural plant phytochemicals with patchable OLEDs. At this time, the synergistic effect was confirmed by lowering the concentration of SO. L. to 1/2 and 1/4, and the importance of large-area light sources was verified through OLEDs with 9 mm² and 100 mm² light-emitting areas. Through this experiment, the research team confirmed that antibacterial activity can be achieved by utilizing the synergistic effect of light even at lower concentrations (in other words: concentrations with lower human toxicity), and verified that more effective phototherapy effects can be achieved with a larger area light source.

The contributors are PhD candidates; Young Woo Kim^§, Jae-Young Jeong^§ from Gachon University, Korea. Professors; Eou-Sik Cho, Sang-Jik Kwon, and You-Jin Hwang^* from Gachon University, Korea. Professor Jeong Hyun Kwon^* from Chungbuk National University, Korea; and Professor Yongmin Jeon^* from Kyung Hee University, Korea. ^§ indicates the first author, and ^* indicates the corresponding author.

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2022R1F1A1065534). Also, this research was also funded by the grant of the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number: HI22C0290)

About Nano Research

Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 18 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 7,000 articles. In 2024 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2024 IF is 9.0 (8.7, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.