A Self-Powered Active Antibacterial System Controlled by Human Motions

Abstract

Pathogenic bacteria that give rise to diseases every year is a major health concern around the world. In recent years, tellurium-based nanomaterials have been approved as new and efficient antibacterial agents. In this research, we developed a new approach to directly grow tellurium and tellurium-gold nanowires (Te and Te-Au NWs) onto commercial carbon fiber fabrics and demonstrated that they remain the good antibacterial effect. In addition, we also showed that when connecting the as-prepared carbon fiber fabrics to a triboelectric nanogenerator, a self-powered antibacterial system was constructed. During the operation of triboelectric nanogenerator, the generated electricity contributed to electroporation of bacteria and electrolysis of Te and Te-Au NWs. These factors resulted in a combination effect and consequently kill the bacteria in an efficient way. Upon increasing the amplitude and frequency of electric output, the self-powered antibacterial system exhibited more enhanced performance to inhibit the bacteria growth. These results indicate that the as-prepared carbon fiber fabrics and self-powered antibacterial system can be integrated with clothing products in the near future.