Discovering the direct evidence of photocatalytic sterilization mechanism on bimetallic sulfides heterostructures

Abstract

Despite the development of sterilization, the study of reactive oxygen species (ROS) based disinfection mechanism is still under restrictions due to the lack of direct evidence. In this work, DiI is used to explore the sterilization mechanism in-depth. The mechanism is directly proven to be that the generated ROS would seriously damage the lipid of the cell membrane. It provides direct evidence for the destruction of cell membrane for the first time. These ROS can cause the death of more than 99% of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria within 120 min under visible light. What’s more, MoS2/MSy (MSy = MnS, CuS, and CeS2) are successfully synthesized by employing Mo/M−MOF (M = Mn, Cu, and Ce) as precursors. Since bigger Fermi lever difference and smaller work function bring better photocatalytic activity, MoS2/MnS composites display superb photocatalytic activity than others. Therefore, the as-prepared materials can be widely used in environmental protection, biotechnology, and clinical therapy.