Abstract
To overcome the conventional limitation of TiO2 disinfection being ineffective under light-free conditions, TiO2 nanowire films (TNWs) were prepared and applied to bacterial disinfection under dark and UV illumination. TNW exhibited much higher antibacterial efficiencies against Escherichia coli (E. coli) under dark and UV illumination conditions compared to TiO2 nanoparticle film (TNP) which was almost inactive in the dark, highlighting the additional contribution of the physical interaction between bacterial membrane and NWs. Such a physical contact-based antibacterial activity was related to the NW geometry such as diameter, length, and density. The combined role of physical puncture and photocatalytic action in the mechanism underlying higher bactericidal effect of TNW was systematically examined by TEM, SEM, FTIR, XPS, and potassium ion release analyses. Moreover, TNW revealed antimicrobial activities in a broad spectrum of microorganisms including Staphylococcus aureus and MS2 bacteriophage, antibiofilm properties, and good material stability. Overall, we expect that the free-standing and antimicrobial TNW is a promising agent for water disinfection and biomedical applications in the dark and/or UV illumination.
Highlights
The photocatalytic destruction of microorganisms by TiO2 has been well documented over the last several decades[1,2,3,4]
The vertical TiO2 nanowire film (TNW) exhibit lower photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organic pollutants due to its lower surface area, but enhanced antibacterial activity compared with flat TiO2 nanoparticle film (TNP)
TNWs originate from these nanosheet structures, which are transformed into nanowire structures by splitting to reduce their surface energy[28,29]
Summary
The photocatalytic destruction of microorganisms by TiO2 has been well documented over the last several decades[1,2,3,4]. The antibacterial activities of the TNWs with different lengths (3.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 12.0 μm) and the TNP in the dark and UV light were determined using plate count method (Fig. 2a).
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