Antimicrobials have become a necessity in the post-pandemic era. In contrast to traditional silver-based antimicrobial materials, which are sterilized by silver ions, photocatalytic materials are mainly sterilized by generating reactive oxygen species, but they are limited by light. In this study, the composite coupling of semiconductor photocatalysts with long afterglow materials was designed to form ZnO/P-g-C3N4/Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu2+,Dy3+ (ZPS) for antibacterial ceramics application. The morphological, chemical structure, and optical properties of ZPS were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and UV visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS). The sustainable photocatalytic properties of as-synthesized composites were explored. Furthermore, the antimicrobial ceramics were prepared by incorporating this antibacterial agent into ceramic glazes, which were found to be highly effective against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), with a suppression rate of more than 99 %. The results of active species capture and electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments suggested that •O2- was the significant active species of the photocatalytic antimicrobial agent with a contribution of 47.17 % and that ZPS could continuously produce active species in the dark state.