Metal-free inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 by fullerene/C3N4hybrid under visible light irradiation.
Interest has grown in developing safe and high-performance photocatalysts based on metal-free materials for disinfection of bacterial pathogens under visible light irradiation. In this paper, the C60/C3N4and C70/C3N4hybrids were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high revolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). The performance of photocatalytic disinfection was investigated by the inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Both C60/C3N4and C70/C3N4hybrids showed similar crystalline structure and morphology with C3N4; however, the two composites exhibited stronger bacterial inactivation than C3N4. In particular, C70/C3N4showed the highest bactericidal efficiency and was detrimental to all E. coli O157:H7 in 4h irradiation. Compared to C3N4, the enhancement of photocatalytic activity of composites could be attributed to the effective transfer of the photoinduced electrons under visible light irradiation. Owing to the excellent performance of fullerenes (C60, C70)/C3N4composites, a visible light response and environmental friendly photocatalysts for disinfection were achieved.
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Kai
K
Ouyang
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Ke
K
Dai
College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Hao
H
Chen
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Qiaoyun
Q
Huang
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
Chunhui
C
Gao
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: cp@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
Peng
P
Cai
D002384:Catalysis; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000187:drug effects*; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008027:Light; D008670:Metals / Q000378:metabolism*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D037741:Fullerenes; D008670:Metals; D014025:Titanium
C(3)N(4); Pathogen; Photocatalytic disinfection; Visible light irradiation