《Photocatalytic inactivation of airborne bacteria onto g-C₃N₄/TiO₂/Ni-polydopamine/Ni bifunctional coupling filter with non-size dependent capture effect》

Website： https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2023.122580

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Abstract：

Most commercial air purifiers rely on dense fibrous filters for bioaerosols control, which filter the particulate matter size-dependently without bactericidal activity. Herein, the non-size-dependent bifunctional nickel foam filters (g-C₃N₄/TiO₂(CT)/Ni-polydopamine(PDA)/Ni bifunctional filter) with two layers of coupling nickel foams deposited by CT and PDA, respectively, were developed. The bifunctional filter shows remarkable non-size dependent bacteria removal efficiency of 93.5% and inactivation efficiency of ~70% within 20 min at high airflow of 12.5 L min^-1. The inactivation efficiency can be further increased to 99.99% with prolong irradiation time and enhancement of light intensity. The non-size dependent capture effect of the CT/Ni-PDA/Ni provided by adhesive force and charge was verified. In addition, the assumption that reactive oxygen species (ROSs) could be transferred into air during bacteria inactivation was first proved by chemiluminescent. This pioneered study may provide new insights into the development of bifunctional filters for non-size dependent capture and photocatalytic inactivation of bacteria in bioaerosols.