posted on 2021-10-05, 12:06authored byChenglong Mu, Jiahe Ren, Hua Chen, Yi Wu, Qunna Xu, Xiaodan Sun, Kai Yan
Textiles
that protect against bacterial nosocomial infections are
vital owing to the associated high morbidity, mortality, and a series
of challenges that remain in the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria.
To overcome these hurdles, a universal coating was developed by combining
g-C3N4/ZIF-8 heterojunction nanoparticles and
hydrophobic waterborne polyurethane (PU) to form protective textiles
with remarkable antibacterial, anti-adhesive, and antifouling performance.
The g-C3N4/ZIF-8 nanoparticles produce reactive
oxygen species to render Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus inactive
upon visible light illumination, while hydrophobic waterborne PU hinders
bacterial adhesion on coated textiles. The synergy of photocatalytic
nanoparticles and hydrophobic polymers is what endows textiles with
these remarkable antibacterial properties. Moreover, coated textiles
also demonstrate antifouling ability, such as the degradation of methylene
blue dyes under visible light illumination. As a proof of concept,
this coating was applied to common masks, which were then found to
exhibit prominent antibacterial properties. The coating design proposed
in this study provides a scalable strategy for the preparation of
commercial antibacterial textiles.