Bioinspired artificial spider silk photocatalyst for the high-efficiency capture and inactivation of bacteria aerosols

Linghui Peng, Haiyu Wang, Guiying Li, Zhishu Liang, Weiping Zhang, Weina Zhao and Taicheng An ()
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Linghui Peng: Guangdong University of Technology
Haiyu Wang: Guangdong University of Technology
Guiying Li: Guangdong University of Technology
Zhishu Liang: Guangdong University of Technology
Weiping Zhang: Guangdong University of Technology
Weina Zhao: Guangdong University of Technology
Taicheng An: Guangdong University of Technology

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Bioaerosol can cause the spread of disease, and therefore, capture and inactivation of bioaerosols is desirable. However, filtration systems can easily become blocked, and are often unable to inactivate the bioaerosol once it is captured. Herein, we reported a bioinspired artificial spider silk (ASS) photocatalyst, consisting of a periodic spindle structure of TiO2 on nylon fiber that can efficiently capture and concentrate airborne bacteria, followed by photocatalytic inactivation in situ, without a power-supply exhaust system. The ASS photocatalyst exhibits a higher capture capacity than the nylon fiber substrate and a photocatalytic inactivation efficiency of 99.99% obtained under 4 h irradiation. We found that the capture capacity of the ASS photocatalyst can be mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of hydrophilicity, Laplace pressure differences caused by the size of the spindle knots and surface energy gradients induced by surface roughness. The bacteria captured by the ASS photocatalyst are inactivated by photocatalysis within droplets or at the air/photocatalyst interfaces. This strategy paves the way for constructing materials for bioaerosol purification.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38194-1

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