Anti-bacteria performance of titanium dioxide nanotubes loaded Ag nanoparticles and carbon dots for photocatalytic under visible light

The development of TiO2-based photocatalysts is significantly impeded by the limited photoresponsive and the rapid recombination of charge carriers generated by photons. In hence, a novel photocatalytic system of titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) loaded Ag nanoparticles and carbon dots (TNTs/Ag/CDs) was developed, which quickly transferred charges, absorbed visible light, generated more reactive oxygen species, and demonstrated excellent photocatalytic degradation ability and anti-bacteria properties. Under the synergistic effect of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Ag NPs and high charge transfer efficiency of CDs, photo generated electron and hole recombination was suppressed, and visible light absorption was enhanced. The loading of Ag and CDs was excessive or insufficient to decrease the photocatalytic performance of the photocatalyst. Within 120 min under visible light, the methylene blue (MB) degradation efficiency of TNTs/Ag/CDs photocatalyst was higher than that of binary photocatalyst or TNTs photocatalyst, demonstrating excellent photocatalytic performance. The sterilization rate against E.coli and S.aureus of the TNTs/Ag/CDs photocatalyst was about twice that of TNTs. Therefore, TNTs/Ag/CDs photocatalyst provides ideas for designing high-performance photocatalysts and exhibits excellent potential in the field of wastewater treatment and other forms of environmental remediation.