Preparation and Mechanism of Cu-Decorated TiO₂–ZrO₂ Films Showing Accelerated Bacterial Inactivation

Abstract

Antibacterial robust, uniform TiO2-ZrO2 films on polyester (PES) under low intensity sunlight irradiation made up by equal amounts of TiO2 and ZrO2 exhibited a much higher bacterial inactivation kinetics compared to pure TiO2 or ZrO2. The TiO2-ZrO2 matrix was found to introduce a drastic increase in the Cu-dopant promoter enhancing bacterial inactivation compared to Cu sputtered in the same amount on PES. Furthermore, the bacterial inactivation was accelerated by a factor close to three, by Cu- on TiO2-ZrO2 at extremely low levels ∼0.01%. Evidence is presented by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for redox catalysis taking place during bacterial inactivation. The TiO2-ZrO2-Cu band gap is estimated and the film properties were fully characterized. Evidence is provided for the photogenerated radicals intervening in the bacterial inactivation. The photoinduced TiO2-ZrO2-Cu interfacial charge transfer is discussed in term of the electronic band positions of the binary oxide and the Cu TiO2 intragap state.