Abstract
Semiconductor nanomaterials with photocatalytic activity have potential for many applications. An effective way of promoting photocatalytic activity is depositing noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) on a semiconductor, since the noble metal NPs act as excellent electron acceptors which inhibit the quick recombination of the photoexcited electron-hole pairs and thereby enhance the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Herein, a highly effective platform, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets with embedded Ag nanoparticles (Ag/g-C3N4), was synthesized by a facile route. Under visible light irradiation, the ROS production of Ag/g-C3N4 nanohybrids was greatly improved compared with pristine g-C3N4 nanosheets, and moreover, the nanohybrids showed enhanced antibacterial efficacy and ability to disperse bacterial biofilms. We demonstrate for the first time that the Ag/g-C3N4 nanohybrids are efficient bactericidal agents under visible light irradiation, and can also provide a new way for biofilm elimination. The enhanced antibacterial properties and biofilm-disrupting ability of Ag/g-C3N4 nanohybrids may offer many biomedical applications.
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Bing, W., Chen, Z., Sun, H. et al. Visible-light-driven enhanced antibacterial and biofilm elimination activity of graphitic carbon nitride by embedded Ag nanoparticles. Nano Res. 8, 1648–1658 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0654-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0654-1