• Dombovari, Aron
• Huuhtanen, Mika
• Mikkola, Jyri Pekka
• Kukovecz, Akos
• Skovorodkin, Ilya
• Tuchin, Valery V.
• Rautio, Anne Riikka
• Konya, Zoltan
• Sarkar, Anjana
• Kordas, Krisztian
• Tuchina, Elena S.
• Petrov, Pavel O.
• Bibikova, Olga A.
• Prilepsky, Arthur
• Keiski, Riitta L.
• Mohl, Melinda
• Vainio, Seppo
• Popov, Alexey

Abstract

<p>Further developments of antibacterial coatings based on photocatalytic nanomaterials could be a promising route towards potential environmentally friendly applications in households, public buildings and health care facilities. Hereby we describe a simple chemical approach to synthesize photocatalytic nanomaterial-embedded coatings using gypsum as a binder. Various types of TiO₂ nanofiber-based photocatalytic materials (nitrogen-doped and/or palladium nanoparticle decorated) and their composites with gypsum were characterized by means of scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy as well as electron and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. These gypsum-based composites can be directly applied as commercially available paints on indoor walls. Herein we report that surfaces coated with photocatalytic composites exhibit excellent antimicrobial properties by killing both methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) under blue light. In the case of MSSA cells, the palladium nanoparticle-decorated and nitrogen-doped TiO₂ composites demonstrated the highest antimicrobial activity. For the MRSA strain even pure gypsum samples were proven to be efficient in eradicating Gram-positive human pathogens. The cytotoxicity of freestanding TiO₂ nanofibers was revealed by analyzing the viability of HeLa cells using MTT and fluorescent cell assays.</p>

Topics

• nanoparticle
• surface
• scanning electron microscopy
• x-ray diffraction
• Nitrogen
• composite
• transmission electron microscopy
• Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
• palladium
• gypsum