2D TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanosheets Decorated Via Sphere‐Like BiVO<sub>4</sub>: A Promising Non‐Toxic Material for Liquid Phase Photocatalysis and Bacterial Eradication
Muhammad Bilal Hanif, Jana Báčová, Viktoriia Berezenko, Yilan Zeng, Emil Paluch, Alicja Seniuk, Muhammad Zubair Khan, Sajid Rauf, Iftikhar Hussain, Monika Motlochová, G. Plesch, Olivier Monfort, Jan Čapek, Ewa Dworniczek, Tomáš Roušar, Martin Motola
Abstract
Abstract An in‐depth investigation was conducted on a promising composite material (BiVO 4 /TiO 2 ), focusing on its potential toxicity, photoinduced catalytic properties, as well as its antibiofilm and antimicrobial functionalities. The preparation process involved the synthesis of 2D TiO 2 using the lyophilization method, which was subsequently functionalized with sphere‐like BiVO 4 through wet impregnation. Finally, we developed BiVO 4 /TiO 2 S‐scheme heterojunctions which can greatly promote the separation of electron‐hole pairs to achieve high photocatalytic performance. The evaluation of concentration‐ and time‐dependent viability inhibition was performed on human lung carcinoma epithelial A549 cells. This assessment included the estimation of glutathione levels and mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity. Significantly, the BiVO 4 /TiO 2 composite demonstrated minimal toxicity towards A549 cells. Impressively, the BiVO 4 /TiO 2 composite exhibited notable photocatalytic performance in the degradation of rhodamine B (k=0.135 min −1 ) and phenol (k=0.016 min −1 ). In terms of photoinduced antimicrobial performance, the composite effectively inactivated both gram‐negative E. coli and gram‐positive E. faecalis bacteria upon 60 minutes of UV‐A light exposure, resulting in a significant log 6 (log 10 CFU/mL) reduction in bacterial count. In addition, a 49 % reduction of E. faecalis biofilm was observed. These promising results can be attributed to the unique 2D morphology of TiO 2 modified by sphere‐like BiVO 4 , leading to an increased generation of (intracellular) hydroxyl radicals, which plays a crucial role in the treatments of both organic pollutants and bacteria. This research has significant potential for various applications, particularly in addressing environmental contamination and microbial infections.