Double-Grafted PET Fiber Material to Remove Airborne Bacteria with High Efficiency

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 14; no. 41; pp. 47003 - 47013
• Main Authors: Lin, Yuxin, Chen, Jingyi, Mai, Yuhan, Chen, Liyun, Chen, Zheng, Wang, Guodong, Deng, Lina, Xu, Peng, Yuan, Cai, Jiang, Longguang, Huang, Mingdong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 19.10.2022
• Subjects: Applications of Polymer, Composite, and Coating Materials; chitosan; air disinfection; antibacterial; polyester fiber; photodynamic
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c13358

Air pollution caused by bacteria and viruses has posed a serious threat to public health. Commercial air purifiers based on dense fibrous filters can remove particulate matter, including airborne pathogens, but do not kill them efficiently. Here, we developed a double-grafted antibacterial fiber material for the high-efficiency capture and inactivation of airborne microorganisms. Tetracarboxyl phthalocyanine zinc, a photosensitizer, was first grafted onto the polyester (PET) fiber, followed by coating with chitosan on the surface of PET fiber to make a double-grafted fiber material. Under the irradiation of light with a specific wavelength (680 nm), double-grafted fiber materials killed up to 99.99% of Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria and had a significant antibacterial effect on drug-resistant bacteria. The double-grafted PET fiber showed broad-spectrum antibacterial activities and was capable to inactivate drug-resistant bacteria. Notably, in filtration experiments for airborne bacteria, this double-grafted PET fiber demonstrated a high bacteria capture efficiency (95.68%) better than the untreated PET fiber (64.87%). Besides, the double-grafted PET fiber was capable of efficiently killing airborne bacteria. This work provides a new idea for the development of air filtration materials that can efficiently kill airborne pathogen and has good biosafety.