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Photocatalytic antimicrobial activity of thin surface films of TiO2, CuO and TiO2/CuO dual layers on Escherichia coli and bacteriophage T4

  • Applied Microbial and Cell Physiology
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Abstract

TiO2-coated surfaces are increasingly studied for their ability to inactivate microorganisms. The activity of glass coated with thin films of TiO2, CuO and hybrid CuO/TiO2 prepared by atmospheric Chemical Vapour Deposition (Ap-CVD) and TiO2 prepared by a sol–gel process was investigated using the inactivation of bacteriophage T4 as a model for inactivation of viruses. The chemical oxidising activity was also determined by measuring stearic acid oxidation. The results showed that the rate of inactivation of bacteriophage T4 increased with increasing chemical oxidising activity with the maximum rate obtained on highly active sol–gel preparations. However, these were delicate and easily damaged unlike the Ap-CVD coatings. Inactivation rates were highest on CuO and CuO/TiO2 which had the lowest chemical oxidising activities. The inactivation of T4 was higher than that of Escherichia coli on low activity surfaces. The combination of photocatalysis and toxicity of copper acted synergistically to inactivate bacteriophage T4 and retained some self-cleaning activity. The presence of phosphate ions slowed inactivation but NaCl had no effect. The results show that TiO2/CuO coated surfaces are highly antiviral and may have applications in the food and healthcare industries.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an EEC grant GRD1-2001-40791 “Advanced materials and manufacturing technologies for photocatalytically active surfaces”. We are grateful to Mr. Alan Robinson and Dr Mark Nolan for stearic acid oxidation data and to Professor Andrew Mills, University of Strathclyde for providing the sol–gel coated samples and M. Faulkner from University of Manchester Materials Science Centre for the scanning electron microscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, UK

    Iram B. Ditta, Alex Steele, Christopher Liptrot, Julie Tobin, Helen Tyler & Howard A. Foster

  2. Institute for Materials Research, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT, UK

    Heather M. Yates & David W. Sheel

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  1. Iram B. Ditta
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  2. Alex Steele
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  8. Howard A. Foster
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Correspondence to Howard A. Foster.

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Ditta, I.B., Steele, A., Liptrot, C. et al. Photocatalytic antimicrobial activity of thin surface films of TiO2, CuO and TiO2/CuO dual layers on Escherichia coli and bacteriophage T4. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 79, 127–133 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-008-1411-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-008-1411-8

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