Monolithic ceramic foams for ultrafast photocatalytic inactivation of bacteria

Palladium-modified nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (TiON/PdO) foams were synthesized by a sol-gel process on a polyurethane foam template. The TiON/PdO foam was tested for microbial killing using Escherichia coli cells as a target. Under visible-light illumination, the TiON/PdO foam displayed a strong antimicrobial effect on the bacteria cells in water. The antimicrobial effect was found to be dependent on the palladium content and the calcination temperature. In a flow-through dynamic photoreactor, the new photocatalyst efficiently inactivated E. coli within a short contact time (<1 min), the shortest ever reported for the photocatalytic killing of bacteria. The strong antimicrobial functions of the TiON/PdO foam were related to charge trapping by PdO and the high contact efficiency of the foam structure.