Photothermal Synergistic Sterilization Performance and Mechanism of Electrospun Cu2O/V2CTx Nano-Fibrous Membranes

Abstract

Electrospun fibrous membranes have the characteristics of high efficiency, non-toxicity and easy recycling, etc. Photothermal synergistic sterilization is an efficient and green means of sterilization, which has garnered increasing attention from researchers in recent years. In this dissertation, nano-fibrous membranes were synthesized by integrating polymers and inorganic materials as a photothermocatalytic sterilization agent, and demonstrated excellent performance in photothermal sterilization. Under visible-infrared light irradiation for 30 min, the sterilization rate of Staphylococcus aureus can reach 99.3%, with the highest temperature being 60.0 °C. The results indicate that the physical interaction of V2CTx sheets and the photothermal conversion capability of Cu2O/V2CTx modified nano-fibrous membranes contribute to enhanced sterilization efficiency. Furthermore, the Cu2O/V2CTx/PAN-PEG nano-fibrous membranes exhibited an improvement in the generation of photogenerated free radicals, leading to an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Keywords: Electrospinning, MXene, nano-fibrous membranes, photothermal synergy, Sterilization