Pathogenic bacteria that give rise to diseases every year remain a major health concern. In recent years, tellurium-based nanomaterials have been approved as new and efficient antibacterial agents. In this paper, we developed the approach to directly grow tellurium nanowires (Te NWs) onto commercial carbon fiber fabrics and demonstrated their antibacterial activity. Those Te NWs can serve as templates and reducing agents for gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) to deposit. Three different Te-Au NWs with varied concentration of Au NPs were synthesized and showed superior antibacterial activity and biocompability. These results indicate that the as-prepared carbon fiber fabrics with Te and Te-Au NWs can become antimicrobial clothing products in the near future.

Pathogenic bacteria that give rise to diseases every year remain a major health concern. In recent years, Te-based nanomaterials have been approved as new and efficient antibacterial agents. In this paper, we developed the approach to directly grow Te and Te-Au nanowires onto commercial carbon fiber fabrics and demonstrated that they can be used as efficient antibacterial materials. Upon the combining of triboelectric nanogenerator and capacitor, we successfully demonstrated the concept of self-powered antimicrobial application. This is because during the electrolysis process, the release of tellurite ions would help to suppress the growth of bacteria. In addition, compared to Ag nanoparticles that are commonly used as antibacterial reagents, Te and Te-Au nanowires can provide higher antibacterial activity and lower toxicity.

Pathogenic bacteria that give rise to diseases every year is a major health concern around the world. In recent years, tellurium-based nanomaterials have been approved as new and efficient antibacterial agents. In this research, we developed a new approach to directly grow tellurium (Te NWs) onto commercial carbon fiber fabrics and demonstrated that it remain the good antibacterial effect. In addition, we also showed that when connecting the as-prepared carbon fiber fabrics to a triboelectric nanogenerator, a self-powered antibacterial system was constructed. During the operation of triboelectric nanogenerator, the generated electricity contributed to electroporation of bacteria and electrolysis of Te NWs. These factors resulted in a combination effect and consequently kill the bacteria in an efficient way. Upon increasing the amplitude and frequency of electric output, the self-powered active antibacterial system exhibited more enhanced performance to inhibit the bacteria growth. These results indicate that the as-prepared carbon fiber fabrics and self-powered antibacterial system can be integrated with clothing products in the near future.

Harvesting Energy from human motions to power portable electronic devices and sensors has been recognized as a new approach to solve the energy problem. In this study, we start to realize the concept by using commercial carbon fibers as the substrates to fabricate nanogenerators. Those fiber-based nanogenerators not only strongly show the potential do develop energy clothes in the near future but also provide an effective way to harvest energy from all directions. Nanowire arrays are designed to grow on carbon fibers first in order to enhance the electric outputs from nanogenerators. By further coating biocompatible polymers on the nanowire arrays, the fiber-based nanogenerators have been successfully demonstrated to harvest mechanical energy from walking. The nanogenerators have also been demonstrated as self-powered force sensors.