The
inability of commercial personal protective equipment (PPE)
to inactivate microbes in the droplets/aerosols they intercept makes
used PPE a potential source of cross-contamination. To make PPE spontaneously
and continuously antimicrobial, we incorporate PPE with oxidase-like
catalysts, which efficiently convert O2 into reactive oxygen
species (ROS) without requiring any externally applied stimulus. Using
a single-atom catalyst (SAC) nanoparticle containing atomically dispersed
copper atoms as the reactive centers (Cu-SAC) and a silver–palladium
bimetallic alloy nanoparticle (AgPd0.38) as models for
oxidase-like catalysts, we show that the incorporation of oxidase-like
catalysts enables PPE to inactivate bacteria in the droplets/aerosols
they intercept without requiring any externally applied stimulus.
Notably, this approach works both for PPE that are fibrous and woven
such as a commercial KN95 facial respirator and for those made of
solid plastics such as an apron. This work suggests a feasible and
global approach for preventing PPE from spreading infectious diseases.