Influence of the Metabolic Activity of Microorganisms on Disinfection Efficiency of the Visible Light and P25 TiO2 Photocatalyst

Abstract

The beneficial photocatalytic properties of UV light activated TiO2 powder are well-known and have been demonstrated with various pollutants and pathogens. However, traditionally observed photocatalytic activity of visible light activated pristine TiO2 is insignificant but there are a few studies which have reported that under some specific conditions commercially available TiO2 powder could at least partially disinfect microorganisms even under visible light. To better understand this phenomenon, in the current study we focused on bacteria response to the treatment by visible light and P25 TiO2 powder. More specifically, we analyzed the relationship between the bacteria viability, outer membrane permeability, metabolism, and its capacity to generate intracellular reactive oxygen species. During the study we assayed the viability of treated bacteria by the spread plate technique and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction method. Changes in bacterial outer membrane permeability were determined by measuring the fluorescence of N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (NPN). To detect intracellular reactive oxygen species formation, the fluorescence of dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) was assayed. Results of our study indicated that TiO2 and wide spectrum visible light irradiation damaged the integrity of the outer membrane and caused oxidative stress in the metabolizing bacteria. When favorable conditions were created, these effects added up and unexpectedly high bacterial inactivation was achieved.

Can photocatalysis help in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic?

“…The loss of cell wall integrity causes that those cells are surrounded only by a monolayer of plasma membrane. The disruption of bacterial cell walls by photocatalysis has already been proven in many reports [ 47 , 62 , 63 ]. However, the cell walls of filamentous fungi is approximately twice thicker than in gram-positive bacteria [ 64 ], and thus this is the possible reason of higher fungal resistance to photocatalysis.…”