Efficient Near-Infrared Response Antibacterial Ceramics Based on the Method of Facile In Situ Etching Upconversion Glass-Ceramics

As the world is faced with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, photocatalytic antibacterial ceramics can reduce the consumption of disinfectants and improve the safety of the public health environment. However, these antibacterial ceramics are often limited by poor stability and low light utilization efficiency. Herein, an antibacterial ceramic was developed via the method of facile in situ etching of upconversion glass-ceramics (UGC) (FIEG) with HCl, in which the BiOCl nanosheets were in situ grown on the surface of GC to improve its stability and antibacterial activity. The results suggest that the upconversion antibacterial ceramics can harvest and utilize near-infrared (NIR) photons efficiently, which display notable antibacterial activity for Escherichia coli (E. coli) under NIR (≥780 nm) and visible light (420–780 nm) irradiation, with a maximum inactivation rate of 7.5 log in 30 min. Meanwhile, in the cycle experiment, more than 6 log inactivation of E. coli was achieved using an antibacterial ceramic sheet after 2-h NIR light irradiation, and the stability of the antibacterial ceramic was discussed. Furthermore, the reactive species, fluorescence-based live/dead cells, and cell structure of bacteria were analyzed to verify the antibacterial mechanism. This study provides a promising strategy for the construction of efficient and stable antibacterial ceramics.