Voltage-Dependent Visible-Light-Driven Bactericidal Porous Graphene
摘要
Electronic bandgap of three-dimensional (3D) perforated structure of graphene nanomesh shows prominent applications ranging from optoelectronics and nanodevice area to the bandgap engineering of photocatalyst-assisted bactericides and nanocomposite fabrication. Herein, having started from dried rice husk a green source of carbon, perforated graphene flakes (PGFs) are prepared through a single-step method. The samples are fully characterized and found to have a bandgap of 1.8 eV as well as negative zeta potential of − 29.8 mV (in deionized water). A negative differential resistance array device (NDR-AD) is made with PGFs, and its exploitation in visible-light-assisted antibacterial purposes is tested to be successful. The effect of a moderate bias voltage (< 5 V) on the extent of the antibacterial property is also scrutinized. It is noticed that (at an optimum applied voltage of 2.5 V) antibacterial results can reach to high percentage of almost 100% (absolute bacterial removal in ~ 1 h irradiation). Most important message of this study is use of a merely carbon-based structure (without addition of any form of metal oxide). The mechanism of the light-assisted antibacterial effect (related to light-assisted NDR phenomenon) is discussed as well.