In this work, the characteristics of saccharose (sucrose)-modified TiO2 (C/TiO2) photocatalysts obtained using a hydrothermal method at low temperature (100 °C) are presented. The influence of C/TiO2 on survivability and enzyme activity (catalase and superoxide dismutase) of Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (ATCC 29425) and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 49461) under UV-A and artificial solar light (ASL) were examined. The obtained TiO2-1%-S-100 photocatalysts were capable of total E. coli and S. epidermidis inactivation under ASL irradiation in less than 1 h. In addition, the impacts of sugars on the photocatalytic activity and disinfection performance are discussed.
Keywords: disinfection; photocatalysis; sucrose-modified titanium dioxide.