Unraveling the atomic-level vacancy modulation in Cu9S5 for NIR-driven efficient inhibition of drug-resistant bacteria: Key role of Cu vacancy position

Jingyu Sun; Jinghong Wen; Jianling Wang; Yang Yang; Guichang Wang; Jiandang Liu; Qilin Yu; Mingyang Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131082

Unraveling the atomic-level vacancy modulation in Cu₉S₅ for NIR-driven efficient inhibition of drug-resistant bacteria: Key role of Cu vacancy position

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Jun 5:451:131082. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131082. Epub 2023 Mar 1.

Authors

Jingyu Sun¹, Jinghong Wen², Jianling Wang³, Yang Yang³, Guichang Wang⁴, Jiandang Liu⁵, Qilin Yu⁶, Mingyang Liu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252059, China.
³ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education) and the Tianjin key Lab and Molecule-based Material Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: wangguichang@nankai.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Particle Detection and Electronics, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. Electronic address: evanlmy@163.com.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: yuqilin@mail.nankai.edu.cn.
⁷ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China; Key Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: liujd@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 36870131
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131082

Abstract

Cu₉S₅ possesses high hole concentration and potential superior electrical conductivity as a novel p-type semiconductor, whose biological applications remain largely unexploited. Encouraged by our recent work that Cu₉S₅ has enzyme-like antibacterial activity in the absence of light, which may further enhance the near infrared (NIR) antibacterial performance. Moreover, vacancy engineering can modulate the electronic structure of the nanomaterials and thus optimize their photocatalytic antibacterial activities. Here, we designed two different atomic arrangements with same V_CuSCu vacancies of Cu₉S₅ nanomaterials (CSC-4 and CSC-3) determined by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). Aiming at CSC-4 and CSC-3 as a model system, for the first time, we investigated the key role of different copper (Cu) vacancies positions in vacancy engineering toward optimizing the photocatalytic antibacterial properties of the nanomaterials. Combined with the experimental and theoretical approach, CSC-3 exhibited stronger absorption energy of surface adsorbate (LPS and H₂O), longer lifetime of photogenerated charge carriers (4.29 ns), and lower reaction active energy (0.76 eV) than those of CSC-4, leading to the generation of abundant ·OH for attaining rapid drug-resistant bacteria killed and wound healed under NIR light irradiation. This work provided a novel insight for the effective inhibition of drug-resistant bacteria infection via vacancy engineering at the atomic-level modulation.

Keywords: Atomic-level modulation; Cu(9)S(5); Photocatalytic antibacterial; Vacancy engineering.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents* / pharmacology
Bacteria*
Copper / pharmacology
Electric Conductivity
Electricity

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Copper