Day-night photocatalysts that can persistently generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) after ceasing light attracted intensive attention in diverse fields. However, current strategies of combining a photocatalyst and an energy storage material can hardly fulfill the demands, especially in size. We herein present a one-phase sub-5 nm day-night photocatalyst via simply doping Nd, Tm, or Er into YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles, efficiently producing ROS in both day and night modes. We demonstrate that the rare earth ions acted as a ROS generator, and Eu3+ and defects contributed to the long persistency. Furthermore, the ultrasmall size led to remarkable bacterial uptake and bactericidal efficacy. Our finding suggests an alternative mechanism of day-night photocatalysts that could be ultrasmall and thus may shed light on disinfection and other applications.
Keywords: antibacterial agents; day−night photocatalyst; fluorescence-assisted; lanthanide nanoparticles; reactive oxygen species.