Enhanced photo-induced antibacterial application of graphene oxide modified by sodium anthraquinone-2-sulfonate under visible light

Graphene oxide (GO) modified with anthraquinone-2-sodium sulfonate (AQS) through a non-covalent procedure was applied as a highly efficient photo-induced nano-antibacterial agent for inactivating Escherichia coli (E. coli) in this work. The structure properties, morphologies and optical properties of the GO and AQS-GO were confirmed by various characteristic techniques. The photo-induced antibacterial effect of nano-antibacterial materials were assessed by checking the inhibition ability to E. coli under visible light (3 W) irradiation. The results exhibited that the photo-induced antibacterial effect of AQS-GO composite could reach 99% after 160 min of light exposure. The mechanism of enhanced disinfection activity was due to the synergistic effect of AQS and GO, which increased photo-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS). Scavengers of different reactive species and ESR technique revealed that ·OH played a major role rather than others during photo-induced antibacterial process. It was a promising solar-driven material for avoiding pathogenic infection in practice.