Thermocatalytic hydrogen peroxide generation and environmental disinfection by Bi2Te3 nanoplates

The highly reactive nature of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the basis for widespread use in environmental and health-related fields. Conventionally, there are only two kinds of catalysts used for ROS generation: photocatalysts and piezocatalysts. However, their usage has been limited due to various environmental and physical factors. To address this problem, herein, we report thermoelectric materials, such as Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3, and PbTe, as thermocatalysts which can produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) under a small surrounding temperature difference. Being the most prevalent environmental factors in daily life, temperature and related thermal effects have tremendous potential for practical applications. To increase the practicality in everyday life, bismuth telluride nanoplates (Bi2Te3 NPs), serving as an efficient thermocatalyst, are coated on a carbon fiber fabric (Bi2Te3@CFF) to develop a thermocatalytic filter with antibacterial function. Temperature difference induced H2O2 generation by thermocatalysts results in the oxidative damage of bacteria, which makes thermocatalysts highly promising for disinfection applications. Antibacterial activity as high as 95% is achieved only by the treatment of low-temperature difference cycles. The current work highlights the horizon-shifting impacts of thermoelectric materials for real-time purification and antibacterial applications. Temperature difference induced H2O2 generation by thermoelectric materials is an attractive strategy for environmental remediation purposes. Here the authors demonstrate Bi2Te3 nanoplates based antibacterial filter as an effective candidate for indoor disinfection applications.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates the potential of thermoelectric materials as thermocatalysts to produce hydrogen peroxide under a small temperature difference, showing promising antibacterial activity. The coating of bismuth telluride nanoplates as an efficient thermocatalyst on carbon fiber fabric has led to the development of a thermocatalytic filter with antibacterial function.