Trifunctional Cu-Mesh/Cu2O@FeO Nanoarrays for Highly Efficient Degradation of Antibiotic, Inactivation of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, and Damage of Antibiotics Resistance Genes

Trifunctional Cu-mesh/Cu2O@FeO nanoarrays heterostructure is designed and fabricated by integrating Cu2O@FeO nanoarrays onto Cu-mesh (CM) via an in-situ growth and phase transformation process. It is successfully applied to efficiently mitigate the antibiotic pollution, including degradation of antibiotics, inactivation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and damage of antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs). Under visible-light irradiation, CM/Cu2O@FeO nanoarrays exhibit a superior degradation efficiency on antibiotics (e.g., up to 99% in 25 min for tetracycline hydrochloride, TC), due to the generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially the dominant O-center dot(2-). It can fully inactivate E. coli (HB101) with initial number of similar to 10(8) CFU mL(-1) in 10 min, which is mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of 1D nanostructure, dissolved metal ions, and generated ROS. Meanwhile, it is able to damage ARGs after 180 min of photodegradation, including tetA (vs TC) of 3.3 log(10), aphA (vs kanamycin sulfate, KAN) of 3.4 log(10), and tnpA (vs ampicillin, AMP) of 4.4 log(10), respectively. This work explores a green way for treating antibiotic pollution under visible light.

Automated summary

This study presents a trifunctional Cu-mesh/Cu2O@FeO nanoarrays heterostructure for efficiently mitigating antibiotic pollution. The nanoarrays exhibit excellent degradation efficiency on antibiotics and can inactivate antibiotic-resistant bacteria by generating reactive oxygen species, especially O-center dot(2-), under visible-light irradiation. Moreover, it is capable of damaging antibiotics resistance genes.