Efficient Prevention of Aspergillus flavus Spores Spread in Air Using Plasmonic Ag-AgCl/α-Fe2O3 under Visible Light Irradiation

Aspergillus flavus is a kind of widespread fungi that can produce carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic secondary metabolites known as aflatoxins. Aspergillus flavus mainly spread through the means of fungal spores in air, thus preventing the spores spread is an effective strategy to control aflatoxins contamination from source. Herein, a rapid and efficient control way to prevent the spread of Aspergillus flavus spores in air was demonstrated. Ag-AgCl nanoparticles were combined with tetrahedral alpha-Fe2O3 to form plasmonic composites that presented 93.65 +/- 1.53% prevention rate of Aspergillus flavus spores under 50 min visible light irradiation. The efficient activity was attributed to the synergy effect of Ag including intrinsic disinfection, electron sink, and localized surface plasmon resonance effect, which were proven by photoelectric characterization, density functional theory, and finite difference time domain methods. The calculated work functions of alpha-Fe2O3, Ag, and AgCl were 3.71, 4.52, and 5.38 eV, respectively, which could accelerate photoinduced carrier transfer through Ag during photoreaction. Moreover, it was found that the intrinsic disinfection of Ag and hydroxyl radical from photocatalytic reaction were the main factors to the prevention of Aspergillus flavus spores, which resulted in the destruction of spore structure and the leakage of intracellular protein with 62.15 +/- 2.63 mu g mL(-1). Most important, it was proven that the composites also showed high activity (90.52 +/- 1.26%) to prevent Aspergillus flavus spore spread in the storage process of peanuts. These findings not only provided useful information for an efficient and potential strategy to prevent Aspergillus flavus contamination but also could be as a reference in toxic fungi control.

Automated summary

This study demonstrated a rapid and efficient control method to prevent the spread of Aspergillus flavus spores in air using plasmonic composites. The composites, composed of Ag-AgCl nanoparticles and tetrahedral alpha-Fe2O3, showed a prevention rate of 93.65 +/- 1.53% under visible light irradiation. The prevention activity was attributed to the intrinsic disinfection, electron sink, and localized surface plasmon resonance effect of Ag. The composites also exhibited high activity (90.52 +/- 1.26%) in preventing Aspergillus flavus spore spread during peanut storage. These findings provide useful strategies for preventing Aspergillus flavus contamination and controlling toxic fungi.