Removal of antibiotic resistant bacteria in wastewater by aggregation-induced emission photosensitizer

The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria from wastewater to the environment will pose serious threats to human health. It is a potential solution to prepare photosensitizers with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity for use in the photo-oxidation process to supplement the wastewater treatment system. Here, an aggregation-induced emission photosensitizer with D-& pi;-A structure (TBTPy) has been reasonably designed and successfully developed. TBTPy can generate singlet oxygen with extraordinarily high efficiency under white-light irradiation owing to the small singlet-triplet energy gap. TBTPy has a rapid and efficient photo-oxidative killing effect on bacteria and fungi (such as MRSA, S. aureus, E. coli and C. albicans). TBTPy kills bacteria by binding to bacterial surface and releasing singlet oxygen to destroy cell membrane, leading to leakage of bacterial genetic material. This successful case can provide practical guidance for the subsequent development of AIE photosensitizers.

Automated summary

The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria from wastewater to the environment poses serious threats to human health. A potential solution is to use photosensitizers with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity for photo-oxidation in wastewater treatment. In this study, an aggregation-induced emission photosensitizer, TBTPy, was successfully designed and developed. TBTPy can efficiently generate singlet oxygen under white-light irradiation, leading to rapid and effective photo-oxidative killing of bacteria and fungi.