Multiple catalytic materials is an important matter to solve environmental pollution and bacterial infection. Some photocatalysts are considered promising, however, they cannot work under dark conditions.

Enzyme-like activity can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) without visible light, solving the weakness of photocatalysts. Developing catalysts with photocatalytic and enzyme-like activities is significant for improving catalytic efficiency.

Recently, a research team led by Prof. WANG Yi from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) has developed a novel antifouling nanocomposite AgBr/Ag₂MoO₄ with photocatalytic and enzyme-like activities.

The study was published in Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects.

The researchers examined the oxidase-like and peroxidase-like activities of AgBr/Ag₂MoO₄ by oxidizing 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to oxidized TMB (oxTMB).

Results showed that 1:1AgBr/Ag₂MoO₄ exhibited the highest peroxidase-like and oxidase-like activities of the prepared samples, while the pure AgBr and Ag₂MoO₄ showed low oxidase-like and peroxidase-like activities.

In addition, they measured the photocatalytic property of AgBr/Ag₂MoO₄ through the degradation experiment of Rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) under visible light.

They found that the 1:1AgBr/Ag₂MoO₄ composite displayed the highest photocatalytic activity of RhB degradation, and its degradation rate reached nearly 100% in 60 min. For TC, its photo-degradation rate achieved nearly 73% within 120 min.

"The sterilization rate under the synergistic effect of enzyme-like and photocatalytic activities reached 100% in a short incubation time, emerging the limitation of single light and H₂O₂. This confirmed the synergistic effect of photocatalysis and enzyme-like catalysis," said Prof. WANG.

The AgBr/Ag₂MoO₄ composite, as the bactericidal catalyst, with dual catalytic activities is a promising material in the field of environmental pollution and bacterial infection.

The illustration image of the synergistic effect of photocatalysis and enzyme-like catalysis about AgBr/Ag₂MoO₄ (Image by IOCAS)