Molecular dipole regulated pyrene-based polymers for highly efficient natural-light-driven photocatalytic disinfection

Abstract

Diseases caused by drug-resistant bacterial infections have become a major threat to human health. In this paper, two kinds of D–A pyrene conjugate polymers, P-TVT and PTO-TVT, were synthesized by a Stille coupling reaction. Compared with P-TVT, due to the introduction of ketone groups, PTO-TVT not only achieves a balance between light absorption, charge separation efficiency and water wettability, but also obtains a larger molecular dipole moment, promotes the dissociation of excitons, and the migration and transport of charge carriers, and accelerates the separation of electron–hole pairs. Therefore, PTO-TVT inactivates 7-log of MRSA within 2.5 h under visible light irradiation, and 7-log of MRSA within 3.5 h under natural light irradiation, and has a certain inactivation effect on E. coli. In order to make an attempt at an application, PTO-TVT/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel was prepared by a chemical crosslinking method. The flexible PTO-TVT/PVA hydrogel film can inactivate 7-log MRSA within 2.5 h under LED white light. This study provides a new idea for the design of an efficient polymer photocatalyst, and also provides a broad prospect for the application of polymer-based hydrogels in wound healing.