Photocatalytic Inactivation of Co-Culture of E. coli and S. epidermidis Using APTES-Modified TiO 2

The presented work shows the antibacterial activity of TiO photocatalysts modified by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). The APTES-functionalized TiO samples were obtained by the solvothermal process followed by calcination. The antibacterial activity of APTES/TiO samples was evaluated with two species of bacteria, and , under artificial solar light (ASL) irradiation. The used bacteria are model organisms characterized by negative zeta potential (approx. -44.2 mV for and -42.3 mV for ). For the first time, the antibacterial properties of APTES-functionalized TiO were evaluated against mono- and co-cultured bacteria. The high antibacterial properties characterized the obtained APTES-modified nanomaterials. The best antibacterial properties were presented in the TiO -4 h-120 °C-300 mM-Ar-300 °C sample (modified with 300 mM of APTES and calcined at 300 °C). The improvement of the antibacterial properties was attributed to a positive value of zeta potential, high surface area, and porous volume.