Photocatalytic bacterial inactivation by polyoxometalates

The photocatalytic inactivation (PCI) of Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive) was performed using polyoxometalate (POM) as a homogeneous photocatalyst and compared with that of heterogeneous TiO2 photocatalyst. Aqueous suspensions of the microorganisms (107–108 cfu ml−1) and POM (or TiO2) were irradiated with black light lamps. The POM-PCI was faster than (or comparable to) TiO2-PCI under the experimental conditions employed in this study. The relative efficiency of POM-PCI was species-dependent. Among three POMs (H3PW12O40, H3PMo12O40, and H4SiW12O40) tested in this study, the inactivation of E. coli was fastest with H4SiW12O40 while that of B. subtilis was the most efficient with H3PW12O40. Although the biocidal action of TiO2 photocatalyst has been commonly ascribed to the role of photogenerated reactive oxygen species such as hydroxyl radicals and superoxides, the cell death mechanism with POM seems to be different from TiO2-PCI. While TiO2 caused the cell membrane disruption, POM did not induce the cell lysis. When methanol was added to the POM solution, not only the PCI of E. coli was enhanced (contrary to the case of TiO2-PCI) but also the dark inactivation was observed. This was ascribed to the in situ production of formaldehyde from the oxidation of methanol. The interesting biocidal property of POM photocatalyst might be utilized as a potential disinfectant technology.