Issue 16, 2023

Molecular assembly of carbon nitride-based composite membranes for photocatalytic sterilization and wound healing

Abstract

Polymeric carbon nitride (pCN) has attracted increasing interest as a metal-free photocatalyst because of its high efficiency in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. However, due to poor solubility, compounding pCN at the molecular level into more advanced nanocomposites remains a challenge. Herein, we report the dissolution of pCN in polyphosphoric acid (PPA) for the first time and fluid-phase assembly with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into a flexible free-standing membrane. Mechanism and generality studies disclosed that the coordination of the acidity, viscosity, and adsorption energy of the solvents led to the successful dissolution of pCN. Interestingly, the pCN/CNTs molecular composite membrane exhibited not only superior mechanical properties and cycling performance as a result of strengthened π–π interfacial interaction, but also outstanding inactivation of E. coli and S. aureus in sterilization and wound healing for laboratory mice via photogenerated oxygen radicals. It would open a new era of pCN for biomedical applications in molecular composite membranes, beyond the traditional solar fuel applications in powders.

Graphical abstract: Molecular assembly of carbon nitride-based composite membranes for photocatalytic sterilization and wound healing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
04 Feb 2023
Accepted
19 Mar 2023
First published
20 Mar 2023
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 4319-4327

Molecular assembly of carbon nitride-based composite membranes for photocatalytic sterilization and wound healing

X. Peng, J. Ma, Z. Zhou, H. Yang, J. Chen, R. Chen, K. Wu, G. Xi, S. Liu, Y. Shen and Y. Zhang, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 4319 DOI: 10.1039/D3SC00642E

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