Preparation of TiO2 Nanorods Composites Doped with Silver Nanoparticles and Their Bactericidal Properties under Visible Light Irradiation

Abstract TiO 2 is a widely used photocatalytic antibacterial material and shows good antibacterial properties under ultraviolet light. However, its antibacterial efficacy under visible light still remains limited. To develop low‐cost and biocompatible antibacterial materials, this article provides a facile method for in situ preparation of a trace amount of silver (Ag) doped TiO 2 nanorods (TiO 2 NR–Ag) composites, which cannot only enhance the antibacterial properties under visible light, but also has good biocompatibility. Two representative epidemic strains, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli , are selected for analysis of the antibacterial properties of the obtained TiO 2 NR–Ag composite nanoparticles. The results demonstrate that even if the Ag doping level is as low as 2.5 × 10 −4 wt% (i.e., Ag/TiO 2 = 2.50 µg g −1 ), the TiO 2 NR–Ag composite nanoparticle coatings are transparent and exhibit exceptional antibacterial properties, which is attributed to synergistic enhanced bactericidal effect of the active substances generated by TiO 2 NR–Ag under visible light. The cytotoxicity and hemolysis rate results indicate that TiO 2 NR–Ag composite exhibit excellent biocompatibility. This study effectively improves the antibacterial effect of TiO 2 photocatalytic nanomaterials while maintaining their biocompatibility, and the prepared TiO 2 NR–Ag composite nanoparticles can be applied in various fields such as window glasses, medical device surfaces, furniture surfaces, and optical devices, etc.