Visible-light-induced bactericidal activity of vanadium-pentoxide (V2O5)-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles

The bactericidal activity of TiO(2) nanoparticles under visible light is very important in regards to its practical applications. In this paper, we synthesized vanadium-pentoxide-loaded TiO(2) nanoparticles (V(2)O(5)-TiO(2)) using a chemical vapor condensation method, followed by the impregnation method, and characterized its physicochemical properties through X-ray diffraction patterning, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, Raman spectra analysis, and Fourier transform infrared analysis. In addition, the antibacterial activity of V(2)O(5)-TiO(2) nanoparticles against E. coli was evaluated and compared with pure TiO(2) nanoparticles. In these experiments, the population of E. coli was shown to be significantly reduced by V(2)O(5)-TiO(2) nanoparticles under illumination with fluorescent light, whereas pure TiO(2) nanoparticles showed about 3.3-fold lower antibacterial activity than the V(2)O(5)-TiO(2) nanoparticles. This result was most likely due to the change in surface conditions of the TiO(2) nanoparticles, which was due to the loading of vanadium pentoxide on the TiO(2) nanoparticles. Furthermore, both photocatalysts showed similar antibacterial activity under UV-A (352 nm) irradiation.