Vis-UV Upconverting bacteriostatic hydrophobic bacterial cellulose film for personal protective masks

Masks are key to personal protection and their bacteriostatic properties, which are generally overlooked, should be maximized. Towards this goal, a YPS-Pr-Li/BC upconversion antibacterial composite film was prepared by mixing upconversion powder with bacterial cellulose (BC) using a vacuum assisted method. When combined with the low surface energy of stearic acid (STA), the resulting YPS-Pr-Li/BC/STA film had an improved hydrophobic surface. The developed film was characterized by FT-IR, SEM, XRD, and fluorescence spectrophotometry. The results showed that the composite film was successfully prepared and had ultraviolet, visible upconversion luminescence. The bacteriostatic experiments showed that the material had excellent bacteriostatic performance against E. coli and S. aureus under visible light, with a bacteriostatic rate reaching 99 %. The in-vitro cytotoxicity tests showed that YPS-Pr-Li/BC/STA had excellent biocompatibility and could be used in personal protective clothing with close contact with human skin.