Antibacterial metal-organic framework thin films on cellulose fibers via dopamine-mediated ultrafast assembly

Infectious bacteria tend to colonize and culture on varying fabrics in daily life, then spread by human activity, posting a long-lasting threat to personal and public safety. Owing to the remarkable photocatalysis capacity, facile hydrothermal synthesis, low toxicity, and stable biocompatibility, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are ideal candidate materials for integrating antibacterial function on fabric fibers to control the spread of pathogens. However, the preparation of MOF thin films (MOF-TFs) on fibers generally depended on sophisticated reaction conditions and tedious procedures, resulting a limitation of real applications. Herein, we report an ultrafast, scalable, and low toxicity strategy to assemble MOF-TFs onto cellulose fibers. For the first time, MOFs nanoparticles could facilely and rapidly assemble on the cellulose fibers via dopamine (DA)-mediated codeposition in a neutral aqueous environment (pH = 7.0) within 10 min, representing a 72-fold reduction in assembly time compared to the conventional polydopamine (PDA)-assisted methods. Three types of MOFs, including porous coordination network-224 (PCN-224), porphyrinic zirconium metal-organic framework (MOF-525), and zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) were hired to exam the assemble ability of this method. Molecular dynamics and density functional theory calculation revealed that noncovalent interactions including hydrogen bond formation and electrostatic interaction between DA/MOF composite and the cellulose fibers accounted for the ultrafast assembly of the MOF-TFs, in sharply contrast to conventional polymerization-driven mussel-inspired adhesion. As a proof-of-concept, the resultant films retained the inherited photocatalysis and adsorption properties of MOFs, enabling efficient L-arginine loading (as a model drug) and demonstrating photocatalysis property to achieve efficient antibacterial performances. Overall, this study advances the DA or PDA-mediated MOF assembly theory and provides a rapid, versatile, scalable route for fabricating functional MOF-TFs.