High metal-loaded Cu2O@TM hybrids for melt-spun antibacterial fibers engineered towards medical protective fabrics

• High metal-loaded Cu 2 O@TM antibacterial hybrid was prepared. • Cu 2 O@TM can electrostatically adsorb with bacteria. • Cu 2 O@TM is antibacterial only at a concentration of 20 μg/mL. Pathogens pose a serious threat to people's lives and health. Cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) is widely used in the field of antibacterial fibers, but its large dosage and low loading limit its application. In this work, tourmaline (TM) was used as the inorganic carrier, and the surface treatment such as silanization and radiation carboxylation was carried out, which greatly improved the grafting rate of acrylic acid (AA) and made the Cu 2 O loading to 0.93 g/g. The prepared spherical Cu 2 O@TM has a series of antibacterial effects, such as electrostatic adsorption, destruction of cell membrane permeability, and release of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, Cu 2 O@TM can achieve 96.9% bacteriostatic rate in only 10 min at a concentration of 20 μg/mL, and completely inactivate Escherichia coli within 20 min. In addition, using only 0.4 wt% Cu 2 O@TM, the antibacterial rate of antibacterial fibers against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were both above 99.99%.