Near-Infrared-Activated MoS2(S)–Ag3PO4 Coating for Rapid Bacteria-Killing

Medical tools and implants used in clinics can be contaminated with bacteria even with disinfection treatment. To avert this situation, titanium (Ti) plates modified with a MoS2(S)–Ag3PO4 coating were designed to kill Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) effectively under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. The introduction of Ag3PO4 nanoparticles (NPs) reduced the bandgap of MoS2 and suppressed the recombination of the photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Therefore, Ti–MoS2(S)–Ag3PO4 exhibited a higher photocatalytic performance, leading to the generation of more radical oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, cooperating with the good photothermal performance of MoS2, the MoS2(S)–Ag3PO4 coating exhibited a high antibacterial efficacy of 99.76 ± 0.15% and 99.85 ± 0.09% against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively, for 15 min in vitro. Moreover, the MoS2(S)–Ag3PO4 coating had no apparent toxicity to cells. The proposed strategy may provide new insights for rapidly eradicating bacteria on medical tools and superficial implants.