Critical review on the use of photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis to create antimicrobial surfaces

Infectious diseases are still a major cause of death worldwide. One way of fighting against infectious agents is to develop intrinsically antimicrobial materials to reduce the risk of pathogen spreading through contact with surfaces. Photoactive coatings offer the possibility to produce long-lasting antimicrobial surfaces that destroy microorganisms or biofilm matrices due to the production of highly reactive substances when exposed to ultraviolet light or solar radiation. This review reports a selection of recent works using materials deposited on different substrates to act as photocatalytic or photoelectrocatalytic coatings. Bandgap engineering with the introduction of dopants, or the creation of different junctions allow gaining stability, limit the rate of electron-hole recombination, and can produce materials photoactive under the visible wavelengths of the solar spectrum.