Antibacterial studies on Eu–Ag codoped TiO2 surfaces

The photocatalytic property of titanium dioxide is well known and is responsible for its antimicrobial activity. The present study is focused on the understanding of enhanced antimicrobial property of Eu–Ag codoped TiO2 surfaces, which were prepared using the sol–gel method. After exposing Eu–Ag codoped TiO2 surfaces to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the microbes attached on them were characterized by total viable counts, epifluorescence and Raman microscopic experiments. These techniques confirmed the effective reduction of microbial attachments on Eu–Ag codoped surfaces when compared to the control and Eu doped TiO2 surfaces. The reason was that the co-dopants favored the transformation of anatase/rutile mixed phase and led to the increase in photocatalytic activity of the Eu–Ag codoped TiO2 surfaces. Also, the metallic silver on TiO2 surface enhanced the photoactivity by accelerating the transport of photogenerated electrons to oxygen molecules, preventing the electron–hole recombination and facilitating the activity of codoped surfaces.