Creation of a composite photocatalytic nanofiber film of polyacrylonitrile encapsulated Cu2O nanoparticles for effective personal protective equipment application

To overcome the easy detachment issue faced by surface-loaded photocatalytic nanoparticles or structures on textiles for personal protective equipment (PPE) applications, a Cu 2 O@polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite photocatalytic nanofiber film was created by a simple and robust electrospinning process. The photocatalytic PAN shell encapsulated photocatalytic Cu 2 O nanoparticles, which solved the detachment issue and ensured its long-time stability and durability because Cu 2 O nanoparticles were well protected by PAN to prevent their loss and the potential leakage of copper ions from their direct contact with the environment. The Cu 2 O/PAN heterojunction facilitated the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs in both of them due to their matched electronic band structures, which induced a higher light response behavior, reduced the interface resistance, improved the charge transport efficiency, and subsequently enhanced its photocatalytic performance. Thus, it demonstrated a largely enhanced photocatalytic organic degradation on phenol and bacteria disinfection performance on Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) than the pure PAN photocatalytic nanofiber film. The Cu 2 O@PAN composite photocatalytic nanofiber film could be utilized as the core material of PPE for the prevention of respiratory infectious disease transmission and infection, which could effectively operate under visible light illumination and have good durability/reusability even after washing repeatedly.