Dr. Wen Zhang’s group collaborated with Professor Yang Li from Beijing Normal University and Jae-Hong Kim at Yale University and published a paper in Nature Communications in 2025 with the title of Silver single atoms and nanoparticles on floatable monolithic photocatalysts for synergistic solar water disinfection (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56339-2).
This study presented a floatable monolithic photocatalyst with ZIF-8-NH2 loaded Ag single atoms and nanoparticles (AgSA+NP/ZIF) and explored photocatalytic water disinfection under sunlight. Atomically dispersed Ag sites form an Ag−N charge bridge and extend the lifetime of charge carriers and thereby promoting reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The results promoted the practical use of powdered photocatalysts that is often impeded by limited recovery and inefficient inactivation of stress-resistant bacteria in oligotrophic surface water. The results shown that the photothermal effect of the plasmonic Ag nanoparticles reduces the bacterial resistance to ROS and impairs DNA repair capabilities. Under sunlight irradiation, the synergistic effect of Ag single atoms and nanoparticles enables 4.0 cm2 AgSA+NP/ZIF to achieve over 6.0 log inactivation (99.9999%) for the stress-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) in oligotrophic surface water within 30 min. Furthermore, 36 cm2 AgSA+NP/ZIF is capable of disinfecting at least 10.0 L of surface water, which meets the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended daily per capita drinking water allocation (8.0 L). This study presents a decentralized and sustainable approach for water disinfection in off-grid areas.