In view of increasing drug resistance, ecofriendly photoelectrical materials are promising alternatives to antibiotics. Here we design an interfacial Schottky junction of Bi₂S₃/Ti₃C₂T_x resulting from the contact potential difference between Ti₃C₂T_x and Bi₂S₃. The different work functions induce the formation of a local electrophilic/nucleophilic region. The self-driven charge transfer across the interface increases the local electron density on Ti₃C₂T_x. The formed Schottky barrier inhibits the backflow of electrons and boosts the charge transfer and separation. The photocatalytic activity of Bi₂S₃/Ti₃C₂T_x intensively improved the amount of reactive oxygen species under 808 nm near-infrared radiation. They kill 99.86% of Staphylococcus aureus and 99.92% of Escherichia coli with the assistance of hyperthermia within 10 min. We propose the theory of interfacial engineering based on work function and accordingly design the ecofriendly photoresponsive Schottky junction using two kinds of components with different work functions to effectively eradicate bacterial infection.

Some infectious or malignant diseases such as cancers are seriously threatening the health of human beings all over the world.

Solar powered clean water production has been considered a favorable way to address the problem of the global water shortage. Recently, the interfacial solar-steam generation system has greatly improved water evaporation by localizing the solar energy at an advanced solar-thermal conversion material interface. However, the specific water productivity (SWP) is still far away from a satisfactory level due to the strong mutual interference between the incident sunlight and the generated water vapor, which causes a huge loss in energy and in turn restrains the final efficiency in water evaporation and collection. SWP is the water collection per solar radiation area per hour, which reflects the actual solar efficiency for water production and a key concern in desalination. Herein, we report a rational Janus-interface solar-steam generator (J-SSG), which separates the water evaporation and the solar-thermal conversion on the two sides of the film generator. This J-SSG demonstrates a water evaporation rate of up to 2.21 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under 1 sun in a large area of 100 cm². More importantly, a record high SWP of 1.95 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ is realized in a simple system, and the SWP efficiency corresponding to the ratio of SWP to evaporation rate is as high as 88%. In an outdoor test (Beijing, solar energy ∼15 MJ m⁻² day⁻¹), 10 L purified water per square meter have been easily achieved. This Janus-interface engineering of the solar-steam generator provides a novel strategy and solution for solar powered water production of practical significance.

Owing to the poor penetration depth of light, phototherapy, including photothermal and photodynamic therapies, remains severely ineffective in treating deep tissue infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-infected osteomyelitis. Here, we report a microwave-excited antibacterial nanocapturer system for treating deep tissue infections that consists of microwave-responsive Fe₃O₄/CNT and the chemotherapy agent gentamicin (Gent). This system, Fe₃O₄/CNT/Gent, is proven to efficiently target and eradicate MRSA-infected rabbit tibia osteomyelitis. Its robust antibacterial effectiveness is attributed to the precise bacteria-capturing ability and magnetic targeting of the nanocapturer, as well as the subsequent synergistic effects of precise microwaveocaloric therapy from Fe₃O₄/CNT and chemotherapy from the effective release of antibiotics in infection sites. The advanced target-nanocapturer of microwave-excited microwaveocaloric-chemotherapy with effective targeting developed in this study makes a major step forward in microwave therapy for deep tissue infections.