Photoaccumulating TiO2–MoO3, TiO2–V2O5, and TiO2–WO3 Heterostructures for Self-Sterilizing Systems with the Prolonged Bactericidal Activity

The photocatalytic coatings based on the solvothermally-derived submicron particles of layered MoO3, V2O5, and WO3 with the islet TiO2 shell demonstrate excellent photoenergy storage ability accumulating the photoproduced charge, as evidenced by EPR measurements, via generation of hydrogen bronzes and Ti3+ states, which exhibit gradual oxidation in air conditions yielding peroxide. This continuous production of long-lived oxidation agent imparts bactericidal activity to the pre-exposed photocatalysts which retains for unprecedentedly long time (depending on the photocatalyst, the survival ratio below 0.5 is observed for E. coli bacteria for 10–12 h after exposure).