Engineered hollow Cu2O@ZnO p–n heterojunction nanocomposites for synergistic photocatalytic disinfection and tissue regeneration

Photocatalytic antibacterial therapy is a promising method for wound disinfection and treatment. However, the weak photocatalytic antibacterial activity of ZnO stimulated by visible light limits its applications. In this study, porous Cu₂O@ZnO heterojunctions with enhanced visible light response are successfully synthesized by coupling ZnO and Cu₂O using a one-pot water bath method. These synthesized Cu₂O@ZnO heterojunctions can be used to treat bacterial infection under yellow light irradiation with a high efficacy of 99.99% due to the enhanced photocatalytic activity. This is mainly due to the p–n heterojunction in Cu₂O@ZnO, which can accelerate charge transfer and effectively suppress the photogenerated electron–hole pair recombination. Animal experiment results demonstrate that Cu₂O@ZnO not only exhibits excellent antibacterial activity upon yellow light irradiation but also facilitates angiogenesis and inhibits inflammation, resulting in successful infectious wound regeneration in mice. Therefore, this heterojunction material can serve as a promising platform for effective healing of bacteria-infected wounds.