Silver mirror-inspired conform immobilization of nano-Ag onto quartz fibers for point-of-use water disinfection

Pathogenic water contamination claims millions of lives annually, yet existing disinfection methods face inherent trade-offs between efficacy, cost, and sustainability. Here, we report a biomimetic strategy inspired by the silver mirror reaction to fabricate quartz fiber membranes with conformal silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) immobilization (denoted QF@Ag). By leveraging hexamethylenediamine’s dual functionality as a reductant and stabilizer, we achieve site-specific Ag NPs growth (∼7 nm) via redox-mediated immobilization, ensuring stable and uniform nanoparticle distribution. The QF@Ag membrane demonstrates unprecedented antimicrobial efficacy in continuous-flow systems, achieving 99.95% removal of Escherichia coli (E. coli, log reduction value, LRV = 3.28) and 99.99% removal of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, LRV = 5.13), both of which far exceed the WHO’s guidelines (LRV ≥ 3). More importantly, this work establishes a scalable and low-energy solution that synergizes material innovation with decentralized water treatment needs, potentially offering a transformative pathway to mitigate global microbial contamination.