Antifungal properties of high efficient W/WO₃ electrodes acting under UV-Vis and visible light and chloride medium

The present work investigates the use of W/WO₃ electrodes prepared by electrochemical anodization applied in the photoelectrocatalytic disinfection of Candida parapsilosis using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and visible irradiation. The core objective of this work lies in describing a novel approach involving the use of chloride as supporting electrolyte, aiming at achieving a faster inactivation and towards understanding its behavior in water containing high chloride content. The best experimental conditions were found to be at pH 7.0 and 0.1 mol L^-1 NaCl when the photoelectrode was biased at 1.5 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) illuminated by both UV-Vis and visible light. It is suggested that charges photogenerated on the electrode surface give rise preferably to HO•, known to be powerful oxidant that causes the total inactivation of the microorganism (1 min of treatment) while engendering around 84% of mineralization of organic matter released from the cell damage following 120 min of treatment.