Biofilms are responsible for about considerable amounts of cases of bacterial infections in humans. They are considered a major threat to transplant and chronic wounds patients due to their highly resistant nature against antibacterial materials and due to the limited types of techniques that can be applied to remove them. Here we demonstrate a successful in-situ bio-assisted synthesis of dual functionality nanoparticles composed of Silver and Gold. This is done using a jellyfish-based scaffold, an antibacterial material as the templating host in the synthesis. We further explore the scaffold’s antibacterial and photothermal properties against various gram-negative and positive model bacteria with and without photo-induced heating at the Near-IR regime. We show that when the scaffold is loaded with these bimetallic nanoparticles, it exhibits dual functionality: Its photothermal capabilities help to disrupt and remove bacterial colonies and mature biofilms, and its antibacterial properties prevent the regrowth of new biofilms.
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In this study, the extraordinary biosorption of mucin, a natural glycoprotein with selectivity towards metals in physiological processes, is leveraged to remove heavy metals from wastewater. The authors assess the performance of dissolved mucin for Hg2+ adsorption through studies of kinetics, capacity, and selectivity. The results show that mucin can adsorb more than 124 mg g−1 Hg2+ while exhibiting ultra‐fast kinetics, with an equilibrium reached in a few seconds. The adsorption levels are optimized in pHs higher than 4 and remain almost unchanged in the presence of background ions. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared analyses indicated that the sorption mechanism is dominated by electrostatic interactions and mercuric complexation with mucin's active sites, whereas the undesirable removal via mercuric reduction does not occur. To use mucin in a practical and green fashion for metal adsorption, mucin‐based solid structures, including films, beads, and nanofibers (NFs), are fabricated and assessed. Of these structures, the NFs show the best performance, with an uptake over 109 mg g−1 and a high structural stability over multiple adsorption and regeneration cycles. The findings point to the potential use of mucin as a future green alternative for metal biosorption for environmental applications.
dopants, forming heterojunctions using small bandgap semiconductors, or sensitization of the materials with organic chromophores to widen the adsorption toward the visible light. [10][11][12][13] In this regard, one of the most promising methodologies demonstrated is plasmonic photocatalysis (PPC). [14] In PPC, metal nanoparticles (NPs) are dispersed on the semiconductor surface and facilitate light absorbance at their localized surface plasmon resonance frequency (usually in the visible range), while the Schottky junction between the NPs and the semiconductor allows the electrons and holes to diffuse in different directions once they are created, and promotes charge separation. [15,16] When taking place in an aqueous environment, the photogenerated electrons can then be trapped by surface adsorbed molecular O 2 dissolved in water and reduce to superoxide (•O 2
In article number 2100099, Koray Aydin, Shachar Richter and co‐workers perform a bio‐assisted green synthesis of an Ag@AgCl system utilizing the biomass of jellyfish. The as‐prepared membrane shows photocatalytic properties in the visible light region for the degradation of methyl orange.
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