Heterogeneous Fenton's-like catalyst potentiation of hydrogen peroxide disinfection: an investigation into mechanisms of action.

AIMS: This study aimed to establish the mechanisms of action (MOA) of a novel surface-functionalized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) catalyst, which was previously shown to have potent antimicrobial activity in conjunction with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). METHODS AND RESULTS: Bactericidal activity was determined using a disinfectant suspension test. The MOA was investigated by measuring the loss of 260 nm absorbing material, membrane potential, permeability assays, analysis of intra- and extracellular ATP and pH, and tolerance to sodium chloride and bile salts.The catalyst lowered sub-lethal concentrations of H2O2 from 0.2 to 0.09%. H2O2 ± 3 g PAN catalyst significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced sodium chloride and bile salt tolerance, suggesting the occurance of sublethal cell membrane damage. The catalyst significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) N-Phenyl-l-Napthylamine uptake (1.51-fold) and leakage of nucleic acids, demonstrating increased membrane permeability. A significant (P ≤ 0.05) loss of membrane potential (0.015 a.u.), coupled with pertubation of intracellular pH homeostasis and depletion of intracellular ATP, suggests potentiation of H2O2-mediated cell membrane damage. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to investigate the catalyst's antimicrobial mechanism of action, with the cytoplasmic membrane being a target for cellular injury.

Novel ion chromatography technique for the rapid identification and quantification of saturated and unsaturated low molecular weight organic acids formed during the Fenton oxidation of organic pollutants.

The Fenton oxidation process is one of the most widely used technologies in the oxidation of organic pollutants. The identification and quantification of end products of these oxidation processes is of prime importance due to environmental concerns of pollution and toxicity. In this work, we have developed a highly sensitive, cheap, easy and rapid method of determining low molecular weight mono and dicarboxylic acids using ion exclusion chromatography with inverse chemical suppression and conductivity detection. Eleven organic acids were simultaneously separated in 22min with detection limits ranging from 10 to 500ppb and limits of quantification from 0.05 to 50ppm. The method was tested and proved to be accurate, reproducible, precise and highly sensitive. Linearity was in the range of R2: 0.977-0.999, with a percentage error of less than 2% for oxalic and maleic acids, and less than 1% for the rest of the organic acids studied.

Novel fibrous catalyst in advanced oxidation of photographic processing effluents.

A novel fibrous catalyst was used to destroy the pollutants in Kodak Non-Silver-Bearing (NSB) photographic processing effluents with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) value. The oxidation activity of the catalyst was evaluated in terms of COD reduction of the effluent. The effects of concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and effluent, amount of catalyst, reaction time and temperature on the COD reduction were studied. In addition, the combination of catalysis with UV treatment on the COD reduction of the effluent was also investigated. Based on the experimental results, room temperature is preferred for the catalytic oxidation of NSB effluent. It was found that COD reduction of the effluent depends on the amount of hydrogen peroxide added to the feed in relation to the mass of catalyst used. Significant COD reduction (up to 52%) is achieved after 4 hours of catalytic treatment. Extending the duration of catalysis up to 24 hours gives further slight decrease in COD value.

Comparison of micro- and mesoporous inorganic materials in the uptake and release of the drug model fluorescein and its analogues.

The uptake of the three species of the drug model fluorescein (fluorescein sodium salt (FNa), fluorescein free acid (F), and fluorescein diacetate (FDA)) by zeolite NaX and the mesoporous zeotype MCM-41 was investigated as well as their release rates into solutions at pH 7 and pH 4.5. UV/Vis analysis was carried out at a wavelength of 490 nm. Uptakes of the sodium salt of 9 % for zeolite X and 14 % for MCM suggest little penetration of the pores. The use of ethanol as the loading solvent for F resulted in little uptake for both zeolitic materials due to the successful competition of the ethanol for binding sites. Use of acetone (weaker proton acceptor) as loading solvent significantly improved the uptake of F to 17 % and 12 % for zeolite X and MCM, respectively, whilst the uptake of FDA in acetone increased still further to 22 % and 17 % for zeolite X and MCM, respectively. Generally there was a large initial release of the fluorescein analogues from the surface of the zeolites with very little further increase over time. The prescence of an esterase enzyme in the release medium of FDA tripled the release from MCM to 15 % but left the release from zeolite X unaffected at 6 %. The results obtained show that uptake of fluorescein and its analogues is dependent on the loading solvent used, the amount released is influenced by not only the solvent but the pH and the presence of enzymes in the release medium.