Treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by encapsulation of ZnO nanoparticles in an alginate biopolymer: Insights into treatment mechanisms

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 373; pp. 122 - 130
• Main Authors: Baek, Soyoung, Joo, Sung Hee, Toborek, Michal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 05.07.2019
• Subjects: Alginate beads; Antibiotic-resistant bacteria; Multidrug-resistant bacteria; Reactive oxygen species; Zinc oxide nanoparticles; Alginate beads; Reactive oxygen species; Antibiotic-resistant bacteria; Zinc oxide nanoparticles; Multidrug-resistant bacteria
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.03.072

•ZnO NP–alginate beads revealed significant antibacterial effects.•The antibacterial mechanism involved the generation of reactive oxygen species.•The beads exhibited inactivation of bacteria in several consecutive cycles.•ZnO NP–alginate beads resulted in least leaching of zinc ions in water. Treating multidrug-resistant bacteria has been a challenging task, although the bacteria have been reported as a trace contaminant present in tap water. Given emerging issues on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the present study investigated a novel treatment method in which ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) are encapsulated in an alginate biopolymer solution to explore primary antibacterial mechanisms. The antibacterial effects of this technology on two model antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Escherichia coli DH5-α and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were found to be highly effective, with the removal rates of 98% and 88%, respectively, at the initial bacteria concentration of 108 CFU mL−1 over 6 h. The inactivation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by ZnO NP–alginate beads was improved by increasing the nanocomposite amount (4, 10, and 20 mg) and contact time. The primary mechanism involved the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The ZnO NP–alginate beads were demonstrated to be highly promising for different applications in water treatment, especially for point-of-use in the perspectives of reusability, antibacterial property of ZnO, immobilizing NPs, and utilizing high surface area of NPs, with a slight release of zinc ions.