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Inactivation of Bacteria by Electric Current in the Presence of Carbon Nanotubes Embedded Within a Polymeric Membrane

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Abstract

Uniform conductive composite membranes were prepared using a phase inversion method by blending carboxyl-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a polysulfone polymer. At 6 % of the embedded CNTs, the membrane pore size measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was approximately 50 nm. Electric current in the presence of the composite membranes markedly inactivated the model pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, with the extent of bacterial inactivation rising when the current was increased. Over 99.999 % inactivation of both bacteria was observed in deionized water after 40 min at 5 mA direct current (DC); importantly, no appreciable inactivation occurred in the absence of either the electric field or the CNTs within the membranes under otherwise the same conditions. A much lower, although still pronounced, inactivation was seen with alternating current (AC) in a 25 mM NaCl aqueous solution.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported in part by the Infectious Diseases Research Center at MIT funded by the

Skolkovo Foundation and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21277173).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

    Anna Zhu, Harris K. Liu, Erzheng Su & Alexander M. Klibanov

  2. Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

    Alexander M. Klibanov

  3. School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100875, China

    Feng Long

  4. Enzyme and Fermentation Technology Laboratory, College of Light Industry Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China

    Erzheng Su

Authors
  1. Anna Zhu
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  2. Harris K. Liu
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  3. Feng Long
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  4. Erzheng Su
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  5. Alexander M. Klibanov
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Correspondence to Alexander M. Klibanov.

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Zhu, A., Liu, H.K., Long, F. et al. Inactivation of Bacteria by Electric Current in the Presence of Carbon Nanotubes Embedded Within a Polymeric Membrane. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 175, 666–676 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-1318-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-014-1318-z

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