Diatom Microbubbler for Biofilm Removal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020093947-A1
Application number	US-201916540291-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 14, 2019
Priority date	Sep 20, 2018
Publication date	Mar 26, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Diatom microbubblers comprising diatom biosilica or other silica linked to a catalyst for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, such as manganese oxide (MnO 2 ), platinum (Pt), CuO (copper II oxide), or zinc peroxide (ZnO 2 ) particles or nanosheets, or catalase are provided. Further provided are methods of reducing or eliminating biofilm or biofouling conditions.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A diatom microbubbler comprising diatom biosilica linked to a catalyst for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ).

2 . The diatom microbubbler of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is (1) manganese oxide (MnO 2 ), platinum (Pt), CuO (copper II oxide), or zinc peroxide (ZnO 2 ) particles or nanosheets, or (2) catalase.

3 . The diatom microbubbler of claim 1 , wherein the diatom biosilica is linked to MnO 2 nanosheets.

4 . The diatom microbubbler of claim 1 , wherein the diatom biosilica is linked to MnO 2 via a polydopamine linker.

5 . The diatom microbubbler of claim 1 , wherein the diatom biosilica is cylinder-shaped with a hollow central bore.

6 . A method of reducing a biofilm or biofouling condition comprising contacting:
(a) a diatom microbubbler comprising diatom biosilica linked to a catalyst for the decomposition of H 2 O 2 ; and (b) a H 2 O 2 solution; with the biofilm or biofouling condition for a period effective to reduce reproduction of microorganism or to reduce numbers of microorganisms in or on the biofilm or biofouling condition.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the catalyst for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide is (1) manganese oxide (MnO 2 ), platinum (Pt), CuO (copper II oxide), or zinc peroxide (ZnO 2 ) particles or nanosheets, or (2) catalase.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the H 2 O 2 solution is a 1-5% solution of H 2 O 2 .

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the diatom microbubbler is present at a concentration of 0.5 to 5.0 mg mL −1 .

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the diatom microbubbler is mixed with the H 2 O 2 and then contacted with the biofilm or biofouling condition.

11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the diatom microbubbler and the H 2 O 2 are contacted separately with the biofilm or biofouling condition.

12 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the biofilm or biofouling condition comprises one or more strains of bacteria, fungi, filamentous fungi, yeasts, algae, cyanobacteria, viruses, and protozoa and combinations thereof.

13 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the biofilm or biofouling condition comprises one or more strains of bacteria.

14 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the biofilm or biofouling condition is present in or on a non-living surface.

15 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the biofilm is present in or on a living surface or organism.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the biofilm is present at a wound site or infection site in a mammal.

17 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the storage modulus of the biofilm or biofouling condition is reduced by 50% or more.

18 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the method is performed a second time with a fresh diatom microbubbler and fresh H 2 O 2 solution.

19 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of the biofilm is reduced by 50% or more.

20 . A method making amine-substituted diatom biosilica particles comprising:
(a) contacting diatom biosilica and dopamine hydrochloride with water and stirring to form a solution; (b) adding tris-buffer to the solution and stirring until amine-substituted diatom biosilica particles are formed; and
collecting the amine-substituted diatom biosilica particles.

Assignees

• Univ Illinois

Inventors

• Kong Hyunjoon
• Seo Yongbeom
• Leong Jiayu
• Deng yu-heng

Classifications

• B01J21/08

  Silica · CPC title

• A61L2/26

  Accessories · CPC title

• A61L2/186 Primary

  Peroxide solutions · CPC title

• B01J23/34 Primary

  Manganese · CPC title

• B01J35/0006

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic