纳米材料对环境中微生物活性的影响研究

研究纳米材料对环境中微生物细胞活性的影响可为纳米材料的生物安全性评价提供一定的理论基础.以大肠杆菌和枯草芽孢杆菌为受试生物,采用电导率仪测定细菌培养液电导率变化,分别研究了纳米TiO2、纳米ZnO、纳米Fe3O4、纳米SiO2、纳米二氧化钛载银、纳米磷酸锆载银、纳米棕色银对细菌细胞膜通透性的影响.结果表明,纳米材料对革兰氏阳性枯草芽孢杆菌细胞活性影响更大;同种纳米材料,粒径越小,对细菌的细胞活性影响越强;对细菌细胞活性影响最大的是纳米棕色银,对细菌细胞活性影响最小的是纳米SiO2和Fe3O4.     

纳米Ag粒子原位杂化PVDF超滤膜的抗污染性能

以AgNO3为前驱体,聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)为聚合物基体,聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)为分散剂和成孔剂,N,N-二甲基甲酰胺(DMF)为还原剂和溶剂,利用相转化法制备了纳米Ag粒子原位杂化PVDF超滤膜.采用扫描电镜、透射电镜、原子力显微镜及接触角测定仪对杂化膜的结构和性能进行了表征.结果表明:原位形成的纳米Ag粒子均匀地分散在聚合物基体中,纳米Ag粒子的添加改善了PVDF膜的亲水性能.以腐殖酸和牛血清蛋白作为污染物的代表,考察了Ag/PVDF膜的抗有机污染性能.以大肠杆菌、耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌及活性污泥作为微生物的代表,考察了杂化膜的抗生物污染性能.结果证实了与纯PVDF膜相比,Ag/PVDF膜通量衰减较慢,可有效抑制微生物的生长,表面受活性污泥污染程度小,具有显著的抗有机污染和抗生物污染性能.     

纳米颗粒原位植入法制备改性超滤膜及其抗生物污染性能研究

选取氧化铝分散体(Al2O3)、Linde A型沸石(LTA)、Linde L型沸石(LTL)和X型八面沸石(FAU-X)4种纳米颗粒,采用原位植入的方法对超滤膜进行表面改性,以提高聚砜超滤膜的抗生物污染性能.通过扫描电子显微镜、接触角测定、抗生物污染性能测试等方法来表征改性前后膜结构和性能的变化.结果表明,纳米颗粒在膜表面的原位植入具有其可行性,该方法只改变超滤膜的表面形貌,对断面和底面的结构没有影响;纳米颗粒原位植入法改性后,超滤膜的亲水性有显著提高.就抗生物污染性能而言,纳米颗粒的植入提高了膜的抗粘附性能,在纳米颗粒覆盖的区域没有大肠杆菌粘附生长;在这4种膜中,UF-LTA和UF-LTL膜的抗粘附性能优于UF-Al2O3和UF-FAU-X膜.相较而言,LTA型沸石在膜表面分散效果良好,原位植入后显著改善了膜的亲水性并且表现出较好的抗粘附性能,可作为理想的材料用于下一步研究.但LTA型沸石的抗水流剪切的能力较弱,要想提高该种纳米颗粒在膜表面的结合牢固性,应考虑减小颗粒的粒径.     

Oxidative stress, cytoxicity, and cell mortality induced by nano-sized lead in aqueous suspensions

This paper reports on the effect of aqueous and nano-particulated Pb on oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation), cytoxicity, and cell mortality. As determined by the Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) method, only 6 h after incubation aqueous suspensions bearing nano-sized PbO₂, soluble Pb(II), and brain-homogenate only suspensions, were determined to contain as much as ca. 7, 5, and 1 nmol TBARS mg protein⁻¹, respectively. Exposure of human cells (central nervous system, prostate, leukemia, colon, breast, lung cells) to nano-PbO₂ led to cell-growth inhibition values (%) ca. ≤18.7%. Finally, as estimated by the Artemia salina test, cell mortality values were found to show high-survival larvae rates. Microscopic observations revealed that Pb particles were swallowed, but caused no mortality, however.     

The Political Import of Intrinsic Objections to Genetically Engineered Food

Many people object to genetically engineerehd (GE) food because they believe that it is unnatural or that its creation amounts to playing God. These objections are often referred to as intrinsic objections, and they have been widely criticized in the agricultural bioethics literature as being unsound, incompatible with modern science, religious, inchoate, and based on emotion instead of reason. Many of their critics also argue that even if these objections did have some merit as ethicalobjections, their quasi-religious nature means that they are entirely irrelevant when interpreted aspolitical objections regarding what public policy ought to be. In this paper, we argue that this widespread view is false. Intrinsic objections have much more political import than has previously been recognized, and indeed the requirements of political liberalism and its associated idea of liberal neutrality, once properly understood, protect intrinsic objections from many of the most common objections. That is, policy-makers may not legitimately base public policy on grounds that are inconsistent with intrinsic objections, even when they believe those objections to be flawed in the ways mentioned above. This means that in the context of a political debate about GE food, the discussion should not center on the substantive merits of the intrinsic objections themselves but rather on the appropriate political norms for achieving democratically legitimate policy on issues that touch people’s deepest religious and moral beliefs.     

Bio-mediated silver nanoparticle synthesis: mechanism and microbial inactivation

Even though plenty of literature is available on the biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles, there are serious lacunae on the mechanisms of their formation. In the present study, the mechanism of formation of mono-crystalline silver nanoparticles using a fruit extract of the ornamental tree Thevetia peruviana is emphasized, i.e. how the pH of the reaction mixture affected reaction kinetics and size of the nanoparticles. The facilitation of formation of Ag₂O at higher pH resulted in a faster rate of particle formation. The diameter of the bare particles at neutral pH determined by field emission scanning electron microscopy and the hydrodynamic diameter determined by dynamic light scattering were 53 and 104 nm, respectively. The silver nanoparticles exhibited good inactivation of Escherichia coli due to participation of free radicals as evidenced by electron spin resonance spectroscopy.     

Determination of the mechanism of photoinduced toxicity of selected metal oxide nanoparticles (ZnO, CuO, Co3O4 and TiO2) to E. coli bacteria

Cytotoxicity of selected metal oxide nanoparticles(MNPs)(ZnO,CuO,Co 3 O 4 and TiO 2)was investigated in Escherichia coli both under light and dark conditions.Cytotoxicity experiments were conducted with spread plate counting and the LC 50 values were calculated.We determined the mechanism of toxicity via measurements of oxidative stress,reduced glutathione,lipid peroxidation,and metal ions.The overall ranking of the LC 50 values was in the order of ZnO < CuO < Co 3 O 4 < TiO 2 under dark condition and ZnO < CuO < TiO 2 < Co 3 O 4 under light condition.ZnO MNPs were the most toxic among the tested nanoparticles.Our results indicate depletion of reduced glutathione level and elevation of malondialdehyde level correlated with the increase in oxidative stress.Released metal ions were found to have partial effect on the toxicity of MNPs to E.coli.In summary,the dynamic interactions of multiple mechanisms lead to the toxicity of the tested MNPs to E.coli.     

膜曝气-生物膜反应器生物强化处理阿特拉津废水运行性能

在疏水SPG(shirasu porous glass)膜表面形成基因工程菌生物膜,构建SPG膜曝气-生物膜反应器(MABR)生物强化处理阿特拉津废水,考察MABR反应器稳定运行过程中污染物去除性能及其影响因素.结果表明,增大SPG膜孔径和曝气压力,能够提高曝气供氧能力,改善COD和阿特拉津生物强化去除效能.1.5μm疏水SPG膜在70 k Pa曝气压力下的最大供氧能力约为22.4 g·(m~2·d)~(-1).曝气压力为70 k Pa、水力停留时间(HRT)为1.5 h时,1.5μm膜MABR反应器COD平均去除率为80.1%,平均去除负荷为1.86 kg·(m~3·d)~(-1);阿特拉津平均去除率为62.5%,平均去除负荷为0.18 kg·(m~3·d)~(-1).进一步缩短HRT、增加进水负荷后,MABR反应器DO浓度显著下降,COD和阿特拉津去除效率大幅降低.DO浓度对阿特拉津去除的影响更为显著.随着MABR反应器的稳定运行,SPG膜表面单一基因工程菌生物膜逐渐演化为复杂微生物群落,但基因工程菌可以较好地存在于生物膜内,从而保持阿特拉津生物强化去除能力.     

A mechanistic study of ciprofloxacin adsorption by goethite in the presence of silver and titanium dioxide nanoparticles

The adsorption behaviors of ciprofloxacin (CIP), a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, onto goethite (Gt) in the presence of silver and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (AgNPs and TiO₂NPs) were investigated. Results showed that CIP adsorption kinetics in Gt with or without NPs both followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The presence of AgNPs or TiO₂NPs inhibited the adsorption of CIP by Gt. The amount of inhibition of CIP sorption due to AgNPs was decreased with an increase of solution pH from 5.0 to 9.0. In contrast, in the presence of TiO₂NPs, CIP adsorption by Gt was almost unchanged at pHs of 5.0∼6.5 but was decreased with an increase of pH from 6.5 to 9.0. The mechanisms of AgNPs and TiO₂NPs in inhibiting CIP adsorption by Gt were different, which was attributed to citrate coating of AgNPs resulting in competition with CIP for adsorption sites on Gt, while TiO₂NPs could compete with Gt for CIP adsorption. Additionally, CIP was adsorbed by Gt or TiO₂NPs through a tridentate complex involving the bidentate inner-sphere coordination of the deprotonated carboxylic group and hydrogen bonding through the adjacent carbonyl group on the quinoline ring. These findings advance our understanding of the environmental behavior and fate of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in the presence of NPs.     

单层硅烷负载磁铁矿纳米颗粒的制备及除磷性能

研究了N-氨乙基-γ-氨丙基三甲氧基硅烷在水溶液中以单层形式负载于磁铁矿纳米颗粒表面的方法,并研究了单分子层硅烷负载磁铁矿纳米颗粒吸附剂(monolayer of silane on magnetite nanoparticles,MSMNPs)的除磷性能.结果表明,在低浓度下(平衡浓度小于300 mg·L~(-1))硅烷在磁铁矿纳米颗粒表面产生单层吸附,而反应温度90℃以上或离子强度0.1 mol·L~(-1)NaCl以上可以使单层硅烷在磁铁矿纳米颗粒表面的覆盖度达到~100%.FTIR和XPS图谱显示负载的硅烷以化学键的形式与磁铁矿纳米颗粒表面相结合.单层硅烷负载不引起磁性强度的明显变化.MSMNPs对磷的吸附等温线更符合Langmuir模型,拟合得到的最大吸附量为7.59 mg·g~(-1).由于磷吸附位位于MSMNPs的最外面,磷的吸附及脱附均很快,30 min内达到90%以上,1 h内达到平衡.因此,MSMNPs是一种易分离因而可反复使用,并且可快速吸附与脱附污染物的新型吸附剂.