Nanomaterials for health and environment
Core-shell materials, where nanoparticles of a particular element are coated with another substance, can have many applications in nanotechnology and nanomedicine. A joint German and Croatian initiative has developed a process for applying unique proteins from marine organisms to nanoparticles to generate core-shell materials. The EU-funded CORESHELL project investigated the application of marine metal-oxide-forming enzymes and multicopper oxidase (MCO) enzymes from marine bacteria. It also focused on a form of laccase enzyme derived from marine sponges, which can be used to create metal oxide nanocomposite materials. Project partners immobilised a sponge laccase on magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles . In addition, the enzyme can be used together with silica or other metal-oxide-forming proteins to render nanoparticles containing multiple shells of metal oxides such as titania. The photocatalytic and ferromagnetic properties of the titania-iron oxide nanoparticles allowed the development of a method for fast and efficient elimination of bacteria applying a novel magnetic nanoparticle separator. Core-shell nanoparticles developed by the consortium will be used in the remediation of contaminated sites by removing bacteria and heavy metals. The nanoparticles can also be used for developing anti-fouling strategies.
Keywords
Nanomaterial, metal oxide, nanocomposite, core-shell material, multicopper oxidase, marine bacteria, laccase, iron oxide, anti-fouling
