Discipline: Nanoscience or Materials Science
Subcategory: Nanoscience
Session: 2
Room: Senate
Abdiel Oquendo-Cruz - University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez Campus
Co-Author(s): Magda Latorre-Esteves, University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez Campus, Mayagüez PR
Despite the potential applications of nanoparticles (NPs) in various industries (such as textiles, cosmetics, aerospace, electronics and biomedical) their production often employs toxic chemicals that can pose a hazard to human health and the environment. As an alternative, biological synthesis of nanomaterials has been of interest in recent years due to their use of environmentally friendly and biodegradable chemicals, which can produce nanomaterials relatively fast and at low temperatures. In particular, bacteria are excellent candidates for the production of nanoparticles due to their fast growth. Furthermore, the surface of nanoparticles synthesized by bacteria is coated by proteins and other biological molecules which could modulate nanoparticle-biological microenvironment interactions. This surface layer of biological molecules, known as the ‘protein corona’, can be an important factor in defining the biomedical applications of bio-synthesized nanoparticles (BSNPs). The aim of this work is to investigate the biological synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) using Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterium and yeasts. The biosynthesized Se NPs were characterized using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UVis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Also, the hydrodynamic size and surface charge were determined using a Zetasizer. The antibacterial properties of the Se NPs were estimated by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against several microorganisms. In future works, the composition of the protein corona adsorbed to the surface of BSNPs after synthesis will be determined, and the effect of the corona contents in the interactions between BSNPs and microorganisms will be investigated.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): CREST Program
Faculty Advisor: Magda Latorre-Esteves, magda.latorre@upr.edu
Role: Conceived research project, experimental design, data collection and analysis.