Functionalized carbon dioxide nanospheres for antimicrobial activity.

• Main Author: Tan, Zhi Jian.
• Other Authors: Xu Rong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Chemical engineering::Biotechnology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/40013
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This report highlights the development of functionalising glucose-synthesized carbon nanospheres (GCNS) for antimicrobial activity. Activated carbon have been widely used in water treatment processes, however, it is not used to kill microbes in these processes. Thus, GCNS offer an innovative alternative to present methods used to kill microbes. In this project, poly-(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP) was successfully attached onto the surface of GCNS, and it is this PVP group that aid in killing of microbes. Eight different samples of GCNS was synthesized and tested with gram-negative E.coli and gram-positive S.aureus cells and it has been shown that only GCNS-PVP was able to kill the cells, with the HNO3-activated GCNS-PVP being the most effective, successfully reducing the E.coli cells by 99.9% and S.aureus cells by 100%. Lastly, the report provides a framework that integrates the mechanism of the main reaction and that of the experimental methods for the attachment of PVP onto GCNS.