TRAPPING BACTERIA IN BIODEGRADABLE ELECTROSPUN MAT

LUCAS GUZ; SILVIA GOYANES; MARIA LAURA PONCE; CLARA DUCA; ROBERTO CANDAL

Congreso; XVII Encuentro de Superficies y Materiales Nanoestructurados; 2017

Bacteria reservoir mats were fabricated by electrospinning polivinil alcohol (PVA).Electrospinning is a common and lately well-established method to produce nanofibers withdiameters in the range of 100 nm or even less [1]. The material obtained was found to havehigh elasticity and for this reason E-coli bacteria grew only in the interior of the material butnot on the surface. The preparation of hybrid materials that combine the mechanical andstructural properties of polymer nanofibers with the functional groups presented in bacteriamembranes or in the extracellular polymeric substances excreted by microorganisms, lead tothe generation of versatile and polyfunctional systems for several practical application(supported biosorbents and filters, biosynthesis by native or genetically modifiedmicroorganisms, bacteria cryo-preservation, and others) [2]. In this work, we proved that thematerial prepared in this way, allows preserving alive and viable bacteria in the interior of themat. The bacteria remain viable and alive after being preserved at -20°C without the additionof any anti cryogenic substance. Moreover, the mats can be used effectively as a waterremediation filter. We showed that this kind of filters could remove copper from waterwithout releasing bacteria in the water. For this reason, the present development has greatpotential as a promising hybrid system for practical water treatment with a negligibleenvironmental impact.