Bionano-Enzyme Conjugates with Bacterial Decontamination Capabilities

Outbreak of severe infections due to inefficient or unsuccessful decontamination of surfaces could impact civilians and infrastructures leading to unfavorable socio-economic impacts. The next generation of decontamination technologies needs to reduce the logistical burdens associated with infection prevention preferably through use of green technologies.  In this work, we seek to create environmentally friendly, self-sufficient, self-cleaning, enzymatic bionano conjugates to be integrated in fabrics and paints and be used for biological decontamination. These conjugates should reduce operational burdens associated with harsh chemical agents commonly used to prevent infectious outbreaks.  Our technology utilizes two enzymes, namely glucose oxidase (GOx) and chloroperoxidase (CPO), attached to a nanosupport to generate a potent decontaminant, hypochlorus acid (HOCl). The mechanisms of HOCl generation as well as the conditions that impact enzymatic immobilization, activity, and kinetic parameters at the nanosupport have been investigated to determine the optimum circumstances for maximum decontamination capability.  With these conjugates, we have demonstrated killing of over 99% for E. Coli at 10⁶ CFU/mL in the first thirty minutes of treatment.