Reactivity of fullerenes as the basis for biofouling-resistant membranes

• Graduate student: Matt Hotze (Environmental Engineering, Duke)
• Primary Adviser: Dr. Mark Wiesner (Environmental Engineering, Duke)
• Collaborating Advisor:

Matt Hotze and Lena Brunet have been working with researchers at the CEREGE and the Universite Paul Sabatier to evaluate the ability of fullerenes to generate reactive oxygen species and the possibility of using this property to create anti-fouling membranes. Nanosize anatase (nano-TiO2 ) and fullerenes are two nanomaterials whose photoactivity has been scrutinized for its possible involvement in cytotoxicity as well as its potential applications. In this study, we compare the singlet oxygen, superoxide, and hydroxyl radical generation capacity of different fullerene water suspension to that of nano-scale TiO2in both ultra-pure water and a microbiological medium.

Publications:

E. M. Hotze, J. Labille, P. Alvarez, M. Wiesner, Mechanisms of photochemistry and reactive oxygen production by fullerene suspensions in water, Env. Sci. Tech. 42 (2008) 4175-4180.

For more information, please contact: Thomas Voice or Volodymyr Tarabara,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA 48824
Phone: +1 517 353 9718. Fax: +1 517 355 0250. Email: permeant@egr.msu.edu