Porous ceramic nanocomposites with entrapped biofunctionality for biotechnological applications
The incorporation
of bacteria and other biofunctional
entities into porous inorganic
matrices offers great perspectives
for biotechnological applications.
Compared to conventional
post-functionalization approaches of
sintered surfaces, incorporation of
biological functionalities into the
matrix of an accessible network of
pores during materials processing
opens up new perspectives for
achieving high turn-over rates and
high levels of biotransformation. In
this project, a biocompatible
one-pot process based on the
ionotropic gelation of biopolymers
will be used to generate porous
oxide ceramic nanocomposites with
entrapped bacterial cells and
biofunctional molecules like
photosensitizers. For this purpose,
different pore structures varying in
size, morphology and pore wall
functionality are of high interest
for analyzing both loading and
stability of the embedded
biofunctionality as well as the
reaction at the interface between
the nanocomposite material and the
biological system, i.e. kinetics of
substrate acceptability and product
release. These interactions at the
biointerface will be analyzed and
evaluated by both chemical and
biological methods and supported by
simulative approaches. By applying
standard ionotropic gelation
techniques for the generation of
interparticle pores, especially
freeze-casting and direct foaming
methods will be developed for
biocatalyst and microorganism
entrapment to evaluate the potential
of lamellar pores and cellular
structures for biotechnological
applications. To strengthen the
cooperations within the research
training group such porous ceramic
structures are also of high interest
for filtration applications dealing
with the investigation of
dielectrophoretic effects and
emulsification of fluid-fluid
systems, respectively. Furthermore,
µCT in combination with NMR methods
can be used to characterize mass
transport processes in the porous
structures for generating 3D
information in real time.
Contact: Kroll, Maas, Condi Mainardi