Catalytic Degradation of Antibiotic Pollutants with Nanozymes

Antibiotics are one of the greatest medical discoveries of the 20th century and are widely used in the treatment of human health due to their powerful ability to inactivate and kill microorganisms. Currently, with the widespread use of antibiotics, common antibiotics such as sulfamethoxazole, sulfadiazine, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, erythromycin and erythromycin have been found and detected in the ecosystem in high concentrations. Therefore, a targeted approach to the problem of antibiotic contamination is essential.

Methods commonly used to degrade antibiotics include adsorption, biodegradation, and advanced oxidation processes. Nanozymes can effectively remove antibiotic residues from water and overcome polar environmental conditions. Creative Enzymes provides a variety of nanozymes for catalytic degradation of antibiotic pollutants to assist our clients with research in the nanozymes field.

Degradation of Tetracycline with Nanozyme

• Tetracycline (TC) is one of the most widely used antibiotics, but most of the unabsorbed TC will be discharged into the water environment, posing a potential threat to human health and aquatic ecosystems.

Fig. 1 Degradation of tetracycline based on polyhedral Fe₃O₄ nanozymes.

• Creative Enzymes synthesizes exposed polyhedral Fe₃O₄ nanozymes by hydrothermal method using ferrous sulfate and sodium thiosulfate as precursors at 140°C.
• As a result, polyhedral Fe₃O₄ nanozymes catalyze UV-Fenton reaction with a wide pH range. This degradation system has excellent chemical stability and degradation activity, which opens new avenues for the preparation and development of photocatalytic enzyme catalysts.
• We also prepare Ag-based nanozyme composites by hydrothermal method. This enzyme shows a high photocatalytic degradation efficiency of TC, and the results of cycling experiments indicate that the composite is photovoltaically stable.

Degradation of Sulfonamides with Nanozyme

• Sulfonamides antibiotics are one of the most produced and used antibiotics in worldwide. They are a class of synthetic antibiotics that include sulfadiazide, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadiazide dimethyl pyrimidine, and others.
• Long-term exposure to sulfamethazine (SMT) seriously threatens the safety of aquatic ecosystems.
• We prepare Fe / Cu bimetallic nanozymes and apply to the H₂O₂ catalytic degradation process. With their unique structure and composition, nanozymes exhibit excellent adsorption and catalytic properties after H₂O₂ activation. They can remove the SMT when the initial solution is acidic.

Fig. 2 Reaction mechanism of SMT degradation in Fe / Cu peroxidase-like system based on Fenton reaction.

• We also use iron oxide nanozymes as catalysts to form Fenton-like reaction with H₂O₂, which has a good degradation effect on sulfonamides.

Creative Enzymes is pleased to share our cutting-edge technology and extensive expertise in enzymes to facilitate research and program development for our clients. If you are interested in our services or have any questions, please feel free to contact us or make an online inquiry.