Isabela Karina Della-Flora

PhD-student (Federal University of Santa Catarina (FUSC) (Brazil), in co-tutoring)

 

BIOSYNTHESIS OF IRON NANOPARTICLES AND THEIR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

 

Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Cristiano José de Andrade (FUSC); Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. h.c. Aldo R. Boccaccini (FAU)

Iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) have attracted the attention of researchers due to their unique properties such as stability and biocompatibility. The traditional methods of FeNP synthesis, such as a chemical and physical synthesis, are usually related to extreme conditions, chemicals, and other negative environmental factors. Therefore, the biosynthesis of FeNPs, mediated by plants or microorganisms, has been emerging in recent years, in particular using bacteria cell-free extracts. This research project presents a simple and economical biological method to produce FeNPs using cell free extract from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 – a biomass generated from surfactin production using cassava wastewater. The novelty on this work is the proposal of a simple, ecological method, eliminating the need for downstream processing of nanoparticles, and using the biomass produced through an alternative culture medium, to reduce costs of the synthesis of FeNPs. The application of FeNPs in the biomaterials field is part of the project to be carried out at the Erlangen Institute of Biomaterials.