Antibiotic photocatalysis and antimicrobial activity of low-cost multifunctional Fe3O4@HAp nanocomposites

J Labrag; M Abbadi; M Hnini; C El Bekkali; A Bouziani; D Robert; J Aurag; A Laghzizil; J-M Nunzi

doi:10.1007/s40201-023-00869-8

Antibiotic photocatalysis and antimicrobial activity of low-cost multifunctional Fe₃O₄@HAp nanocomposites

J Environ Health Sci Eng. 2023 Jul 4;21(2):429-440. doi: 10.1007/s40201-023-00869-8. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

J Labrag¹, M Abbadi^{1

2}, M Hnini³, C El Bekkali¹, A Bouziani⁴, D Robert², J Aurag³, A Laghzizil¹, J-M Nunzi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Applied Chemistry of Materials, Faculty of Science, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Avenue Ibn Batouta, BP.1014, Rabat, Morocco.
² Institut de Chimie et Procédés pour l'Energie, l'Environnement et la Sante (ICPEES), CNRS‑UMR7515, Université de Strasbourg, Saint-Avold Antenna, Université de Lorraine, 12 Rue Victor Demange, 57500 Saint‑Avold, France.
³ Center of Plant and Microbial Biotechnology, Biodiversity and Environment, Faculty of Science, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Avenue Ibn Batouta, BP.1014, Rabat, Morocco.
⁴ Chemical Engineering Department, Middle East Technical University, Üniversiteler Mahalesi ODTÜ, Çankaya, Ankara 06800 Turkey.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada.

PMID: 37869605
PMCID: PMC10584758 (available on 2024-07-04)
DOI: 10.1007/s40201-023-00869-8

Abstract

Water contamination by multiple pollutants is a serious environmental issue originating from the many diverse sources of pollution. It has worsened with the appearance of new contaminants, named emerging micropollutants, such as drug residues which are considered a potential threat to human health and/or ecosystems. These require prior treatment before release into the environment. Simultaneous adsorption and photocatalysis as well as solid-liquid separation are promising technologies for water treatment. In order to obtain low cost photoactive nanocomposites, porous and magnetic Fe₃O₄-hydroxyapatite (wFeHAp) nanocomposites were prepared by soft chemistry from the dissociation of natural phosphate into Ca²⁺ and H₃PO₄ precursors, further neutralized by ammonia in the presence of preformed Fe₃O₄ particles. The magnetic nanocomposites were characterized and examined as effective antibacterial agents. Fe₃O₄ association with apatite modifies the surface properties of the wFeHAp nanocomposite materials, yielding efficient antimicrobial activity for S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and K. pneumoniae strains. The photocatalytic removal of ciprofloxacin (CPF) and oxytetracyclin (OXT) antibiotics in water was also evaluated. The wFeHAp nanocomposites adsorbed and degraded the selected antibiotics successfully. Toxicity evaluation of the treated water after photodegradation using the four strains demonstrates the absence of toxic by-products at the end of the reaction. Therefore, Fe₃O₄@HAp nanoparticles are valuable for antimicrobial and photocatalysis applications.

Keywords: Fe3O4; Hydroxyapatite; Magnetic nanocomposites; Microbial activity; Photocatalysis.

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