PhD defense : Kamila GOLDYN

The properties of nanozeolites, namely, large surface area, hydrothermal stability and nontoxic nature, enable their utilization in forward-looking applications, including biomedicine (sensors, drug and gas delivery) and  microbiology (antibacterial agents). Hence, a lot of research has been devoted to study the new biomedical applications using zeolitic materials, their full potential has still not been fully unveiled.

It is well recognised that growing resistance to already established treatments of tumors and bacterial infections using radiotherapy and antibiotics is a distressing matter. Therefore, the development of new therapeutic strategies towards above issues is of great demand. The goal of this PhD research is to synthesise and post-synthetically modify nanosized zeolites for biomedical applications.

This involves the ion-exchange of zeolite with various cations to find the most suitable one for desired applications in regards to antimicrobial treatment, tumour tissue reoxygenation and gas delivery.

In this study, we report: (i) the effect of copper modified nanosized FAU type zeolite on ESKAPE type bacteria (Chapter 3), (ii) the metal containing nanozeolite as a tool for tissue oxygenation and visualisation using MRI (Chapter 4), and lastly (iii) the use of FAU nanozeolite as nitric oxide and carbon dioxide gas vector to prevent life threatening conditions (Chapter 5).