This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Engineers have developed a new approach for turning ordinary water into a weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a study published in the journal Chem Catalysis. The research hinges on a new kind of crystal made from titanium dioxide.
These crystals transform ordinary oxygen molecules in water into a form known as "singlet" oxygen. Singlet oxygen is nearly identical to the gas in the air you breathe, known as "triplet" oxygen, but it's much more chemically reactive. That allows it to seek out and attack fragments of bacterial DNA floating in water.
The researchers envision that their approach could one day help cities treat water supplies, preventing antibiotic-resistant bacteria from reaching your kitchen faucet. "Unlike conventional disinfection approaches that may require continuous addition of chemical oxidants, this system uses oxygen naturally available in the environment to disinfect water," says co-author Xinjian Shi of Henan University in China. The study tackles a growing problem around the world: In recent decades, bacteria and other pathogens have evolved resistance to common medications like antibiotics at an alarming rate.
Scientists have experimented with various approaches to killing these microbes, including exposing water to intense ultraviolet light. But those techniques have a major drawback. They eliminate bacteria but leave behind something potentially just as dangerous: their DNA.
"The persistence of this genetic material is an environmental concern because extracellular DNA can be taken up by other microorganisms, potentially leading to the spread of antibiotic resistance," says co-author Boxia Liu of North Minzu University in China. To address those challenges, the researchers decided to target not just bacteria but their genes as well by designing specialized titanium dioxide crystals. The crystals include tiny defects, or "oxygen vacancies," a bit like the dimples on a golf ball.
When the researchers shone light on the crystals, they observed that ordinary oxygen molecules interacted with those defect sites. The crystals then catalyzed a series of chemical reactions that rapidly transformed triplet oxygen into singlet oxygen, which exists in nature but is much rarer than triplet oxygen. "Catalyst defects should not simply be considered as imperfections in a material structure," says co-author Zhi Song of North Minzu University.
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