title: Metal Iodate-Based Energetic Composites and Their Combustion and Biocidal Performance.
abstract: The biological agents that can be weaponized, such as Bacillus anthracis, pose a considerable potential public threat. Bacterial spores, in particular, are highly stress resistant and cannot be completely neutralized by common bactericides. This paper reports on synthesis of metal iodate-based aluminized electrospray-assembled nanocomposites which neutralize spores through a combined thermal and chemical mechanism. Here metal iodates (Bi(IO3)3, Cu(IO3)2, and Fe(IO3)3) act as a strong oxidizer to nanoaluminum to yield a very exothermic and violent reaction, and simultaneously generate iodine as a long-lived bactericide. These microparticle-assembled nanocomposites when characterized in terms of reaction times and temporal pressure release show significantly improved reactivity. Furthermore, sporicidal performance superior to conventional metal-oxide-based thermites clearly shows the advantages of combining both a thermal and biocidal mechanism in spore neutralization.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jian
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: DeLisio
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park 20740, Maryland, United States.
authors.forename: V T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zachariah
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000737:chemistry; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000502:physiology; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007452:Iodates / Q000737:chemistry*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004202:Disinfectants; D007452:Iodates; D008670:Metals; D000535:Aluminum
keywords: biocidal; electrospray; energetic materials; metal iodate; nanothermite