A comparison of copper and acid site zeolites for the production of nitric oxide for biomedical applications

The authors would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, University of St Andrews, and CRITICAT Centre for Doctoral Training for financial support [Ph.D. studentship to SR; Grant code: EP/L016419/1]. C. A. O. thanks Becas Chile and the Cambridge Trust for funding. D. F.-J. thanks the Royal Society (UK) for funding through a University Research Fellowship. Thanks also go to Chevron for the sample of H-SSZ-13.Copper-exchanged and acidic zeolites are shown to produce nitric oxide (NO) from a nitrite source in biologically active (nanomolar) concentrations. Four zeolites were studied; mordenite, ferrierite, ZSM-5 and SSZ-13, which had varying pore size, channel systems and Si/Al ratios. ZSM-5 and SSZ-13 produced the highest amounts of NO in both the copper and acid form. The high activity and regeneration of the copper active sites makes them good candidates for long-term NO production. Initial cytotoxicity tests have shown at least one of the copper zeolites (Cu-SSZ-13) to be biocompatible, highlighting the potential usage within biomedical applications.PostprintPeer reviewe