Endotoxin Purification using Cationic Nanoparticles

Endotoxin is a lipopolysaccharide found on the membrane of gram-negative bacteria and is extremely toxic to humans. The endotoxin contamination has long been a serious problem in the lakes and rivers of Midwestern United States including Kansas, Missouri and Ohio. The water is difficult to disinfect once endotoxin is present. Although several methods such as filtration, irradiation, distillation and ethylene oxide treatments have been employed to remove endotoxin from contaminated water samples, the reduction efficiency is still low, and remains a challenge. We propose a cheap, reliable and simple method to remove endotoxin from water using cationic polymers that demonstrate high binding efficacies to negatively charged endotoxin via electrostatic interactions facilitating water purification. The intellectual merit of this proposal is the design and synthesis of polymers using an easy, one step and scalable synthesis method, and its efficiency in removing endotoxin