ABSTRACT
One of the widely used microbiological methods to determine the toxicity of chemicals, catalysts, and other types of materials is the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test. The present study aims to investigate the influence of composition of composite materials based on TiO2 and their particle size as well as bacterial type and shape based on the MIC values reported in the literature. The results show that among the 36 articles selected, most of the studies used Escherichia coli (E. coli) (26) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (19) bacteria to determine MIC values. This study revealed that the MIC in values below 70 µg ml−1 for S. aureus was lower than that for E. coli bacteria (below 200 µg ml−1). Importantly, MIC value decreased from 60.6 to 7.66 µg ml−1 with decrease in the size of nanoparticles. It follows from the increased surface area for smaller-sized particles, thus increased interaction with bacteria during MIC test.
Highlights
Reported MIC values were lower for S. aureus than E. coli bacteria
More important nanoparticles structure than composition on the inhibiting properties
Direct relationship between the MIC value and particle size of TiO2 NPs
Considerable usage of rod-shaped bacteria than spherical shape for researchers
Importance of toxicity assessment of photocatalysts for water and wastewater treatment
Acknowledgements
The present study was adapted from the PhD thesis of Mehrdad Moslemzadeh at Iran University of Medical Sciences.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Availability of data and materials
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.