Nanotech & Nanobiotechnology

Biography

Aharon Gedanken obtained his PhD from Tel Aviv University, Israe and later completed his Postdoctoral Research at USC in Los Angeles. He got a Lecturer position at BIU on Oct. 1975. In 1994, he switched his research interest from Spectroscopy to Nanotechnology. His special synthetic methods of nanomaterials include: Sonochemistry, Microwave Superheating, Sonoelectrochemistry, and Reactions under Autogenic Pressure at Elevated Temperatures (RAPET). Since 2004, he is mostly focused on the applications of nanomaterials. Gedanken has published 785 peer-reviewed manuscripts in international journals. His H-Index is 83. He was a partner in five EC FP7 projects one of them, SONO, was coordinated by him. This project was announced by the EC as a Success Story. He was the Israeli representative to the NMP (Nano, Materials, and Processes) committee of EC in FP7. He was awarded the prize of the Israel Vacuum Society in 2009 and the Israel Chemical Society for excellence in Research in Feb 2013.

Abstract

Sonochemistry is our deposition method for imparting unique properties to the desired substrates. It was applied first to coat a large variety of textiles (cotton, polyester, nylon wool and more) with anti-bacterial Nanoparticles (NPs). Excellent adherence to the textiles was demonstrated in withstanding 65 washing cycles in Hospital washing machines. In the current presentation its power will be demonstrated in the deposition of antimicrobial NPs on medical devices such as catheters, contact lenses, cochlear electrodes, and silicon-implants. It was also deposited on artificial teeth by the sonic irradiation and avoided the formation of biofilm of s. mutans. The NPs that have been used in this research are ZnO, CuO, Cu_0.89Zn_0.11O and MgF₂. For the catheters too, in vivo experiments were conducted. The first experiment conducted in Israel where 5 coated and 5 uncoated silicon catheters were installed in rabbits that were hanged during the 7 days of the experiment. The second was done in Synovo, Tubingen where 15 coated and 15 uncoated catheters were inserted in the rabbits which were free to run around. In both cases the coated catheters have avoided the formation of biofilm on the catheters in comparison with the appearance of urine contamination after day 4. Good results were obtained in all the above mentioned medical devices.