Sonocatalytic damage of bovine serum albumin (BSA) under ultrasonic irradiation with TiO2/tooth composite

BACKGROUND: In order to effectively degrade bovine serum albumin (BSA) under ultrasonic irradiation, biological mineral material (tooth powder) was adopted to mix with nano‐sized TiO2 powder. A TiO2/tooth composite with high sonocatalytic activity and remarkable selectivity was prepared. RESULTS: TiO2/tooth composite with tooth content of 30% (w/w) heat‐treated at 500 °C for 40 min was used as sonocatalyst and the catalytic degradation of BSA under ultrasonic irradiation was examined. Some influencing factors, such as ultrasonic irradiation time, TiO2/tooth catalyst amount, solution acidity and NaCl concentration, were studied by UV‐vis and fluorescence spectroscopic analysis. Furthermore, the BSA attack site for the TiO2/tooth composite was identifies by synchronous fluorescence spectra. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that, under ultrasonic irradiation, the TiO2/tooth composite can promote the degradation of BSA more effectively than pure nano‐sized TiO2 powder. The attack site is identified as tyrosine (Tyr) residue. These results are of great significance for the use of a sonocatalytic method to treat tumours in clinical applications. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry