(193h) Mass-Transfer Relations for for Nanoparticle Transport across Human-Biofilm Interface

A set of current issues surrounding implanted medical devices are the bacterial infections which occur due to formation of biofilms. Nanoparticles have been proposed as therapeutics for biofilms due to their capacity to penetrate biofilm ECMs and deliver drugs to the cell surface.¹ Pharmacokinetic models for these therapeutics will need mass-transfer relations for these human-biofilm interfaces to quantify the accumulation of nanoparticles in the biofilm. A first-principles model for nanoparticle transport in biofilms was developed which accounts for nanoparticle diffusion and macro/microscale electrostatic interactions within biofilms. Nanoparticle diffusion and macroscale electrostatic interactions were captured using a modified Nernst-Plank equation. Microscale electrostatic interactions were accounted for using Negative Hill Coefficient Binding Kinetics. Dimensionless mass-transfer relations were developed from this model for different rate-limiting assumptions by solving the general component balance using both analytical and numerical techniques. These relations were then applied to charged quantum dots diffusing in B. subtilis biofilms to predict qualitative behaviors of this system.