Research of photocatalytic degradation of HeLa cells at the TiO2 interface by ATR-FTIR and fluorescence microscopy

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) and luminescence microscopy methods were applied to study oxidation kinetics for biomolecular components of eukaryotic HeLa cancer cells caused by photogenerated charges in TiO2. It was shown, that organic matter of cells is mineralized on porous film of TiO2 nanoparticles in such a way that TiO2 surface does not show HeLa cell residues. Basic precursor organic groups Amide I, Amide II and phosphate are oxidized with different rates. Amide II is oxidizing with the highest rate, it is followed by Amide I, and phosphate is the most resistant to oxidation.