Purification of substances contaminated with mycotoxins using functionalyzed microparticles

This work aims at the development of a new technology for mycotoxin scavenging which could be suitable for a number of medical and environmental applications. Micro-capsules produced by consecutive coating of MgCO₃ core particles with layers of poly-styrene sulfonate sodium salt and poly-allylamine hydrochloride and then functionalized with antibodies to zealalenone were utilized for purification of substances contaminated with zearalenone. All stages of microparticles fabrication were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The presence of zearalenone in test solutions was monitored using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and total internal reflection ellipsometry. A substantial reduction of zearalenone contents was achieved after the treatment of test solutions with functionalized microparticles.