Fig. 3: Mechanism of elimination of infective viruses by BLG AF–Fe hybrids.

a, Infectivity of Φ6 after 1 h of incubation with BLG AF, 30 nm Fe NPs, BLG monomer–Fe and BLG AF–Fe. A control experiment was conducted by incubating the virus in PBS buffer without any additives. Complete elimination of infectious Φ6 is only achieved when incubated with BLG AF–Fe hybrids for 60 min; no or very limited elimination was observed when the viruses were incubated with BLG AF or 30 nm Fe NPs alone; elimination became substantial, yet partial, when the virus was incubated in BLG monomer–Fe. The plotted data are the average of three technical replicas and the error bars represent the s.d., except for the BLG monomer–Fe data, which are the average of two technical replicas and the error bars represent the range. b, TEM micrographs of negative stained Φ6 showing intact phages. c, TEM micrographs of negative stained Φ6 incubated with BLG AF–Fe hybrids. d, Cryo-TEM micrograph of Φ6 incubated with BLG AF–Fe hybrids. Of the eight viruses in the field of view, two are not associated with BLG AF–Fe (left side) and six are associated (on the top right and lower end of the image) with BLG AF–Fe. No clear signs of structural damage to the viruses can be seen. e,f, Infectivity of H1N1 (e) and SARS-CoV-2 (f) after 1 h of incubation with BLG AF, BLG monomer–Fe and BLG AF–Fe. A control experiment was conducted by incubating the virus in PBS buffer without any additives. Complete-to-partial elimination of infectious H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2 occurred when incubated with BLG AF–Fe hybrids. No elimination was observed when the viruses were incubated with BLG AF alone. A substantial elimination was observed when the viruses were incubated with BLG monomer–Fe. H1N1 data represent the average of two technical replicas and the error bars represent the range. SARS-CoV-2 data are the average of three technical replicas with error bars that represent the s.d. *Below the LOD.

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