Sodium bicarbonate

Polymer scaffolds were manufactured by utilizing an FDA approved biodegradable PVA. In particular, a PVA solution was prepared by dissolving 8 g PVA powder (Sigma Aldrich, 99% hydrolyzed, M_W = 89 000–98 000) in 40 ml deionized water, and stirred at 80 °C until the PVA reached a final concentration of 21% w/v. After cooling it to room temperature (RT), 3 g of the obtained PVA solution was stirred with 0.66 g of sodium bicarbonate (Sigma Aldrich).
The mixture composed of PVA and sodium bicarbonate was mixed for 30 seconds with 1 ml hydrochloric acid (HCl) (37% purity, Carlo Erba). The chemical reaction of hydrochloric acid with sodium bicarbonate particles generates carbon dioxide gas that, due to the high viscosity of the polymer, remains trapped inside of the polymer, and induces the formation of the PVA foam (Fig. 1a).^{27 (link)} The produced PVA foam was cast in a polystyrene mold (2 cm diameter) (Fig. 1b). The mold was quickly frozen at −20 °C for 6 h, to have the PVA foam stabilized (Christ alpha 1-4 lsc). The samples were freeze-dried at −20 °C under a vacuum pressure of 0.250 mbar for 24 h (Fig. 1c).^{28 (link)} The scaffold was extracted from the mold (Fig. 1d), and washed in deionized water to remove traces of unreacted components. The samples were placed to dry under a hood, and, once dried, the non-porous external surfaces of the scaffolds were cut with a surgical scalpel.

Dexamethasone (Dex), insulin, isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX), Oil Red O powder, rosiglitazone (RGS), sodium bicarbonate, methylthiazoletetrazolium (MTT), Tween 20, isopropanol, formaldehyde, glutamine, glucose, sodium pyruvate, sodium bicarbonate, pantothenic acid, cortisol, triiodothyronine, methanol, and butanol were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Penicillin/streptomycin solution, Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) and fetal bovine serum (FBS) were obtained from Hyclone Laboratories, Inc. (Logan, UT, USA) and Life Technologies Corp. (Grand Island, NY, USA). B. pilosa extract and GHT were produced in compliance to the good manufacturing practices guidelines and purchased from Chun-Yueh Biomedical Technology Co. (Taipei, Taiwan) as previously described22 (link). Quality control of GHT in each batch of B. pilosa extracts was conducted as shown in Sup. Fig. S3 as previously described22 (link).

P. falciparum parasites were cultured in human erythrocytes^{50 (link)} and were synchronised by sorbitol treatment^{51 (link)}. NF54-based lines were cultured at 2% haematocrit in human O + erythrocytes (purchased from pooled, anonymous donors at the New York Blood Center) in RPMI 1640 medium (KD Medical) supplemented with 0.21% sodium bicarbonate (Sigma Aldrich), 10 μg/mL gentamicin (Fisher) and 10% O + human serum. Dd2-B2-PfATP4^G358S and Dd2-B2 parasites were cultured at 3% haematocrit in human O + erythrocytes in RPMI-1640 media, supplemented with 25 mM HEPES (Fisher), 50 mg/L hypoxanthine (Sigma Aldrich), 2 mM l-glutamine (Cambridge Isotope Laboratories, Inc.), 0.21% sodium bicarbonate (Sigma Aldrich), 0.5% (wt/vol) AlbuMAXII (Invitrogen), 7.5% O + human serum and 10 μg/mL gentamicin (Fisher). Cultures were maintained at 37 °C in an atmosphere consisting of 5% O₂, 5% CO₂ and 90% N₂.
For all other parasites, the cultures, which typically had a haematocrit between 2-4%, were maintained with continuous shaking^{52 (link)} at 37 °C in a low-O₂ atmosphere (1% O₂, 3% CO₂ and 96% N₂). The culture medium was RPMI 1640 containing 25 mM HEPES (Gibco) supplemented with 11 mM additional glucose, 0.2 mM hypoxanthine, 20 μg/mL gentamicin sulphate and 3 g/L Albumax II. The blood was provided by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood without disclosing the identities of the donors.

124-TCB (Sigma-Aldrich, Darmstadt, Germany, ≥99%) was used as the target pollutant. The ferrioxalate solution, the catalyst of the process, was prepared using potassium oxalate monohydrate (Sigma-Aldrich, 99.50%) and iron (III) sulphate hydrate (Sigma-Aldrich, 97%). Hydrogen peroxide (35 wt.%), titanium oxysulfate (used for the quantification of Hydrogen peroxide), sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sulfuric acid, oxalic acid, acetone (used for Ionic Chromatography analysis), 1,10-phenanthroline, sodium acetate (used in the measurement of iron in solution), n-hexane, tetrachloroethane, butyl cyclohexyl (used in COC determination by GC), NaOH (for pH adjustment), catalase, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium chloride were all purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. The bacteria Vibrio fischeri (Microtox^® Acute Reagent, Azur Environmental, Carlsbad, CA, USA) was supplied by I.O. Analytical. All the stock solutions and their dilutions were prepared with high-purity water from a Millipore Direct-Q system (Millipore Corporation, Burlington, MA, USA) (resistivity >18 MΩ cm at 25 °C).