Enhanced disinfection of Escherichia coli and bacteriophage MS2 in water using a copper and silver loaded titanium dioxide nanowire membrane

Abstract

A novel photocatalytic Ag-Cu-TiO₂ nanowire membrane was fabricated.

Bacteria and virus disinfection was improved by co-depositing Ag and Cu onto membrane.

Synergetic photocatalytic effects and free metal ions of Ag and Cu contribute to disinfection.

7.68 log removal of E. coli and 4.02 log removal of bacteriophage MS2 were achieved.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is a widely used photocatalyst that has been demonstrated for microorganism disinfection in drinking water. In this study, a new material with a novel structure, silver and copper loaded TiO₂ nanowire membrane (Cu-Ag-TiO₂) was prepared and evaluated for its efficiency to inactivate E. coli and bacteriophage MS2. Enhanced photo-activated bactericidal and virucidal activities were obtained by the Cu-Ag-TiO₂ membrane than by the TiO₂, Ag-TiO₂ and Cu-TiO₂ membranes under both dark and UV light illumination. The better performance was attributed to the synergies of enhanced membrane photoactivity by loading silver and copper on the membrane and the synergistic effect between the free silver and copper ions in water. At the end of a 30 min test of dead-end filtration under 254 nm UV irradiation, the Cu-Ag-TiO₂ membrane was able to obtain an E. coli removal of 7.68 log and bacteriophage MS2 removal of 4.02 log, which have met the US EPA standard. The free metal ions coming off the membrane have concentrations of less than 10 ppb in the water effluent, far below the US EPA maximum contaminant level for silver and copper ions in drinking water. Therefore, the photo-activated disinfection by the Cu-Ag-TiO₂ membrane is a viable technique for meeting drinking water treatment standards of microbiological water purifiers.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Photo-activated disinfection / Titanium dioxide / Nanowire membrane / Silver / Copper

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge A. O. Smith Corporation for providing biologic samples and for its financial support.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11783-016-0854-x and is accessible for authorized users.

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2016 Higher Education Press and Springer–Verlag Berlin Heidelberg