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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering >> 2016, Volume 10, Issue 4 doi: 10.1007/s11783-016-0854-x

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

. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. .. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA. .. A.O. Smith Corporate Technology Center, Milwaukee, WI 53224, USA. .. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

Available online: 2016-06-12

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Abstract

A novel photocatalytic Ag-Cu-TiO 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 and 4.02 log removal of bacteriophage MS2 were achieved. Titanium dioxide (TiO ) 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 TiO nanowire membrane (Cu-Ag-TiO ) was prepared and evaluated for its efficiency to inactivate and bacteriophage MS2. Enhanced photo-activated bactericidal and virucidal activities were obtained by the Cu-Ag-TiO membrane than by the TiO , Ag-TiO and Cu-TiO 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-TiO membrane was able to obtain an 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-TiO membrane is a viable technique for meeting drinking water treatment standards of microbiological water purifiers.

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