Silver-modified iron oxide nanoparticle impregnated fiberglass for disinfection of bacteria and viruses in water

Recent work has shown that a new material system composed of iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanoparticles loaded onto a fiberglass support displays excellent antiviral properties against the model virus, MS2 phage, but is ineffective against bacteria, specifically Escherichia coli (E. coli). To increase the antibacterial properties and still maintain antiviral activity, silver (Ag) nanoparticles were added to this system through an aqueous hydrothermal reduction process with 0.25 M silver nitrate (AgNO3). A 0.05 mg/mL loading of the new Ag modified oligodynamic nanoparticle impregnated fiberglass system consisting of Fe2O3 (9.1 wt.%) and Ag (0.1 wt.%)/g-fiber, displayed robust antibacterial activity by achieving a 2 log removal of 10(6) CFU/mL E. cob in 1 min. The inactivation rate of the Ag-modified Fe2O3 impregnated fiberglass (FG-Fe2O3/Ag) system was comparable to previously reported Ag nanoparticle impregnated fiberglass. The FG-Fe2O3/Ag displayed excellent dynamic performance, effectively eliminating 10(6) E. coli CFU/mL with no bacterial breakthrough up to 250 bed volumes. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.