Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and its effect on TFC RO membrane for groundwater desalination

In this work, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were produced by soil isolated fungus Eurotium cristatum extract and thin-film nanocomposite (Ag/PSf/PA) membrane was built-up (by adding different concentrations of AgNPs into the polysulfone support layer) to look into the impacts of nanomaterial composition (i.e., sizes, structure, and shapes) on membrane possessions and desalination operations. The desalination consequences exposed that the merging of AgNPs produced membrane of enhanced filtration performances (Ag/PSf/PA) than pure thin film composite membrane (PSf/PA). In contrast to the PSf/PA membrane, the Ag/PSf/PA membrane possesses better water flux (32 vs. 16.5 L/m(2) h) and advanced NaCl rejection (91.7% vs. 89%). Moreover, scanning electron microscopy analysis outcomes reveal that the enlargement of gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and gram-positive (Listeria sp.) were greatly inhibited on the Ag/PSf/PA nanocomposite membrane, representing the sure thing of silver nanoparticles. This analysis offers enormous potential for promising use as a new form of anti-biofouling membrane.