Abstract:
Water is the most basic need for the survival of life on this planet. Out of 100% water present on earth merely 1% is available as fresh potable water. This tiny percentage is also facing decline due to increasing population bloom, industrialization, urbanization and continuous drift of chemical and microbial contaminants in water. Among the most potent health hazards poked to humans due to contaminated water resources is microbial contamination that leads to fatal consequences. To overcome this serious problem, incorporation of nanoparticles into membrane to treat water is one of the vital strategy. In the present study, silver nanoparticles with average size of 32.5 nm were synthesized, functionalized and employed to prepare mixed matrix polyether sulfone membrane by phase inversion technique. The characteristics of fabricated membranes observed to be affected significantly by the incorporation of nanoparticles such as hydrophillicity, water flux, and thermal properties enhanced by particle addition, while roughness, mechanical strength and biofouling reduced. Pore size of polymer membrane was reduced after silver nanoparticle incorporation in polyether sulfone but the number of pores increased as compared to polymer membrane alone. Most importantly, treatment of water passing through the prepared membranes indicated that presence of Ag nanoparticles in the membranes has significant antibacterial properties. Combination of antibiotic Ceftriaxone with Ag nanoparticles in polymer membrane also resulted in enhanced antibacterial characteristics of the prepared membranes.
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