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Metallic Copper Nanoparticle Impregnated Activated Carbon for the Development of a Continuous, Gravity-Driven, Water Disinfection Device

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Abstract

Freshwater resources remain scarce, and contaminated drinking water has become a global health crisis. In this study, a gravity-driven device has been developed for water disinfection that operates without the need for electrical power. The filter medium of this device consists of acid-functionalized activated carbon (AC) impregnated with metallic copper nanoparticle (Cu-NP). With a Cu loading of 0.8 wt%, this composite has demonstrated complete inactivation of 104 CFU/mL E. coli cells within 35 min of contact time in a batch setup. The performance of the composite was further assessed against elevated bacterial load (106 CFU/mL) as well as broad spectrum of pH and dissolved solids. Additionally, in continuous flow experiments conducted with the gravity-driven device, the composite maintained consistent absence of live E. coli at the outlet for an uninterrupted run lasting over 8 days, during which 22.11 L of water was successfully decontaminated. Therefore, the designed device shows potential for utilization as a gravity-driven, point-of-use water disinfection system.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility (SAIF), IIT Bombay for access to instruments (FTIR, SEM, TEM, ICP-AES) used in the present work. We would like to acknowledge Bhavya Bhargava in our research group and Mr. Santosh B. Nikam, Chemical Engineering Dept, IIT Bombay, for their help in better understanding of the design of gravity-driven device. RB acknowledges funding support from Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt of India (GOI) (CRG/2021/001931, under the sponsored program RD/0121-SERB000-022) and partial support from DST, GOI (DST/TM/WT/WIC/2K17/100(C), under the sponsored program RD/0118-DST0001-005). AD acknowledges support from the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship, India.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Angira Das, Akshay Patil & Rajdip Bandyopadhyaya

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  1. Angira Das
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  2. Akshay Patil
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  3. Rajdip Bandyopadhyaya
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Correspondence to Rajdip Bandyopadhyaya.

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Das, A., Patil, A. & Bandyopadhyaya, R. Metallic Copper Nanoparticle Impregnated Activated Carbon for the Development of a Continuous, Gravity-Driven, Water Disinfection Device. Trans Indian Inst Met (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12666-023-03103-z

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