Biosynthesized silver supported catalysts for disinfection of Escherichia coli and organic pollutant from drinking water

Presence of Escherichia coli in water is mainly responsible for contamination of drinking water. Currently, organic materials are being used for disinfection of drinking water. However, antimicrobial inorganic materials have more potential due to their thermal resistance, chemical stability, and long lasting action period. In this work silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by chemical and biological methods and then impregnated with different support materials including Activated carbon, Zeolite and Magnesium oxide. Formation of nanoparticles was confirmed by UV/visible spectrophotometer due to their surface plasmon resonance, in which AgNPs showed a peak at 445 nm. XRD patterns gave characteristic patterns to AgNPs on support. AgNPs on support material were further verified by FE-SEM and EDX analyses. AgNPs supported catalysts were more active and all the bacteria were inhibited in drinking water. Beside antibacterial activity, the prepared catalysts shows excellent activity in the reduction of azo dye methyl orange. Among all, MgO impregnated silver catalysts show an outstanding methyl orange reduction with the rate constant of 7.48 × 10−3 s−1. So, it indicates that different supported AgNPs have the potential to be used for removal of microbial and organic pollutants from drinking water.