Evaluation of the antibacterial activity of metal impregnated multi-walled carbon nanotubes: impact of domestic wastewater as supporting medium
Abstract
Despite the availability of potential water treatment resources, bacterial infections are still of major
concern, especially in developing countries where large numbers of people do not have access to
clean and safe water. Nanotechnology offers great possibilities in the field of wastewater treatment
for its potency against pathogenic bacteria. This study focuses on the antimicrobial activity of three
different nano-metals (silver, copper oxide, and zinc oxide) and the additive effect when they are
used in the presence of functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) against four com
-
monly found domestic wastewater bacterial strains. The bacteria studied included Gram-positive
bacteria (
Bacillus subtilis
and
Staphylococcus aureus
) and Gram-negative bacteria (
Salmonella typhi
and
Escherichia coli
). Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were the most potent antibacterial agent reducing up to
60.78% ± 8.33% and 63.26% ± 2.12% growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, respectively.
The effectiveness increased to 96.66% ± 1.99% against Gram-positive bacteria and 94.59% ± 1.39%
against Gram-negative bacteria when the MWCNT was decorated with Ag NPs, due to the improved
surface area of the synthesized complex. Additionally, it was found that the inactivation of bacteria
by nanomaterials was species-specific, with Gram-negative
E. coli
showing the strongest overall resis-
tance. The overall antibacterial effect of the synthesized compounds was stronger in real wastewater
solutions while the nutrients enriched media allowed more prominent growth and bacteria recovery
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/26568http://www.deswater.com/show_abstract.php?varpdf=DWT_abstracts/vol_99/99_2017_272.pdf
https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2017.21735
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