New Functionalized Macroparticles for Environmentally Sustainable Biofilm Control in Water Systems

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2021

Authors

L. F. Melo (Author) FEUP; Ana Alexandra Pereira (Author) FEUP; Ana Claudia Barros (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Antibiotics

Vol. 10

Pages: 1-399

Publisher: MDPI

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Associated Projects

pBio4.0 - Prevenir o Biosujamento em Sistemas de Membranas

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00T-VB5

DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10040399

Abstract (EN): Reverse osmosis (RO) depends on biocidal agents to control the operating costs associated to biofouling, although this implies the discharge of undesired chemicals into the aquatic environment. Therefore, a system providing pre-treated water free of biocides arises as an interesting solution to minimize the discharge of chemicals while enhancing RO filtration performance by inactivating bacteria that could form biofilms on the membrane system. This work proposes a pretreatment approach based on the immobilization of an industrially used antimicrobial agent (benzalkonium chloride-BAC) into millimetric aluminum oxide particles with prior surface activation with DA-dopamine. The antimicrobial efficacy of the functionalized particles was assessed against Escherichia coli planktonic cells through culturability and cell membrane integrity analysis. The results showed total inactivation of bacterial cells within five min for the highest particle concentration and 100% of cell membrane damage after 15 min for all concentrations. When reusing the same particles, a higher contact time was needed to reach the total inactivation, possibly due to partial blocking of immobilized biocide by dead bacteria adhering to the particles and to the residual leaching of biocide. The overall results support the use of Al2O3-DA-BAC particles as antimicrobial agents for sustainable biocidal applications in continuous water treatment systems.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 19