An Overview of the Current Approaches in Drug-Resistant Bacterial Removal Within Wastewaters: Can We Move Towards...

The rise in the occurrence of drug-resistant bacteria within wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their dissemination into the ecosystem from the same WWTPs has created a prevalent crisis affecting the integrity of human life and water sources worldwide. Antimicrobial Photodynamic Inactivation (aPDI) can be explored in an effort to address this crisis and preserve natures integrity as it can incorporate environmentally sustainable and cost-effective disinfection strategies within wastewater treatment plants. aPDI is a technique introduced as a strategic approach to inactivate harmful Drug-Resistant Bacteria (DRB) that are ineffectively removed with current wastewater treatment strategies. The incorporation of Nanomagnet-Porphyrin Hybrid (NMPH) based aPDI illustrates notable microbial inactivation and innovatively introduces prospects of achieving affordable and ecologically beneficial disinfection within wastewaters since they can be recycled and reused. Furthermore the added advantage of NMPHs based aPDI lies in the generation of a high quantum yield of cytotoxic ¹O₂ due to a strong visible absorption ascribed to π-π* electronic transitions within the porphyrins. These properties are largely ascribed to the high coefficient of light absorption in a broad wavelength range allowing them to generate reactive oxygen species through a spin-forbidden intersystem crossing mechanism allowing them to demonstrate express disinfection of harmful pathogens. This review addresses the high inactivation profiles of NMPH based aPDI, its low operating costs and reusability as the potential of establishing NMPH based aPDI in nanotechnology wastewater remediation and microbial disinfection applications. The authors believe that this systematic review can stimulate new researchers and assist in the future development of this important field of research, especially when it comes to the aquatic environment and natural water resources and given the adequate attention this method can aid globally but more so within emerging economies to ensure potable water is delivered to all people.