Antibacterial Nanocomposite Ceramic Coating for Liquid Filtration Application

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Microbial water contamination is a growing global issue driven by urbanization and industrialization.
• Developing eco-friendly and human-safe water purification methods is crucial.
• Existing methods often fall short in effectively addressing diverse microbial threats.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate novel antibacterial nanocomposite coatings for water filtration.
• To assess the efficacy of zirconia and silver nanocluster coatings on polymeric membranes.
• To explore a sustainable and scalable approach for water purification.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of nanocomposite coatings using eco-friendly co-sputtering physical vapor deposition (PVD).
• Deposition of zirconia (ZrO2) and silver (Ag) nanoclusters onto electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyacrylonitrile-polycaprolactone (PAN-PCL) membranes.
• Characterization using XRD, UV-Vis spectroscopy, wettability tests, and antibacterial/filtration assays.

Main Results:

• Confirmed homogeneous deposition of amorphous ZrO2 embedding Ag nanoclusters on polymeric fibers.
• Coated membranes exhibited increased hydrophobicity, enhancing filtration performance, especially for PCL.
• Demonstrated strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis and significant reduction of Bacillus subtilis and Listeria monocytogenes in filtration tests.

Conclusions:

• ZrO2/Ag nanocomposite coatings are effective in controlling microbial contamination in water.
• The eco-friendly PVD method provides a scalable strategy for producing advanced water filtration membranes.
• These findings highlight a promising approach for sustainable and safe water purification systems.