Abstract
To reduce the high operational costs of water treatment because of membrane biofouling, next-generation materials are being developed to counteract microbial growth. These modern anti-biofouling strategies are based on new membrane materials or membrane surface modifications. In this study, antimicrobial films comprising rGO, rGO-CuO, rGO-Ag, and rGO-CuO-Ag were synthesized, evaluated, and tested for potential biofouling control using Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 as the model bacterium. The combined rGO-CuO-Ag film displayed enhanced reduction (10-log reduction) in biofouling in comparison to the rGO film (control), followed by the rGO-Ag film (8-log reduction) and rGO-CuO film (0-log reduction). This demonstrated that the use of mixed antimicrobial agents is more effective in reducing biofouling than that of a single agent. The rGO-Cu-Ag film exhibited consistent, controlled, and moderate release of silver (Ag) ions. The release of Ag ions produced a long-lasting antimicrobial effect. These results underscore the potential applications of combined antimicrobial surface-based agents in practice and further research.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 110130 |
| Journal | Environmental Research |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2 2020 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through the Industrial Facilities & Infrastructure Research Program, funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) (1485016165) and GIST Research Institute (GRI) grant funded by GIST in 2020.