Hemijska Industrija (Jan 2006)
Environmentally friendly disinfectant: Production, disinfectant action and efficiency
Abstract
Silver is a known disinfectant from ancient times, and it has been widely used for various purposes: for food and water disinfection, curing of wounds and as a universal antibiotic for a wide spectrum of diseases - until the Second World War and the discovery of penicillin. Until recently, it was assumed that silver, being a heavy metal, was toxic for humans and living beings. However, the newest research provides facts that the usage of silver, even for drinking water disinfection, is benign if it is added in small concentrations (in parts per billion). It has been shown in the newer scientific and technical literature that silver in colloidal form is a powerful (secondary) disinfectant for drinking water, that it can be effectively used for the disinfection of water containers including swimming pools, installations in food industry, medicine, etc. Particularly, it has been shown that colloidal silver combined with hydrogen peroxide shows synergism having strong bactericidal and antiviral effects. The combination can be successfully used as a disinfectant in agriculture, food production and medicine. The original electrochemical process of production, the mechanism of physical-chemical reactions in that process and the mechanism of the antiseptic affect of the environmentally friendly disinfectant, based on the synergism of colloidal silver and hydrogen peroxide and the activity of electrochemically activated water, is shown. The starting solution was anolyte, obtained in electrochemical activation by water electrolysis of a highly diluted solution of K-tartarate in demineralized water (5.5-1CT4 M). The problem of electrolysis of very dilute aqueous solutions in membrane cells was particularly treated. It was shown that the efficiency of the electrolysis depends on the competition between the two processes: the rates of the processes of hydrogen and oxygen generation at the electrodes and the process of diffusion of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions through the cell membrane. Relatively strong disinfectant and sterilization action on standard races of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, blast spores and spores, as well as the safety of implementation of an environmentally friendly disinfectant was certified in a relevant institution, the Military Academy of Medicine in Belgrade.
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