Effect of Preparation Conditions on Physicochemical and Antibacterial Properties of Nano Silver-Coated Activated Carbon Intended for Use in Portable Water Filtration Equipment

Abstract

Modifying activated carbon with nanosilver to increase the antibacterial ability of this water treatment material has been known for many years. The addition of stirring or ultrasound during the preparation process has contributed to improving the properties and stability of nanosilver and nanosilver-coated activated carbon, but they haven’t been combined. In this study, silver nanoparticles and nanosilver-coated activated carbon were prepared with D-glucose as a reducing agent and using magnetic stirring, followed by ultrasound. The properties of the nanosilver solution and coated activated carbon were analyzed to evaluate the effect of preparation conditions on material properties. The results showed that increasing the concentration of silver solution led to an increase in the amount of nanoparticles coated on the activated carbon surface and the nanoparticle size in the solution. In contrast, increasing the stirring speed or incorporating ultrasound reduced nanosilver aggregation, leading to a more uniform distribution of nanoparticles on the activated carbon surface. Antibacterial testing of the material was conducted on a column model, and the E. coli removal efficiency reached over 99.99 %.