Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2010RI86B

Use of Manometric Techniques to Evaluate the Disinfection Properties of Nanomaterials for the Treatment of Different Sources of Drinking Water

Institute: Rhode Island
Year Established: 2010 Start Date: 2010-03-10 End Date: 2010-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $16,667 Total Non-Federal Funds: $33,435

Principal Investigators: Vinka Craver

Project Summary: The challenge to achieve appropriate disinfection without forming harmful disinfection byproducts by conventional chemical disinfectants, as well as the growing demand for decentralized or point-of-use water treatment and recycling systems calls for new technologies for efficient disinfection and microbial control. Several natural and engineered nanomaterials have demonstrated strong antimicrobial properties through diverse mechanisms including: compromising the bacterial cell envelope (e.g. peptides, chitosan, carboxyfullerene, carbon nanotubes, ZnO and silver nanoparticles (nAg)), interruption of energy transduction (e.g. nAg and aqueous fullerene nanoparticles), and inhibition of enzyme activity and DNA synthesis (e.g. chitosan). This project proposes the evaluation of two nanomaterials with proven antibacterial properties, but tested for water treatment purposes. The materials selected are copper nanoparticles and chitosan nanoparticles.