Synthesis Characterization and Application of supported transition metals for water purification

Abstract

newline newlineThe present thesis discusses about the synthesis of some supported transition metals such as iron, copper and silver for their application as antimicrobial materials to remove microbial contaminants from water. Owing to the benefits and better performance of supported nano-size metal species in antimicrobial activity, the iron, copper and silver (which are well known for antimicrobial activity especially in nano dimension) were studied after loading on two different support materials (silica and hydrotalcite). The effect of metal, metal precursor, metal content, support nature, etc. on antimicrobial property of the materials was studied in detail. In initial study, the silica supported metal antimicrobial materials were synthesized and characterized for antimicrobial activity against E. coli as model microbial contaminant of drinking water. The synthesis and antimicrobial application ofsilica supported copper, silver and iron materials was aimed to do a comparative study the antimicrobial activity of copper, silver and iron in supported form.The comparative study on silica supported iron, copper and silver materials revealed significantly higher antimicrobial activity of silica supported copper as compared to silica supported iron and silver materials. The influence of copper precursor, copper content and optimum treatment conditions for better performance of silica supported copper material was studied. The copper acetate was found to be best copper precursor for loading of copper on support materials by wet impregnation method. The hydrotalcite, a basic and layered material, was also studied as support to develop copper intercalated hydrotalcite material. The hydrotalcite intercalated copper was found to be better in antimicrobial performance as compared to silica supported copper material. The synthesized materials after calcination (without reduction of loaded metal species, which is usually practiced) were tested for antimicrobial activity. The supported copper oxide on silica and intercalated