FABRICATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL WATER FILTER BY COATING SILVER NANOPARTICLES ON FLEXIBLE POLYURETHANE FOAMS

Abstract

In this paper, we fabricated silver-coated polyurethane foams and used it as a bacterial filter for contaminated drinking water. Flexible PU foams were soaked in silver colloidal solutions for 10hrs, then washed and air-dried at room temperature. The prepared silver colloidal solutions and silver-coated PU materials were characterized by several techniques including TEM, FE-SEM/EDS, UV-Vis, ICP-AAS, and Raman spectroscopy. The TEM images showed that the size of silver nanoparticles in colloidal solutions varies from 6 to 12nm. The Raman, FE-SEM/EDS and ICP-AAS data illustrated that silver nanoparticles were stable on the PU foam and were not washed away by water. Furthermore, the microbiological tests (tube tests and flow test) were carried out on silver-coated PU materials with the Coliforms, E. coli, and B. subtillis. The obtained results showed that the bacteria were killed completely with antibacterial efficiency of 100% being observed. Our research suggests that silver-coated polyurethane foams can be used as excellent good antibacterial water filters and would have several applications in other sectors.