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In developing countries, rates of hydric illness in children are high because of the consumption of non-potable water. Therefore, it is important to investigate new methodologies to diminish microorganisms’ concentration in the water that is used in rural areas for drinking. Microbicide agents with a base of natural zeolites can be an alternative to water disinfection instead of using other kinds of disinfectants that produce by-products. Hence, the synthesis and characterization of metallic or oxide-metallic nanoparticles-natural zeolite composites to evaluate the antimicrobial activity in front of Salmonella typhimurium and Candida albicans in this work were investigated. The natural zeolite was in contact with salt solutions of Ag, Cu, or Zn to obtain the modified natural zeolites, and they were then gamma irradiated to generate the nanoparticles. The samples were characterized by different techniques. The Salmonella typhimurium and Candida albicans were suspended in distilled water and put in contact with the composites at different times. The kinetic of the cellular decay was obtained using the Chick model. The chemical species of the nanoparticles obtained were Ag, Cu2O, and ZnO. The kinetic parameter of the cell decay of both Salmonella typhimurium and Candida albicans is the biggest for silver nanoparticles-natural zeolite composite (Z-NpsAgγ). Between two independent experiments of the cellular decay, differences in the k values were observed. The antimicrobial activity of these composites depends on the characteristics of each microorganism, the mass of the composite, the content of the metallic or oxido-metallic nanoparticles in the natural zeolites, their distribution on the zeolitic material surfaces, and the chemical species obtained during the gamma irradiation. The Z-NpsAgγ could be an alternative for water potabilization.

In developing countries, death due to diseases caused by fecal-oral ingestion can be avoided by taking action on drinking water issues. Adequate access to water treatment systems to reduce infections is a critical cause. Silver has been used as an antibacterial product, including biomedical applications. Therefore, in this paper, the effect of the chemical speciation of silver from silver-modified zeolite-rich tuffs on the mortality of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Streptococcus faecalis (S. faecalis) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) suspended in aqueous solution was investigated for disinfection purposes. The following aspects were considered to develop the investigation: a) the technique to prepare the modified zeolitic materials, either with ionic silver or silver nanoparticles, which were obtained in two ways: one, with grapefruit extract and the second, by using non-thermal plasma generated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor of parallel plates; b) the response of the prokaryotes (bacteria) and eukaryote (yeast) microorganisms to disinfectant agents in batch systems; c) the disinfection processes as a function of time to obtain kinetics parameters; and d) the kinetics of the silver release from the silver-modified zeolite-rich tuffs, considering the models of Higuchi and Korsmeyer. The zeolitic materials were characterized by low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The non-thermal plasma reduced ionic silver is more efficient at generating silver compounds with several oxidation states, which are essential during the microbial inhibition process. For the bacterial (E. coli and S. faecalis), the materials with nanoparticles were efficient to inactivate them. However, the yeast (C. albicans) reaches the total inactivation when the zeolitic material contains ionic silver in the crystalline network. The E. coli, S. faecalis and C. albicans survival behavior suspended in aqueous solutions after contact with Ag-modified natural zeolites depends on the chemical speciation of the silver present in these materials, Ag+1 in the case of OAgiZ or nanoparticles of Ago promoted by the grapefruit extract (OAgnpTZ), as well as by non-thermal plasma generated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor of parallel plates (OAgnpPZ). In general, the concentration of silver in the aqueous solution after the disinfection process cannot exceed the recommended levels established for international organizations. The OAgnpPZ is a potential microbicide agent against E. coli and C. albicans, and the OAgnpTZ for F. faecalis.

This work presents the study of the voltage and oxygen effect on bacterial inactivation in water using a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) under atmospheric pressure, where Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Salmonella typhi (S. typhi) bacteria were used as model microorganisms. A cylindrical DBD reactor was developed and tested in applications to assay the efficiency of bacterial inactivation in water on a volume of 500 mL flowing continuously throughout the system assisted with a peristaltic pump at 4.4 ± 0.1 mL/s. The efficiency of the treatment reached a 6-log10 reduction for both E. coli and S. typhi bacteria at 106 CFU/mL of concentration at the end of the first cycle of treatment at a minimum voltage of 12 kV with oxygen bubbling gas, concluding that there was a minimum voltage to produce inactivation of E. coli and S. typhi samples. Bacterial inactivation without the oxygen condition contrasted with the high rate of inactivation with oxygen at relatively low voltage discharges.

BACKGROUND: In developing countries, death due to diseases caused by fecal-oral ingestion can be avoided by taking action on drinking water issues. Adequate access to water treatment systems to reduce infections is a critical cause. Silver has been used as an antibacterial product, including biomedical applications. Therefore, in this paper, the effect of the chemical speciation of silver from silver-modified zeolite-rich tuffs on the mortality of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Streptococcus faecalis (S. faecalis) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) suspended in aqueous solution was investigated for disinfection purposes. METHODS: The following aspects were considered to develop the investigation: a) the technique to prepare the modified zeolitic materials, either with ionic silver or silver nanoparticles, which were obtained in two ways: one, with grapefruit extract and the second, by using non-thermal plasma generated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor of parallel plates; b) the response of the prokaryotes (bacteria) and eukaryote (yeast) microorganisms to disinfectant agents in batch systems; c) the disinfection processes as a function of time to obtain kinetics parameters; and d) the kinetics of the silver release from the silver-modified zeolite-rich tuffs, considering the models of Higuchi and Korsmeyer. The zeolitic materials were characterized by low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). RESULTS: The non-thermal plasma reduced ionic silver is more efficient at generating silver compounds with several oxidation states, which are essential during the microbial inhibition process. For the bacterial (E. coli and S. faecalis), the materials with nanoparticles were efficient to inactivate them. However, the yeast (C. albicans) reaches the total inactivation when the zeolitic material contains ionic silver in the crystalline network. CONCLUSION: The E. coli, S. faecalis and C. albicans survival behavior suspended in aqueous solutions after contact with Ag-modified natural zeolites depends on the chemical speciation of the silver present in these materials, Ag(+1) in the case of OAg(i)Z or nanoparticles of Ag(o) promoted by the grapefruit extract (OAg(npT)Z), as well as by non-thermal plasma generated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor of parallel plates (OAg(npP)Z). In general, the concentration of silver in the aqueous solution after the disinfection process cannot exceed the recommended levels established for international organizations. The OAg(npP)Z is a potential microbicide agent against E. coli and C. albicans, and the OAg(n)(pT)Z for F. faecalis. [Figure: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s40201-020-00501-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Zeolite-rich tuff from the State of Chihuahua was modified with silver or copper ions (ZChAg and ZChCu) to evaluate its microbicidal effect against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) suspended in an aqueous solution in order to compare the microbial disinfection kinetics between bacteria and yeast. The zeolite-rich tuff was treated with AgNO3 or CuCl2 solutions. The materials obtained were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the textural properties were also determined by BET-analyses. The concentration of Ag and Cu was verified in the zeolitic materials using neutron activation analysis. The experimental data were adjusted to both Chick and Chik-Watson models to describe the kinetic behavior of the process. It was found that when the mass of ZChAg increased, the survival microorganisms notably decreased. The E. coli and C. albicans showed higher resistance in contact with ZChCu even when the mass of such material was 10–20 times higher than the mass of ZChAg. Chick and Chik-Watson constants showed that the kinetics of the disinfection process depended on the desorption of the exchange ion that modified the structure of the zeolitic material, its concentration in aqueous medium, its oligodynamic properties, and each microorganism's characteristics (Gram-negative bacteria and yeast). The kinetic desorption of Ag and Cu from the corresponding modified-zeolite-rich tuffs was also considered in this work. In this case, the Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas models were applied.

An experimental study of ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) 8739 Escherichia coli bacteria inactivation in water by means of pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (PDBD) atmospheric pressure plasmas is presented. Plasma is generated by an adjustable power source capable of supplying high voltage 25 kV pulses, ∼30 μs long and at a 500 Hz frequency. The process was conducted in a ∼152 cm 3 cylindrical stainless steel coaxial reactor, endowed with a straight central electrode and a gas inlet. The bacterial concentration in water was varied from 10 3 up to 10 8 E. coli cells per millilitre. The inactivation was achieved without gas flow in the order of 82% at 10 8 colony-forming units per millilitre (CFU mL –1 ) concentrations in 600 s. In addition, oxygen was added to the gas supply in order to increase the ozone content in the process, raising the inactivation percentage to the order of 90% in the same treatment time. In order to reach a higher efficiency however, oxygen injection modulation is applied, leading to inactivation percentages above 99.99%. These results are similarly valid for lower bacterial concentrations. A. N. Hernandez-Arias B. G. Rodriguez-Mendez (corresponding author) R. Lopez-Callejas D. Alcantara-Diaz R. Valencia-Alvarado A. Mercado-Cabrera R. Pena-Eguiluz A. E. Munoz-Castro

We propose a novel combined system of pulsed dielectric barrier discharges (PDBDs) and silver-modified natural zeolite (Ag–zeolite) in liquid in bubbles. The system was tested with the Escherichia coli bacteria immersed in water. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the system in bacterial inactivation a microbiological analysis was carried out; 9.82-ln of bacterial reduction was obtained using the combined system, whereas 0.43-ln of bacterial reduction was obtained using Ag–zeolite alone, and 6.26-ln with PDBD. The elapsed time was 10 minutes for the three treatments.

The study on the inactivation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in water flowing continuosly in a treatment system based on two different reactors is presented. The bacteria inactivation is achievedin a water volumer of 500 mL inoculated with an E. coli concentration of 1000-1100 ppm and, subsequently, transferred to a rectangular geometry reactor subjected to UV radiation with an energy per volume of 1.44 J/mL. Inactivation efficiency of E. coli bacteria in the water of 99.32% was attained in a total treatment time of 180 seconds.