Silver nanoparticle filter for domestic wastewater reuse

GAGNETEN, A.M.; ROMERO, N.; RENO, U.; REGALDO, L.; KERGARAVAT, S.V.; RODENAK-KLADNIEW, B.E.; CASTRO, G.R.

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Lugar: LOndres; Año: 2021

0268-2575

BACKGROUND: Under scarcity of freshwater, the reuse and low-cost technological solutions applied to wastewaters want to reduce contamination to the users downstream and freshwater biota.RESULTS: A low-cost cellulose membrane was doped with silver nanoparticles to filter urban wastewater from a city of Argentina. The total amount of coliforms and Escherichia coli in the filtered was reduced by 99.9 and 99.6%. The leak of silver from the filter was 275 ng/L analyzed by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry, Silver nanoparticles tested on HepG2 and A549 mammalian cell lines showed no toxicity in a broad concentration range. Calculation of the organic matter provided by dead bacteria post-filtration was 347 µg/L proteins, 148 µg/L nucleic acids, 57 µg/L lipids, and 53 µg/L polysaccharides, indicating high availability of organic matter. The retention of inorganic salts in the filter was 78.5% ammonia, 6.2% nitrates, 97.6% nitrites, and 19.2% phosphates. In post-filtered UW, the Lactuca sativa germination test showed early seed germination between 90% and 95% in all the dilutions tested. In the range of 6.25% to 50.0% filtered UW, showed no significant differences in the hypocotyl but was significant in the radicle length (mm) compared to the control made of synthetic media (p< 0.05)CONCLUSION: The development of a low-cost filter based on cellulose membranes doped with silver nanoparticles allowed the reuse of wastewater for domestic purposes and garden irrigation.