The application of silver nanoparticles for water treatment

Abstract

Colloidal silver is known as one of the most widely used nanomaterials for the control of microorganisms. Our minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays conducted for E. coli, S. aureus, B. subtilis and P. phoeniceum have shown that the antimicrobial activity of silver ions was superior to that of silver nanoparticles. As silver nanoparticles can be more suitable in some bactericidal applications than silver ions, the efficacy of nanosilver as an antimicrobial agent against a range of microbes on the surface of water paints and cotton fabrics has been studied. The efficacy of nanosilver as an antimicrobial agent has been also estimated against a range of microbes on the surface of fiber ion exchange sorbents used for water treatment applications.