Polymers as Water Disinfectants

Abstract

Today, microbial infection appeared as one of the most critical envi- ronmental pollutions from our water stream. Indeed, the rising of public awareness for water pollution and water security has urged both researchers and industries to develop cost-effective antimicrobial polymer system. Although a range of polymers have antimicrobial properties, the most frequently studied polymer for water dis- infection is chitosan. It offers several advantages, including biodegradable, non-toxic in nature, biocompatible and inexpensive, as compared to other low molecular weight antimicrobial polymers. In general, low molecular weight antimicrobial agents suffer several disadvantages, such as toxicity to the environ- ment and short-term antimicrobial ability. Moreover, using chitosan biopolymer could enhance the efficacy of some existing antimicrobial agents and antifungal agents and minimize the environmental problems. In this chapter, the brief intro- duction of chitosan as well as modified chitosan on the development of water disinfection is extensively discussed. In particular, this chapter discusses the physicochemical properties of chitosan and different synthesis approaches for chitosan.