Wood-Based Mesoporous Filter Decorated with Silver Nanoparticles for Water Purification

Abstract

Wood is a versatile raw material valued highly for its abundance, low cost, biocompatibility, and natural composition. It has drawn increasing interest for its uses in green electronics, biological devices, and energy storage. Meanwhile, its potential application in water purification has not been adequately explored. This study reports the development of a wood-based filter decorated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and its application for water purification. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the successful loading of Ag NPs on the surfaces of the wood mesoporous network. The effects of Ag NP content and filter thickness on the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) and bacterial removal were evaluated. The prepared Ag/wood filter can remove more than 98.5% of MB via physical adsorption and catalytic degradation. After the Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) suspensions passed through the Ag/wood filter, the inactivation and removal of E. coli and S. aureus reached up to 6 and 5.2 orders of magnitude, respectively. The findings demonstrate that the prepared Ag/wood filter, which is biomass based and easy to handle, has a potential for point-of-use water purification.

Synthesis of Amino-Functionalized Waste Wood Flour Adsorbent for High-Capacity Pb(II) Adsorption

“…31,32 The number of micropores in the material may be lower than the minimum value, and mainly mesopores and macropores were found in wood. 33…”

Engineering and characterization of gymnosperm sapwood toward enabling the design of water filtration devices

“…The contaminant removal ability of xylem filters could be improved further due to fouling (Supplementary Note 10 ), by stacking filters or using other approaches. Use of silver nanoparticles in xylem to enhance the removal of bacteria and methylene blue (a commonly used industrial dye that causes water pollution) using xylem 10 and chemical modification of xylem surface for copper adsorption has been reported 9 . Incorporating suitable sorbents such as zeolites or ferrous oxide into pre-filtration modules could enhance removal of viruses, arsenic, or other pollutants 61 , 62 .…”

“…The unique structure of gymnosperm xylem gives rise to two interesting questions: (a) is the xylem a suitable material for water filtration, and (b) if so, how can it be engineered to create practically useful water filters. Previous studies have reported that pit membranes in pine xylem can filter bacteria from deionized water and incorporation of silver nanoparticles in xylem can enhance removal of bacteria 7 , 10 . However, several other material characteristics of xylem that are critical for practical water filtration applications, such as its structural stability over the course of its shelf- and operational life, susceptibility to different foulants present in water, and mechanisms of fouling, remain to be explored.…”

Advanced Nanowood Materials for the Water–Energy Nexus

“…Similarly, radiata pine sapwood was decorated with Ag nanoparticles tested in a later study. [ 56 ] Although the results were less desirable in MB reduction (≈98.5% at an initial concentration of 10 ppm), evenly distributed Ag nanoparticles added the function of bacterial inactivation. Overall the Ag/wood filter achieved 6 and 5.2 orders of removal of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus , respectively (Figure 4e).…”