Synthesis and Investigation of Open Cell Polyurethane Sponge-Silver Oxide Nanocomposite Efficacy in Water Disinfection

The use of nanotechnology is one of the most important and effective methods for microbial enumeration and water treatment. Dispersing the silver oxide nanoparticles in different polymer matrixes (in particular, open cell polyurethane sponge matrixes) can be an efficient way in the water treatment and microbial enumeration.

In the present study, the silver oxide nanoparticles were dispersed into the open cell polyurethane sponge raw materials and then, the polyurethane sponge was synthesized using a One-shot method. In addition, the usability of synthesized polyurethane sponge as an antibacterial agent for water disinfection was investigated by using "plate counting" (reducing the bacteria number in contaminated water over time) method. Also the 0.5 McFarland (1.5*108 CFU/ml) suspensions diluted with biomass serum (1:2) of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were used as contaminated water. Ultimately, the structural properties of synthetic sponges were investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR).

The end of 12 hours has been recognized the antimicrobial activities of the prepared sponges against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus are acceptable. The results indicated that the antimicrobial activities of the prepared sponges against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus are acceptable. The results also showed that nanocomposite in certain conditions after 6 and 8 hours prevented the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria, respectively. So that after 6 and 8 hours contact with the nanocomposite, the number of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria in contaminated water was reduced by 100% (t0=50*106 CFU/ml, t6=0*106CFU/ml) and 30% (t0=50*106 CFU/ml, t8=35*106CFU/ml), respectively.

Development and utilization of antimicrobial sponges in water treatment processes can reduce the use of chemical agents to infection control. Silver oxide nanoparticles, due to the high surface-to-volume ratio and interactions with the bacterial cell walls, cause damage to the bacterial cell walls and destroy the cellular structure of the bacteria.