Abstract
The antibacterial reaction rate kt (CFU/g-hr) and total antibacterial capacity qT (CFU/g) were calculated to evaluate the performance of antibacterial Ag-zeolite (AgZ) with a series of experiments. The continuous antibacterial reactions at 10 and 80 hr were respectively repeated nine times to evaluate the AgZ antibacterial ability. An antibacterial system was conducted in a fixed bed reactor packed with AgZ to reduce bacterium and fungus counts in the indoor environment. The AgZ used in this study was prepared in two steps including Y-type zeolites synthesis and Ag ion-exchange. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were carried out to identify the characteristic of AgZ. The results demonstrated that the antibacterial efficiencies of 1, 2 and 3 wt% AgZ against bacterium and the fungus were all higher than 95% after 120 min of operation, and 1 wt% AgZ was considered to be more cost-effective since its antibacterial efficiency could approach 90% in less than 60 min. The 1 wt% AgZ had excellent performance repeated usage up to nine times.
Highlights
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is an increasingly important issue for human health due to people spending 90% of their life indoors (Reynolds et al, 2001; Tringe et al, 2008)
The results demonstrated that the antibacterial efficiencies of 1, 2 and 3 wt% AgZ against bacterium and the fungus were all higher than 95% after 120 min of operation, and 1 wt% AgZ was considered to be more cost-effective since its antibacterial efficiency could approach 90% in less than 60 min
The results demonstrate that AgZ had higher antibacterial efficiency than zeolite alone after 120 min operation
Summary
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is an increasingly important issue for human health due to people spending 90% of their life indoors (Reynolds et al, 2001; Tringe et al, 2008). Most indoor environments use air conditioners to control the temperature and humidity. A reduction in the ventilation rate could achieve potential energy savings. On the other hand, continuing running the system for a long time decreases the efficiency of air ventilation and causes bioaerosols, airborne particles of biological origins, to accumulate indoors (Lee, 2011). Bioaerosols contribute to about 5–34% of indoor air pollution (Srikanth et al, 2008), including viruses, bacteria, fungi and all varieties of living materials with highly variable and complex characteristics. High bioaerosol concentration exposure is often associated with sick building syndrome (SBS) and hypersensitivity diseases (Main, 2003; Lee et al, 2011)
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