Abstract
Abstract: For water sterilization, a highly effective system utilizing electrophoresis and the antimicrobial properties of Ag/ZnO nanomaterials has been developed. However, the key component of this system, a sterilization carbon cloth containing Ag/ZnO nanomaterials, has not been evaluated with respect to the potential environmental and human health risks associated with the nanomaterials released. In this paper, a recirculation flow system and methodology were developed to study the release of Ag and ZnO during water treatment. Our study showed that the released silver nanoparticles and dissolved Ag from the carbon cloth were 50 µg/L and 143 µg/L in the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) medium, respectively. The release of dissolved Zn in the EPA medium was 33 µg /L. The results indicate that the release of dissolved and nanoparticulate silver from the sterilization carbon cloth exceeded acceptable risk levels in the aquatic environment. However, if the sterilization carbon cloth was pre-washed two days prior to use, the concentration of Ag was below the drinking water limit of 0.1 mg/L. Our study provides important exposure data for a novel water sanitation technology for real-world application in waste water and drinking water treatment, and aid in assuring its safe use.
Highlights
Water scarcity is a global problem, especially in developing countries
We present an evaluation of the nanomaterial released from a self-powered and high-efficient water sterilization system based on several advanced materials [35]
The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis showed that the ZnO-NW grew perpendicular to the carbon cloth was: 0.008 (CC) (Figure 3d–f)
Summary
Water scarcity is a global problem, especially in developing countries. Poor water quality and unsustainable supply limits national economic development and can lead to adverse health and economic impacts. Water 2019, 11, 2276 electrosorption/capacitive deionization to enhance desalination performance [4,5]; engineering the morphology and surface area of electrodes through the use of nanotube arrays or three-dimensional macroporous structures to improve kinetics and mass transfer in electrochemical oxidation [6,7,8,9]; functionalizing the surface of nanomaterials by organic ligands for the efficient detection and adsorption of organic or inorganic materials from contaminated water [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20], and controlling the size of magnetic nanoparticles to enhance superparamagnetism for low-energy separation and recovery with magnets [21] The introduction of such advanced materials in water treatment requires an assessment of the potential environmental and human health risks of these materials. The underlying mechanisms for the release of nanomaterials and their interactions at the nano–bio interface are far from being completely understood [27,28,29]
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