Antimicrobial activity of X zeolite exchanged with Cu2+ and Zn2+ on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

The biocidal cations of Cu2+ and Zn2+ were hosted on the surfaces and in the cavities of X zeolite via ion exchange. The microstructure and interface properties of the exchanged zeolite X samples were analyzed by XRD, SEM, XPS, and XRF. The as-prepared samples showed excellent antimicrobial activity towards gram-negative bacteria of Escherichia coli and gram-positive bacteria of Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, the batch antimicrobial experiments showed that the bacterial disinfection process fitted well with the first order model. The Cu2+-zeolite showed excellent and better antibacterial performance on S. aureus than on E. coli, and the mortalities of E. coli and S. aureus were almost 100% after 1h with the initial Cu2+-zeolite concentrations of 1000ppm and 100ppm, respectively. However, the Zn2+-zeolites were found to be less effective on S. aureus than on E. coli, and the mortalities of E. coli and S. aureus were almost 100% after 1h with the initial Zn2+-zeolite concentrations of 500ppm and 1000ppm, respectively. In addition, the relationships between the apparent rate constant (k) and reagent concentration (C) were also systematically investigated. The present results suggest that the as-prepared samples could be promising antibacterial materials for the efficient disinfection of contaminated water with bacteria.