Water treatment with exceptional virus inactivation using activated carbon modified with silver (Ag) and copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles

Continuous flow experiments (450 mL min(-1)) were performed in household filter in order to investigate the removal and/or inactivation of T4 bacteriophage, using granular activated carbon (GAC) modified with silver and/or copper oxide nanoparticles at different concentrations. GAC and modified GAC were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, specific surface area, pore size and volume, pore average diameter, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, zeta potential and atomic absorption spectroscopy. The antiviral activity of the produced porous media was evaluated by passing suspensions of T4 bacteriophage (similar to 10(5) UFP/mL) through filters. The filtered water was analyzed for the presence of the bacteriophage and the release of silver and copper oxide. The porous media containing silver and copper oxide nanoparticles showed high inactivation capacity, even reaching reductions higher than 3 log. GAC6 (GAC/Ag0.5% Cu1.0%) was effective in the bacteriophage inactivation, reaching 5.53 log reduction. The levels of silver and copper released in filtered water were below the recommended limits (100 ppb for silver and 1000 ppb for copper) in drinking water. From this study, it is possible to conclude that activated carbon modified with silver and copper oxide nanoparticles can be used as a filter for virus removal in the treatment of drinking water.