Recycled concrete aggregate coated with quaternary ammonium compounds for water disinfection

Growing demand for point-of-use water treatment including greywater recycling as well as appropriate disinfection without formation of harmful disinfection byproducts (DBPs) calls for new methods of efficient microbial control. In recent years, antimicrobial nanomaterials (NMs) have been widely studied as a potential alternative to traditional chlorine disinfection, yet concerns over their releases to environments and subsequent impacts have limited their use on a large scale. In this work, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) was proposed as a sustainable and environmentally friendly disinfecting substrate for water disinfection by coating with a composite of silica-quaternary ammonium compound (Fixed-Quat). Two different types (gel and particle) of Fixed-Quat were applied to RCA, and their adherence and antimicrobial activities were compared each other. When using E. Coli as a model bacterial pathogen, the Fixed-Quat gel and particle coated RCA materials showed similar and effective microbial inactivation performance with a rate of 2.0 × 10−3 (gel) and 1.82 × 10−3 (particle) log reduction cm−2 min−1. By potentially eliminating regulated DBPs formation and minimizing release of NMs into the environment, the antimicrobial coated RCA would be a promising and sustainable alternative to conventional disinfection methods in engineered aquatic systems.