Ag and Cu loaded on TiO2/graphite as a catalyst for Escherichia coli-contaminated water disinfection

Abstract

AbstractTiO2 film was synthesized by means of the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method from TiCl4 as a precursor and surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a linking and assembling agent of the titanium hydroxide network on a graphite substrate. Ag and Cu were loaded on the TiO2 film by means of electrodeposition at various applied currents. Photoelectrochemical testing on the composite of Ag-TiO2/G and Cu-TiO2/G was used to define the composite for Escherichia coli-contaminated water disinfection. Disinfection efficiency and the rate of disinfection of E. coli-contaminated water with Ag-TiO2/G as a catalyst was higher than that observed for Cu-TiO2/G in all disinfection methods including photocatalysis (PC), electrocatalysis (EC), and photoelectrocatalysis (PEC). The highest rate constant was achieved by the PEC method using Ag-TiO2/G, k was 6.49 × 10−2 CFU mL−1 min−1. Effective disinfection times of 24 h (EDT24) and 48 h (EDT48) were achieved in all methods except the EC method using Cu-TiO2/G.