Research on Water Purification and Antibacterial Effects of Metallic Nanoparticles Deposited using DC High Vacuum Magnetron Sputtering on Filtering Materials

Water and water purification is an important problem that is confronting our generation at a global level. Our current research is testing the antibacterial effect of metallic nanoparticles deposited on microsize filtration materials. The DC High Vacuum Magnetron Sputtering Equipment was used for the deposition of metallic nanoparticles. The thickness of the coatings was in-situ monitored using a quartz crystal microbalance and ex-situ evaluated using a profilometer. The chemical composition of the structures was characterized using the X-Ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy/ energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/ EDS) techniques and their surface morphology was obtained using the optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) system. The antibacterial effect was tested according to standardized methods for the examination of water and wastewater and deactivation rates for fecal coliform and Escherichia coli were measured with varying nano metallic thickness. The testing media containing the bacterial samples was water collected from different local water resources. The water was initially tested for the bacterial content as collected. After the water sample passed through the metallic deposited filtering system the remaining targeted bacteria was quantified.