Water Bactericidal Properties of Nanosilver- Polyurethane Composites

A technique for coating polyurethane with silver nanoparticles freshly prepared using a hydroxyethyl cellulose organic polymer is presented. The ensuing silver nanoparticle – polyurethane foam composite is found to possess such antibacterial properties as might be useful in water disinfection. With the help of electron microscopy and FTIR spectrophotometry, it was revealed that the adsorption of metallic silver onto the organic polymeric substrate could be attributed to silver nanoparticulate interaction with the nitrogen in the ─NH─ bond in polyurethane. Contrary to earlier reports that similar preparations had total bactericidal effects on water-borne microorganisms, a number of microbial analyses performed on Basillus Subtulis 15 and E. coli 36 as test bacteria in infected waters exhibited only 9 and 5 live percentages, respectively, after eluation through the composite-packed column.