Disinfection of Escherichia coli by a Reactive Electrochemical Membrane System Involving Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC)

Huang, Edward; White, Townshend; Wang, Beibei; Shi, Huanhuan; Liu, Jiayang

doi:10.3390/w11030430

Open AccessArticle

Disinfection of Escherichia coli by a Reactive Electrochemical Membrane System Involving Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC)

by

Edward Huang

¹,

Townshend White

²,

Beibei Wang

³,

Huanhuan Shi

^3,* and

Jiayang Liu

^3,4,*

¹

Whitewater High School, 100 Wildcat Way, Fayetteville, GA 30215, USA

²

Brookwood High School, 1255 Dogwood Road SW, Snellville, GA 30078, USA

³

Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223, USA

⁴

School of Bioengineering, Huanghuai University, Zhumadian 463000, China

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Water 2019, 11(3), 430; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030430

Submission received: 29 January 2019 / Revised: 21 February 2019 / Accepted: 23 February 2019 / Published: 28 February 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Disinfection: Safe Water for All)

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Abstract

This study examined a novel reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) system with activated carbon fiber cloth (ACFC) serving simultaneously as the anode and the membrane to effectively disinfect water that was filtered through the device. An Escherichia coli strain was inoculated to water as a model pathogen. The influence of REM operation parameters, including the number of ACFC layers, voltage, flow rate and operation time, was evaluated. Up to 7.5 log unit reduction of E. coli concentration in water was achieved at the optimal treatment condition, while the energy consumption was 1.5 kWh/m³ per log unit reduction of E. coli. This makes it possible to use this ACFC-based REM technology for point-of-use water disinfection to provide clean water for underdeveloped regions. Further tests by free radical probing, Linear Scan Voltammetry (LSV) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) suggest that the disinfection involved the filtration/retention of bacteria on ACFC and attack by reactive oxygen species generated electrochemically on the anode.

Keywords: electrochemical; activated carbon fiber cloth; disinfection; pathogen

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MDPI and ACS Style

Huang, E.; White, T.; Wang, B.; Shi, H.; Liu, J. Disinfection of Escherichia coli by a Reactive Electrochemical Membrane System Involving Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC). Water 2019, 11, 430. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030430

AMA Style

Huang E, White T, Wang B, Shi H, Liu J. Disinfection of Escherichia coli by a Reactive Electrochemical Membrane System Involving Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC). Water. 2019; 11(3):430. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030430

Chicago/Turabian Style

Huang, Edward, Townshend White, Beibei Wang, Huanhuan Shi, and Jiayang Liu. 2019. "Disinfection of Escherichia coli by a Reactive Electrochemical Membrane System Involving Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC)" Water 11, no. 3: 430. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030430

APA Style

Huang, E., White, T., Wang, B., Shi, H., & Liu, J. (2019). Disinfection of Escherichia coli by a Reactive Electrochemical Membrane System Involving Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC). Water, 11(3), 430. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030430

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Disinfection of Escherichia coli by a Reactive Electrochemical Membrane System Involving Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth (ACFC)

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