Copper oxide nanoparticles offer promising applications in water filtration, photocatalysis, and gas sensing owing to their highly tunable nanostructure and reactivity. Controlling the specific micro- and nanostructure of these particles can promote enhanced chemical reactivity and surface energy that also make them promising materials for antimicrobial applications. To this end we have synthesized copper(I) oxide nanostructures with varied morphologies consisting of octahedra, cubes, spheres and hexapods, and studied the effect of shape on their ability to remediate bacteria in contaminated water. The copper oxide nanoparticles were incorporated within Laponite RD nanoscaffolds through water based self-assembly to enhance water processability, polydispersity, and filter stability. Water samples contaminated with E. coli bacteria were exposed to Laponite/Cu(I) oxide films for varying time periods and were then cultured and tested for colony forming units. Morphological, compositional, and crystallinity studies of the nanocomposites were performed using powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. These structure-property studies offer important insight for water filter design strategies to utilize copper oxide nanomaterials for antimicrobial and clean water applications.

New routes to clean water: Laponite/copper oxide nanomaterials for bacterial remediation

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.