Mesoporous, Three-Dimensional Wood Membrane Decorated with Nanoparticles for Highly Efficient Water Treatment.

Wood, an earth-abundant material, is widely used in our everyday life. With its mesoporous structure, natural wood is comprised of numerous long, partially aligned channels (lumens) as well as nanochannels that stretch along its growth direction. This wood mesostructure is suitable for a range of emerging applications, especially as a membrane/separation material.

Deposition and disinfection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on naturally occurring photoactive materials in a parallel plate chamber.

Dissolved organic matter in combination with iron oxides has been shown to facilitate photochemical disinfection through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under UV and visible light. However, due to the extremely short lifetime of these radicals, the disinfection efficiency is limited by the successful transport of ROS to bacterial surfaces. This study was designed to quantitatively investigate three collector surfaces with various potentials to produce ROS [bare quartz, hematite (α-Fe2O3) coated quartz, and Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA)] and the effects of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) (full or partial coating) and solution chemistry (ionic strength, IS) on the interactions between bacteria and the ROS-producing substrates.

Lack of influence of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) level on hydroxyl radical mediated disinfection of Escherichia coli.

Photolysis of nitrate, a prevalent constituent in agriculturally impacted waters, may influence pathogen attenuation in such systems through production of hydroxyl radical ((•)OH). This study focuses on the efficacy of (•)OH generated during nitrate photolysis in promoting E. coli die-off as a function of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) coverage.