Oh Y, Noga R, Shanov V, Ryu H, Chandra H, Yadav B, Yadav J, Chae S. Electrically heatable carbon nanotube point-of-use filters for effective separation and in-situ inactivation of
Legionella pneumophila.
Chem Eng J 2019;
366:21-26. [PMID:
31275054 PMCID:
PMC6604856 DOI:
10.1016/j.cej.2019.02.054]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Despite municipal chlorination and secondary disinfection, opportunistic waterborne pathogens (e.g., Legionella spp.) persist in public and private water distribution systems. As a potential source of healthcare-acquired infections, this warrants development of novel pathogen removal and inactivation systems. In this study, electrically heatable carbon nanotube (CNT) point-of-use (POU) filters have been designed to remove and inactivate Legionella pneumophila in water. The CNT/polymer composite membranes effectively removed Legionella (> 99.99%) (i.e., below detection limit) and were able to inactive them on the membrane surface at 100% efficiency within 60 s using ohmic heating at 20 V. The novel POU filters could be used as a final barrier to provide efficient rejection of pathogens and thereby simultaneously eliminate microorganisms in public and private water supplies.
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