Study of the antimicrobial and antifouling properties of different oxide surfaces.

Membrane separation processes find applications in an array of fields as they use far less energy and chemical agents than competing processes. However, a major drawback of membrane technology is that biofilm formation alters membrane performances. Preventing biofilm formation is thus a pivotal challenge for larger-scale development of membrane processes. Here, we studied the comparative antibacterial activities of different inorganic membranes (ceramic and zeolite-coated ceramic with or without copper exchange) using several bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis). In static conditions, alumina plates coated with Cu-exchanged zeolite showed significant bactericidal activity. In dynamic mode (circulation of a contaminated nutrient medium), there was no observable bacterial adhesion at the surface of the Cu-exchanged material. These results confirm the antifouling properties of the Cu-mordenite layer due to both the increased hydrophilicity and antibacterial properties of the active layer.Tests performed with tubular filtration membranes (without copper exchange) showed a significant decline in membrane hydraulic properties during filtration of culture media containing bacteria, whereas copper-exchanged membranes showed no decline in hydraulic permeability. Filtration tests performed with concentrated culture media containing spores of B. subtilis led to a significant decrease in membrane hydraulic permeabilities (but less so with Cu-exchanged membranes). The surfaces showed less effective global antifouling properties during the filtration of a concentrated culture medium due to competition between bacterial growth and the bactericidal effect of copper. Analyses of copper leached in solution show that after a conditioning step, the amount of copper released is negligible.

Kinetics of nitrite reduction by zinc metal: influence of metal shape on the determination of kinetic parameters.

Heterogeneous chemical reactions are complicated, especially in the case of competitive reactions. The aim of this study was to investigate the elimination of nitrite (NO2(-)) by applying a metallic reduction using zero-valent zinc (Zn0). The effect of pH, stirring, and metal shape (powder and chips) on the rate and products of nitrite reduction were studied in a batch-stirred reactor. The obtained data have been used to optimize the conditions for metallic reduction of NO2(-) and for kinetic parameters identification. It was found that the dissolution of zinc involves a pseudo-first-order reaction independent of the shape of the metal. Further, the influence of operating conditions on nitrogen (N2) and ammonium (NH4(+)) formation has been determined. It was found that a decrease in pH and in the Zn0 content enhances NH4(+) production. If kinetic parameters can be approximated easily for constant surface area, it was demonstrated that surface evolution had to be integrated for metal powder. Finally, a numerical simulation has been used to determine the kinetic parameters for NO2(-) reduction with zinc powder.