| dc.description.abstract | The availability of clean and safe drinking water remains a prominent challenge in most parts of
the world. Drinking water should be free from harmful microorganisms, salt as well as other
organic and inorganic contaminants that need attention as they have health impacts on human
beings. In the present study, naturally occurring metal oxides from rocks embedded in activated
carbon (AC/MO) electrodes were evaluated for desalination and anti-bacterial activities against
gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and gram-positive (Salmonella aureus) bacteria using capacitive
deionization (CDI) technique. The AC/MO electrodes were fabricated for desalination and
disinfection of natural and synthetic water with the CDI method. The AC/MO electrode materials
were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX),
X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Fourier-Transform-Infrared
spectroscopy (FTIR), and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) which affirm the formation
of disinfecting electrode materials. The desalination and disinfection CDI experiments were
conducted by carrying out batch mode laboratory CDI system using natural water collected from
the Nduruma stream (natural water) while applying a potential difference of 1.2V for 4 h. It was
found that the AC/MO CDI electrodes achieved 100 ± 0.42% E. coli and 60 ± 0.53% S. aureus
bacteria removal and 46.85 ± 0.49% salt removal efficiency. The bacterial disinfection mechanism
is through the CDI process and physical adsorption. Therefore, this study presents the AC/MO
electrode material which can be considered as an appreciable anti-bacterial agent for the CDI
performance | en_US |
