ABSTRACT
One of the requirements for the treatment of drinking water is the removal of pathogenic microorganisms. Typically, the most used techniques apply inorganic nanoparticles or chlorine release precursors to inactivate bacteria. While these treatments are very effective, they tend to show a decrease in antimicrobial activity over time, releasing potentially toxic ions and contributing to bacterial resistance. In this sense, the development of hydrogel-based materials has become a potential alternative for water disinfection. The synthesis and functionalization of hydrogels have been proven to improve the global performance of microorganism retention. Our work provides an overview of the synthesis and functionalization of hydrogel-based materials, their advantages and limitations, and the latest research on the use of hydrogels for water disinfection. The future panorama of hydrogel-based materials applicability for water treatment is also provided. The main challenge to expand the use of hydrogels in water treatment is the lack of research assessing the feasibility of large-scale applicability of these materials, considering real systems. Most of the studies carried out experiments at laboratory scale with controlled situations, in which interactions between microorganisms and real world contaminants were not considered.
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
AcA –Acrylic acid
Ag/rGO–Silver/reduced graphene oxide
AgNPs –Silver nanoparticles
CDs –Carbon dots
CS –Chitosan
GG –Guar gum
GO –Graphene oxide
g-C3N4 –Graphitic carbon nitride
MOF –Metal-organic frameworks
NIPPAM – Isopropylacrylamide
NPGESNC-AcA – Novel porous gelatin-silver/AcA
OA-POSS – Octa-aminopropyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane chloride
OEG-DMA – Oligoethylene glycol dimethacrylate
PAA -Polyacrylic acid
PBI –Perylene bisimide
PBS –Phosphate buffer
PCDs –Polymerizable carbon dots
PEI –Polyethyleneimine
PGA –Polyglycolic acid
PGE-AcA – Gelatin/acrylic acid
PLA –Polylactic acid
PMDETA – N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine
PVA –Polyvinyl alcohol
PVP –Polyvinyl pyrrolidone
QA –Quaternary ammonium
QAS –Quaternary ammonium salt
rGO –Reduced graphene oxide
ROS –Reactive oxygen species
ZnO NWs – Zinc oxide nanowires
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support in part by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – Brasil (CNPQ).
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).