Copper Impregnated Mesoporous Activated Carbon as a High Efficient Catalyst for the Complete Destruction of Pathogens in Water L. John Kennedy, A. Ganesh Kumar, B. Ravindran, and G. Sekaran Department of Environmental Technology, Central Leather Research Institute, Adyar, Chennai 600020, Tamil Nadu, India; ganesansekaran@hotmail.com (for correspondence) Published online 6 December 2007 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ep.10241 Copper impregnated mesoporous activated carbon catalyst was applied for the elimination of microor- ganisms in wastewater. The antibacterial activity of the catalyst was determined qualitatively by testing the removal of pathogens in water after contacting with the catalyst. Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella sonnei, and Salmonella typhi were taken as the model pathogens in determin- ing the antimicrobial activity of the catalyst. The cat- alyst developed for this purpose was thoroughly char- acterized using instrumental techniques such as BET analysis, X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope to determine the pore and surface area, structural phases, surface func- tional groups, and surface morphology respectively. The energy dispersive X-ray analysis carried out con- firmed qualitatively the percentage of copper impreg- nated in the catalyst. The experimental studies revealed that the catalyst was highly efficient and ad- vantageous to be employed for industrial applications because of the nonleacheablity of copper from the catalyst and nonreoccurrence of the pathogens in the treated water. The transmission electron microscopy evidenced the complete cell wall rupture of the micro- organisms. All the experimental results revealed that the copper impregnated mesoporous activated carbon exhibited a strong and long term antibacterial activ- ity throughout the studies for repeated cycles. Ó 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 27: 40–50, 2008 Keywords: pathogen removal, antibacterial activity Cu-impregnated mesoporous carbon, instrumental techniques INTRODUCTION Water pollution is one of the major problems faced by mankind and majority of the water borne diseases are spread because of the poor quality of water due to the presence of bacteria and viruses in the water [1]. Several methods of water purification such as chlorination, iodination, ozonation, UV-purification, reverse osmosis, and using silver catalysts are widely in practice. Purification using chemical agents such as chlorine, iodine, or ozone for killing of bacteria has several disadvantages. For example excess chlorina- tion could lead to cancer [2]. Other methods like UV-purification and reverse osmosis are not cost effective. Though microbicidal activity of silver impregnated carbons are reported by many research- Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable Technologies for Environmental Protection–ICSTEP2006. Ó 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers 40 April 2008 Environmental Progress (Vol.27, No.1) DOI 10.1002/ep