International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)

ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

DISINFECTION OF WATER CONTAINING E. COLI BY

PHOTOCATALYTIC ROUTE USING TIO2/UV/VISIBLE LIGHT
SOURCE
Sneha J. Bhimate1, Anand. D. Kulkarni1, Anuradha Tolpadi2
1
Department of Chemical Engineering,
Bharti Vidyapeeth College of Engineering, Pune, India
2
Department of Microbiology, Bharti Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune, India

ABSTRACT
Disinfection of water containing E. coli is a major concern. The objective of this research is to disinfect the
water containing E. coli by photocatalytic route using TiO2 and Carbon doped TiO2 and comparison of the
two. The photocatalytic disinfection was tested under UV light and visible light irradiation. The experiments
were carried out using different culture concentrations and different catalyst concentrations. It was examined
that 99.94% disinfection occurs at 0.2 grams C-doped TiO2 concentration per 200 ml of solution.

KEYWORDS: disinfection, E. coli, photocatalysis, TiO2

I. INTRODUCTION
Conventional methods of disinfection of water are not so effective and there are problems associated
with the usage of very expensive instruments [1]. Photocatalysis has appeared as an alternative
technology for water disinfection [2]. Photocatalytic disinfection of bacteria by TiO2 has merited
increasing scientific attention [3]. The other disinfection methods like chlorination, reverse osmosis
are effective against most pathogens but are too costly to implement. Advanced oxidation
technologies, including semiconductor photocatalysis, make available the alternatives for the
disinfection of contaminated water in situations. Heterogeneous photocatalysis utilizes light energy
along with a semiconductor which produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can inactivate
bacteria [4].
The capacity of titanium dioxide (TiO2) to degrade contaminants has been studied for more than 20
years [5]. TiO2 is non-toxic for humans and is widely used as a self-cleaning material in many
applications such as surface coating etc. [6]. TiO2 occurs as rutile, brookite and anatase phase. Rutile
and anatase are the photocatalytic active forms of TiO2 [7].
The TiO2 photocatalyst is found as inhibitory agent for bacterial growth. It is used in the form of
powder, films and nanocomposits with UV light as well as visible light [8]. When irradiated TiO2
particles come in direct contact with or close to microbes, the microbial surface becomes the primary
target of the initial oxidative attack [9]. The wavelength range of UV-C irradiation is from 100 nm to
290 nm [10].
During the photocatalytic disinfection process, the illumination of semiconductor photocatalyst with
UV radiation activates the catalyst and establishes a redox environment [11]. The energy difference
between valence band and conduction band is known as band gap. Many semiconductors have band
gap energies sufficient for catalyzing chemical reactions. [12].
The holes (h+) and electrons (e-) are generated on the surface of TiO2 when it is exposed to light
during photocatalysis [13]. Holes can oxidize and kill bacteria. Extensive work had been carried out to
evaluate bactericidal effect of TiO2 in powder form using UV light [14-18].

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)
ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

The most studies in the field of photocatalysis have been done on bacteria specially e. coli because e.
coli is a representative of all the bacteria [19]. The practical application of TiO2 is limited for several
reasons such as low photon efficiency and use of UV as an excitation source. The modifications of
this catalyst are made by doping it with various materials to solve these problems [20]

II. EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 Materials and methods
The standard strain of E. coli (ATCC) was procured from department of Microbiology, Bharati
Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune, India. The culture was grown in a nutrient broth at 370C for 24
hrs. The required bacterial concentration was adjusted by serial dilution method.
2.2 Reactor set-up
The experiments were conducted in a 0.2 dm3 Quartz reactor in a 0.04 m2 dark room as shown in
Figure 1. All glass wares were autoclaved at 1210C for 30 minutes. First different serial dilutions
were made and the culture was plated on nutrient agar plates and incubated for 24 h at 370C. The
desired colonies were obtained when culture was diluted five times where colony forming units
(CFUs) were calculated as 2.19*107. The nutrient agar medium was prepared and poured in petri
dishes. Then the first set of experiment was carried out by varying catalyst loading as 0.05, 0.1 and
0.2 g. The best results were obtained at 0.2 g. Then the second set of experiment was conducted at
optimized catalyst loading i.e. 0.2 g. And the solution was diluted by serial dilution method. Above
two sets of experiments were carried out under UV light irradiation (125 Watt). Now, the optimized
catalyst loading was kept constant i.e. 0.2 g. And culture concentration was varied and treated under
visible light irradiation (125 watt). Above all experiments were performed using Carbon doped TiO2
catalyst.
The next three sets of experiment were performed using TiO2 catalyst under UV light irradiation (125
Watt). The culture concentration of was varied. The optimized catalyst loading was used i. e. 0.2 g.
Also three experiments were performed using Carbon doped TiO2 catalyst under Visible light
irradiation (125 Watt). The samples of each experiment were collected every 30 minutes. The best
results were obtained at 104 dilution factor.
The photocatalysts were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction
(XRD).

Figure1. Experimental Set up.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

SEM results of TiO2 and C-doped TiO2 were obtained using Scanning Electron Microscope as shown
in figure 2. SEM is widely used to identify phases based on quantitative chemical analysis or
crystalline structure.

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)
ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)
ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

(f)

.Figure2. SEM analysis of catalyst: (a), (b), (c) for TiO2 and (d), (e), (f) for C-doped TiO2
The XRD pattern of both the catalysts is as shown in figure 3. X ray diffraction is most widely used
for identification of fine-grained materials that are difficult to determine optically. Both the phases
rutile and anatase .were found in X ray diffraction.
4000
3500
3000
2500
Intensity

2000
1500
1000
500
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
2Ѳ

(a)

4000
3500

3000

2500
Intensity

2000
1500

1000
500
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
2Ѳ

(b)

Figure3. XRD pattern of TiO2 (a) and C-doped TiO2 (b)

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)
ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

The treated solution was plated on nutrient agar plate every 30 minute. The plates were incubated for
24 h at 370C. The colonies were counted by standard plate count method. The % disinfection was
calculated. The solution having total dilution factor 104 got the best results at 0.2g catalyst loading
which was optimized as shown in table 1. The results are shown in graphical form as shown in figure
4.
Table 1: % Disinfection of solution having dilution factor 104
Time (min) % Disinfection

0.05 g TiO2 0.1 g TiO2 0.2 g TiO2

0
30 36.67 64.38 97.72
60 95.43 69.40 98.17
90 96.80 79.45 99.08
120 98.83 89.49 99.54
The solution was serially diluted and was treated with 0.2g C-doped TiO2 under UV light irradiation.
The 99.94% disinfection was obtained after 120 minutes of the solution having 104 total dilution
factor as shown in table 2. The disinfection achieved is because of combined action of TiO2 with UV.
The graphical results are as shown in figure 5.
Table 2: % Disinfection using C-doped TiO2 under UV light irradiation
Time (min) % Disinfection

DF 102 DF 103 DF 104

0
30 8.37 14.05 15.67
60 11.37 30.65 25.22
90 19.63 94.35 99.42
120 93.93 99.4 99.94
In next set the solution containing e. coli was treated using TiO2 under UV light irradiation. The
samples were taken every 30 minutes. Very negligible disinfection occurred in the solution having 102
and 103 dilution factor. 96.08% disinfection occurred in solution having 104 dilution factor using 0.2 g
catalyst loading as shown in table 3 and the graphical representation is as shown in figure 6.
Table 3: % Disinfection using TiO2 under UV light irradiation
Time (min) % Disinfection

DF 102 DF 103 DF 104

0
30 - - 83.1
60 - - 84.67
90 - - 89.53
120 - - 96.08
In last set of experiment the solution containing e. coli was treated with 0.2g C-doped TiO2 under
Visible light irradiation. The disinfection went up to 99.1% after 120 minutes of solution having 104
dilution factor as shown in table 4. The disinfection was achieved due to the combined action of TiO2
and UV radiation [21]. The graphical results of % disinfection are as shown in figure 7.
Table 4: % Disinfection using C-doped TiO2 under visible light irradiation
Time (min) % Disinfection

DF 102 DF 103 DF 104

0
30 5.37 7.32 2.5
60 67.97 77.28 78.6
90 89.46 92.04 94.45
120 95.8 95.12 99.1

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)
ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

120

100

80

% Disinfection
0.05 gm Catalyst
loading
60
0.1 gm catalyst loading
40
0.2 gm catalyst loading
20

0
0 50 100 150
Time (min)

Figure4: C-doped TiO2 under UV/Visible light irradiation (104 dilution factor)

Figure5. C-doped TiO2 under UV/Visible light irradiation (0.2 g catalyst loading)

Figure6. C-doped TiO2 under visible light irradiation (0.2 g catalyst loading)

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)
ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

Figure7. TiO2 under UV light irradiation (0.2 g catalyst loading)

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e)

Figure8. E. coli population during photocatalytic disinfection: (a) initial population, and population after (b) 30
min, (c) 60 min, (d) 90 min, (e) 120 min of treatment
Another experiment was carried out to treat natural water containing E. coli. The sample was taken
from Mula-Mutha River, Pune, India. The analysis was done for E. coli test and the standard plate
count method. The CFU per 100ml were found >1600 by IS 5887 method. The sample was treated
using C-doped TiO2 under both UV and Visible light irradiation for 240 minutes. 95.6% disinfection
was obtained after 240 min under UV/visible light irradiation and 91.65% disinfection was obtained
after 240 min under visible light irradiation.

IV. CONCLUSION
This work shows that photocatalysis can be used for disinfection of water. The C-doped TiO2
performed well and disinfected 99.94% E. coli after 120 min of irradiation under UV light whereas it
disinfected 99.1% E. coli under visible light irradiation after 120 min which may be combined effect
of UV and TiO2 However there is need of suitable reactor configuration so as to implement this
system on commercial scale.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are thankful to Dr. Mrs M. S. Modak (HOD Dept. of Microbiology, Bharati Vidyapeeth
Medical College, Pune) for her kind support and guidance.

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International Journal of Scientific Research and Management Studies (IJSRMS)
ISSN: 2349-3771 Volume 1 Issue 3, pg: 80-87

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AUTHORS BIOGRAPHY
Sneha J. Bhimate, M. Tech. student, Department of Chemical Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed
University, College of Engineering, Pune, India. She has completed her B Tech. from, Department of Chemical
Engineering, Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology, Yavatmal, India

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