The increasing number of bacteria-related problems and presence of trace amounts of phosphate in treated wastewater effluents have become a growing concern in environmental research. The use of antibacterial agents and phosphate adsorbents for the treatment of wastewater effluents is of great importance. In this study, the potential applications of a synthesized polyaniline (PANI)-zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) composite as an antibacterial, phosphate adsorbent and anti-corrosion material were systematically investigated. The results of an antibacterial test reveal an effective area of inhibition of 14 and 18 mm for the Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strains, respectively. The antibacterial efficiency of the PANI-ZrO2 composite is twice that of commercial ZrO2. In particular, the introduction of PANI increased the specific surface area and roughness of the composite material, which was beneficial to increase the contact area with bacterial and phosphate. The experimental results demonstrated that phosphate adsorption studies using 200 mg P/L phosphate solution showed a significant phosphate removal efficiency of 64.4%, and the maximum adsorption capacity of phosphate on the solid surface of PANI-ZrO2 is 32.4 mg P/g. Furthermore, PANI-ZrO2 coated on iron substrate was tested for anti-corrosion studies by a natural salt spray test (7.5% NaCl), which resulted in the formation of no rust. To the best of our knowledge, no works have been reported on the synergistic effects of the PANI-ZrO2 composite as an antibacterial, anti-corrosion, and phosphate adsorbent material. PANI-ZrO2 composite is expected to be a promising comprehensive treatment method for water filters in the aquaculture industry and for use in water purification applications.
Keywords: Antibacterial activity; composite; corrosion protection; phosphate removal; polyaniline; zirconia.