Disinfection of water and wastewater strongly contributes to solving the problem of water shortage in arid/semi-arid areas; cheap and ecofriendly approaches have to be used to meet water quality standards. In the present study, a green synthesis of iron nanoparticles (INPs) under aerobic and anaerobic conditions via nitrate reductases (NAP/NAR) enzymes produced by Proteus mirabilis strain 10B were employed for this target. The biosynthesized INPs were characterized; UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed surface plasmon resonance at 410 (aerobic) and 265 nm (anaerobic). XRD indicated crystalline magnetite ((MNPs) aerobically synthesized) and zerovalent INPs (ZVINPs anaerobically synthesized). EDX demonstrated strong iron signal with atomic percentages 73.3% (MNPs) and 61.7% (ZVINPs). TEM micrographs illustrated tiny, spherical, periplasmic MNPs (1.44-1.92 nm) and cytoplasmic ZVINPs with 11.7-60.8 nm. Zeta potential recorded - 31.8 mV (ZVINPs) and - 66.4 mV (MNPs) affirming colloidal stability. Moreover, the disinfection power of INPs was evaluated for standards organisms and real water (fresh, sea and salt mine) and wastewater (municipal, agricultural and industrial) samples. The results reported that INPs displayed higher antagonistic effect than iron precursor, 700 and 850 μg/mL of MNPs and ZVINPs, respectively, was sufficient to show a drastic algicidal effect on algal growth. Both types of INPs demonstrated obvious dose-dependent antibiofilm efficiency. Due to their smaller size, MNPs were more efficient than ZVINPs at the suppression of microbial growth in all examined water samples. Overall, MNPs showed superior antagonistic activity, which promotes their exploitation in enhancing water/wastewater quality.
Keywords: Antagonistic activity; Disinfection; Magnetite iron nanoparticles; Nitrate reductase; Wastewater treatment.