Design and Fabrication of Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Porous Metallo-Polymeric Microsphere for Water Disinfection

Abstract

An expedient and efficient approach is used to synthesize a new class of metallo-polymeric microspheres (MPMs) as antimicrobials to succumb the wide range of bacteria from water. Three types of MPMs, that is, poly[Silver (I)-methacrylate-co-methylmethacrylate] (pAgMA), poly[Copper (II)-methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate] (pCuMA), and poly[Nickel (II)-methacrylate-co-methylmethacrylate] (pNiMA), are prepared via radical suspension polymerization technique in 3D shape with porous texture. The structural and morphological characterization of the prepared microspheres are examined by analytical techniques. The antimicrobial potentialities of prepared MPMs are investigated at the laboratory scale study, revealing that the MPMs exhibit strong antibacterial activity (≈99.9% killing) against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria [Enterobacter hormaechei (EH), Bacillus megatarium (BM), and Bacillus bataviensis (BB)]. The MacConkey agar medium test reveals that MPMs have substantial biocidal efficacy against broad-spectrum Gram-negative bacteria present in tap water. The MPMs exhibit significant antimicrobial efficacy via contact killing owe to the presence of integrated biocidal metal moiety, which represents that the MPMs are safe for water disinfection.