Cork Embedded with Silver–Lignin Nanoparticles as an Additive for Adsorption Columns in Tertiary Wastewater Treatment
SYMSITES was present at the 7th International Congress on Water, Waste, and Energy Management, held in Lisbon, Portugal, and the ACS Spring 2024 Conference in New Orleans, USA, where advances in the development of an innovative approach to wastewater treatment was featured.
The study, led by our partner UPC, introduced enhancements to the conventional activated carbon filtration systems widely used in tertiary wastewater treatment. The proposed solution involved embedding silver–phenolated lignin nanoparticles into residual cork using a fast, simple, and green sono-enzymatical process.
The resulting nano-enabled cork exhibited strong antibacterial activity against common waterborne pathogens, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. It also showed the ability to interfere with how bacteria communicate with each other, which is important for stopping harmful bacteria from forming protective biofilms—a slimy layer that bacteria create to stick to surfaces and shield themselves from antimicrobials, making colonisation much harder to treat.
By combining activated carbon with nano-functionalised cork as a mixed filler in filtration columns, the system achieved complete water disinfection within just one hour of recirculation and remained effective for up to four reuse cycles. Importantly, no detectable silver release was observed into the treated effluent after ten recirculation cycles under realistic operational conditions, confirming the environmental safety of this approach. The innovation not only enhances the performance of activated carbon filtration units but also supports circular economy principles by valorising cork waste.
This technological advancement, developed within the SYMSITES project, offers a scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable solution for addressing microbial persistence in post-treatment water, representing a significant step forward in safe and efficient water disinfection for conventional water utilities.
