Silver-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks for Microbial Mitigation

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently emerged as promising materials for numerous antimicrobial applications due to their unique properties such as porosity, tunability, and high ion release rate. One of the applications is utilizing them as antimicrobial agents to tackle biofouling phenomena in membrane-based water purification through surface functionalization which is a promising approach to improve the biofouling resistance of polymeric membranes. The main body of this dissertation covers a novel ultrasonic-assisted technique to modify polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membranes by silver-based metal-organic frameworks (AgMOFs). Different morphological and characterization techniques were employed to indicate that the in-situ growth of AgMOFs was successful by this facile method. The AgMOFfunctionalized membrane also showed enhanced static antibacterial activities and dynamic biofouling resistance compared to those of the pristine membrane while in contact with the model bacteria, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, as a side study, AgMOF and its graphene oxide (GO)-decorated nanocomposite (GO AgMOF) are proposed as potential antimicrobial candidates for cancer treatment.