Authors: Nichola J Coleman Samantha P Lewis Andrew P Mendham Vivek Trivedi
Publish Date: 2009/12/22
Volume: 17, Issue: 6, Pages: 747-753
Abstract
Zirconium umbite K2ZrSi3O9·H2O is a microporous framework ion exchanger whose potential as a carrier for Zn2+ ions in antimicrobial formulations has not yet been investigated Accordingly batch Zn2+exchange kinetics of synthetic zirconium umbite KUM and the subsequent antimicrobial action of the zincbearing phase ZnUM against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli are reported Nonstoicheiometric overexchange of Zn2+ for K+ was observed and attributed to hydrolysis and complexation reactions of Zn2+ within the umbite framework The exchange process which was described by a simple pseudofirstorder model k 1 = 269 × 10−4 min−1 R 2 = 0992 did not achieve equilibrium within 120 h at 25 °C by which time the uptake of zinc was found to be 104 mmol g−1 The minimal bactericidal concentrations of ZnUM for E coli and S aureus were found to be 10 g cm3 and 10 g cm3 respectively
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