In this study, silver nanoparticle decorated chitosan (CS/Ag NP) cryogels were fabricated through a simple freeze-drying process for point-of-use (POU) water disinfection. The CS/Ag NP cryogels showed high porosity, good mechanical properties, an excellent water absorption capability, and most importantly, an efficient bactericidal feature. The absorption capacity for water was found to be 47g/g, approximately 90% of which was recovered by simple squeezing. Three different sizes of Ag NPs were compared regarding their bactericidal capability against both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis). Under optimum conditions, a 3 log reduction of bacteria was observed by holding the bacteria suspension (108 colony forming units (cfu)/mL) in the cryogels for 5min. Reduction was further increased to a 4 log when the contact time was doubled. The silver content in the cryogels was found to only be 7.5mg/g. Furthermore, the total Ag in processed water was found to only be 22μg/L, half of the safety limit set by China (
