Super Porous Adsorbent of Heavy metals for Water Purification

The recent surge in the demand for accessible water for industrial and drinking use, coupled with the alarming increase of toxic pollutants in the environment, have driven a search for efficient, economic and sustainable water purifying methods. Heavy metal ions are among the most widespread contaminants for both drinking waters and industrial wastewater and exposure to even traces of these metals can result in chronic health disorders. The most common water remediation strategies currently adopted include reverse osmosis, filtration and chemical precipitation, although most of these suffer from some drowbacks, such as limited regeneration, slow sorption kinetics, relatively low thermal or chemical stability, and limited selectivity.

ICN2 researchers developed an innovative super porous adsorbent with enhanced removal capacity toward heavy metal water contaminants. This adsorbent is a novel composite material of metal-organic frameworks (MOF) and cerium oxide (CeO2) inorganic nanoparticles, featuring excellent porosity and chemical stability. The composite has been designed to combine the high surface areas and adsorption properties of both MOF and inorganic nanoparticles, thus it can simultaneously remove different heavy metals from water, such as As(III and V), Cd(II), Cr(III and VI), Cu(II), Pb(II) and Hg(II). This material is fabricated by spray-drying in the form of spherical microbeads, which can be further structured into millimetric granules, making it suitable for water purification systems such as cartridges for point-of-use usage, or even in continuous flow fixed-bed adsorption columns for scale-up applications. Moreover, the adsorbent capacity can be regeneratedby simple acidic treatment, allowing for recyclability of the material and process sustainability.

This invention can appeal to companies fabricating adsorbents and molecular sieves(such as active carbon, zeolites, etc.), manufacturing purification devices or systems for water purification or remediation. We are looking for industrial partners interested in licensing the technology and/or collaborating to industrial prototyping and testing in relevant environment.

Current development status

Working prototypes

Applications

Water Treatment and Purification from heavy metals

Desired business relationship

Patent licensing

Joint ventures

Technology development

Other : product development