Membrane comprising biopolymers and carbon nanomaterials for removing heavy metals in polluted waters
AssigneeUniversidad TéCnica Federico Santa MaríA
InventorsElías Reinoso, Geraldine Dennett, Carolina Parra
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a membrane for removing heavy metals present in water or other solutions contaminated with said heavy metals, wherein said membrane comprises carbon nanomaterials and a mixture of natural biopolymers, preferably nanocellulose, carbon nanotubes and diatom biomass. The present invention also comprises a method for obtaining said membrane, and a method for removing heavy metals in water or other solutions comprising the use of said membrane.
Claims27
A membrane for removing heavy metals present in contaminated water or solutions, characterized in that it comprises nanofibrillated cellulose, multi-walled carbon nanotubes and diatom biomass stems from Didymosphenia geminata, and
- characterized in that the diatom stems are in a powdered form having a particle size of 100 μm to 1,000 μm.
A method for obtaining a membrane for removing heavy metals present in contaminated water or solutions, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:
- a. providing diatom stems from Didymosphenia geminata, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and a suspension of nanofibrillated cellulose;
- b. mixing the diatom stem with the carbon nanotubes to obtain a mixture;
- c. adding the mixture into the suspension of nanofibrillated cellulose and mixing until a paste is formed;
- and
- d. drying the paste to obtain the membrane.
A method for removing heavy metals present in contaminated water or solutions, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:
- a. providing a membrane comprising nanofibrillated cellulose, multi-walled carbon nanotubes and diatom stems from Didymosphenia geminata;
- characterized in that the diatom stems are in a powdered form having a particle size of 100 μm to 1,000 μm;
- b. contacting the membrane with the contaminated water or solutions allowing the membrane to adsorb the heavy metals;
- and
- c. removing the membrane with the adsorbed heavy metals from the contaminated water or solutions.
The membrane according to 1, characterized in that the particle size of the powdered form is 300 μm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.