Porous nanocomposite polymer hydrogels for water treatment

Nanocomposite polymer beads, prepared by the method comprising:

• mixing one or more polymers in an acid or basic solution to produce a polymer mixture, wherein the one or more polymers comprise natural biopolymers and co-polymers;
• dissolving nanoparticles in an acid or basic solution with mixing to produce a nanoparticle solution, wherein the nanoparticles are carbon or metal oxides or nanohybrids of carbon and metal oxide nanoparticles;
• adding the nanoparticle solution to the polymer mixture to produce a nanoparticle polymer mixture;
• stirring or sonicating the nanoparticle polymer mixture until a homogenous mixture is produced;
• mixing the homogenous mixture to a crosslinking reagent allowing formation of the nanocomposite polymer beads.

A method for the removal of contaminants from a contaminated water stream, comprising:

• preparing a packed bed column filtration device or fluidized bed reactor comprising nanocomposite polymer beads, wherein the nanocomposite polymer beads comprise:
• polymer material, wherein the polymer material comprises one or more natural biopolymers and one or more co-polymers, and
• nanoparticles, wherein the nanoparticles are carbon or metal oxides, wherein the nanoparticles are incorporated into the polymer material to form a mixture, and wherein the mixture is formed into beads;
• and
• passing the contaminated water stream through the packed bed column filtration device to remove at least some of the contaminants from the water stream.