Solid materials for removing metals and fabrication method
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsPaul R. Coronado, John G. Reynolds, Sabre J. Coleman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Solid materials have been developed to remove contaminating metals and organic compounds from aqueous media. The contaminants are removed by passing the aqueous phase through the solid materials which can be in molded, granular, or powder form. The solid materials adsorb the metals and the organics leaving a purified aqueous stream. The materials are sol-gel and or sol-gel and granulated activated carbon (GAC) mixtures. The species-specific adsorption occurs through specific chemical modifications of the solids tailored towards the contaminant(s). The contaminated solid materials can then be disposed of or the contaminant can be removed and the solids recycled.
Claims17
A composition comprising:
- a mixture consisting essentially of (1) a hydrophobic sol-gel functionalized with at least one metal-removing constituent or one organic compound removing constituent and (2) a support structure.
A composition comprising:
- a predetermined amount of a hydrophobic aerogel functionalized with at least one metal-removing constituent or at least one organic compound-removing constituent;
- and
- a predetermined amount of granulated activated carbon, wherein said composition is capable of removing metal species or organic compounds from aqueous media.
A method comprising:
- forming a first mixture comprising a predetermined amount of a least one organosilane compound, a predetermined amount of an organosilane compound having a substituent capable of making an aerogel hydrophobic, and organic solvent;
- forming a second mixture comprising (1) a compound capable of binding at least one organic compound, a compound capable of binding at least one metal, or a compound capable of being modified to a compound capable of binding at least one metal after gellation and (2) an organic solvent;
- mixing the first mixture and the second mixture together with stirring for a predetermined amount of time to form a pre-aerogel mixture;
- combining said pre-aerogel mixture with a predetermined amount of a support structure to form a pre-aerogel/support structure mixture;
- and
- drying said pre-aerogel/support structure mixture under supercritical conditions to form a functionalized hydrophobic aerogel/support structure solid material capable of removing metals or organic compounds from an aqueous media.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.