A team from the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) is working on a method to decontaminate and recover organic compounds from industrial aqueous media using a MOF network of imidazolates (imidazole-derived compounds) as zeolites. These particles are capable of self-aggregating to generate floating membranes. The technology, with a European priority patent application, is available for demonstration at laboratory level.
A wastewater treatment plant
Pollutants in aqueous media are a problem that both society and industry must tackle. Commonly used methods involve recovery or filtration processes with varying sieve sizes, where the economic cost increases as the size of the contaminant decreases. In the case of dealing with the separation of molecules or metal ions, the use of molecular sieves that trap the contaminant inside is preferred, and in this case the main limitation is the recovery of the adsorbent particles from the aqueous medium.
A team of CSIC researchers at the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM) has developed a method for preparing adsorbent particles that self-organise and form floating films, which can be used to remove organic pollutants from aqueous media.
This configuration of floating interfaces within the aqueous medium enables the simple and efficient removal of the particles—whether they act as adsorbents or catalysts—even when the solid adsorbent particles are nanometric in size.
This development reduces the cost of recovery of the adsorbent micro-nanoparticles, as it does not require the use of centrifugation systems of other methods. It is a fast pollutant removal system comparable to the ultrafiltration process, but with the advantage over the latter that it does not require external energy input. In addition, floating membranes can exhibit catalytic activity against some pollutant dyes.
Contact:
Marisa Carrascoso
Vicepresidencia de
Innovación y Transferencia - CSIC