Novel nanostructures synthesized to adsorb toxic ions from polluted water

Iranian researchers from Sharif University of Technology synthesized a set of zeolite modified nanostructures which can entrap toxic ions of heavy metals in water. This plan has direct applications in petrochemical wastewater purification systems. The process consists of a multi-stage synthesis of core (magnetic) – shell (zeolite) nanostructures and the investigation of their applications to eliminate toxic ions of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium from polluted water. Dr. Mohsen Padarvand explained about the steps of the research. “This project includes hydrothermal synthesis of nickel ferrite magnetic cores, their doping with silica to prepare the bed for the growth of the zeolite layer on its surface, hydrothermal growth of zeolite layer in the presence of organic templates, and heavy ion elimination test from polluted waters.” Results of the research showed that the synthesized nanocomposites had high ability to eliminate lead and cadmium ions from polluted waters. Results also demonstrated that surface modification with organic functions had significant effect on the efficiency of the process. Successful growth of zeolite layers with desired structural networks on magnetic cores and the type of organic functions used in surface modification process in order to increase the efficiency are among other important achievements in this research. Results of the research have been published in June 2013 in Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, vol. 20, issue 3. For more information about the details of the research, study the full article on pages 3900-3909 on the same journal.