[nanoPost] Silica-based nanocomposite that selectively removes heavy metals

Company USA

The company is an advanced materials company with specific R&D expertise in the development of silica-based organic-inorganic nanocomposites. The company’s proprietary technology platform encompasses three distinct product areas, which include industrial, biotechnology and optoelectronic applications. The company initial focus was environmental remediation, targeting heavy metals found in water. The company now has three business areas, in addition to its production of customized thermal conductivity instruments:
• Traditional products: enhancements to industrial applications, including clay nanocomposites, polymer additives and modified silica gels;
• Optical electronics: nanocomposites for use in optical coatings offering anti-reflective, anti-corrosive and heat resistance properties for electronic displays, glass products and other applications;
• Biotechnology: use of nanomaterials for applications including drug delivery.
Since it’s founding, the company has been able to apply its expertise in silica sol-gel chemistry to deliver innovation to a variety of traditional industries.

One of these products is the first water treatment product, which incorporates reactive treatment with high-efficiency adsorption.  The product is a silica-based nanocomposite that selectively removes heavy metals such as silver, gold, palladium, platinum, mercury, cadmium and lead from water using a proprietary nanopore reactive adsorbent structure. The product is synthesized using a silica gel microstructure and highly loaded ligand groups, which are customized to target the specific metal ions desired for recovery/removal. 
The integration of reaction and adsorption has synergistic effects, as adsorption has been shown to prolong the residence time of the metal ions in a flow reactor. The integration of three functions- high-efficiency adsorption, high-capacity reaction and rate-accelerating catalysis- into one structure improves three critical aspects of treatment: efficiency (lower residue concentration), capacity (higher bed-volumes of treatment) and speed (faster flow rate).