Nanoporous self-assembled silica for remediation of water
Igor Sokolov - Department of Physics
Functionalized nanoporous (also called mesoporous) materials have been previously reported as promising adsorbents for a number of pollutants. However, high cost of nanoporous materials precluded their practical use in filters. Recently we have found a new method of synthesis of cost-effective nanoporous silica material possessing ~ 1200 m2/g surface area (cheap and abundant sodium silicate was used as silica source material). For comparison, 1 gram of this material has more surface area than an entire football field, which in turn is approximately 3 times higher than the surface area of activated carbon. The surface of silica is also much easier to functionalize as compared to carbon. The consumables used for the synthesis allow us to project the cost of nanoporous silica to be not much more expensive than the cost of cement. The synthesis is production-friendly (no flammable side products are formed during the synthesis as compared to the organic precursors). The process is robust (inorganic precursor is much more stable compared to the organic one), and can be classified as green chemistry as it does not produce any toxic products. In this project, we will use developed nanoporous silica to clean water contaminated with organics.
For more information, contact:
Igor Sokolov, Ph.D
Professor,
Department of Physics,
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science,
Director of Nanoengineering and Biotechnology Laboratories Center (NABLAB),
NY Center for Advanced Material Processing (CAMP)
Clarkson University,
Potsdam, NY 13699
Phone: 315-268-2375
Fax: 315-268-6610
email: isokolov@clarkson.edu
Web: http://www.clarkson.edu/~isokolov
