Water purification by micelle-clay nano-particles

This book focuses on water purification by micelle-clay nano-particles.

The micelle-clay complex is composed of an organic cation (surfactant) with a long alkyl chain, e.g., ODTMA (octadecyltrimethylammonium) that spontaneously forms micelles of several nm in diameters at small concentrations.

The positively charged micelles interact with a negatively charged clay (bentonite) at optimal ratios.

The resulting complex has a large surface area per weight; it includes large hydrophobic parts and has an excess of a positive charge.

The complex is insensitive to higher temperatures (50 0C), to pH values in the range of 2-11, or ionic strengths.

Production of powdered and granulated complexes is described.

The material characteristics of the micelle-clay complex differ from those of organo-clay of the same composition, which is formed by the interaction of monomers of the surfactant with the clay (Chapters One and Two).

Model calculations enable simulations and predictions of removal of pollutants from water in batch or filtration experiments, and can yield cost estimates (Chapter Three).

Laboratory and pilot experiments (Chapter Four) yield efficient removal from the water of (i) hydrophobic and anionic organic molecules: herbicides, humic acid, dissolved organic matter, and pharmaceuticals; (ii) inorganic anions, e.g., perchlorate; and (iii) microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, and parasites, e.g., cryptosporidium, which is resistant to chlorination.

The (above) use of a micelle-clay complex indicated a big advantage in comparison with activated carbon.

Low cost regeneration of used filters after bacteria adsorption is described.

Biocidal effects of cations, e.g., ODTMA are demonstrated; released cations during filtration enhanced the filter efficiency.

The released cations are removed from water before consumer use by another filter containing activated carbon.

Drinking water from lakes is forbidden during cyanobacteria bloom due to harmful toxins.

Filtration by the granulated micelle-clay complex and killing of cyanobacteria by ODTMA cations are described.

Water purification by other clay-composites such as liposome- and polymer-clay is described in Chapter Five.

Collaboration between technologies of water purification are found in Chapter Six: (i) Incubation of grey water in a moving bed biological reactor followed by filtration by the micelle-clay granulated complex enables water reuse at low cost. (ii) Filtration combined with degradation by solar photo-Fenton processes is a promising tertiary treatment of wastewater, including efficient removal of problematic pharmaceuticals. (iii) A new design of the micelle-clay complex may yield enhanced capacity for removal of microorganisms from water by combining filtration with biocidal action of free cations.

This book describes inventions in material science and developments of computational procedures for simulations and predictions, and is an authoritative and stimulating reference for researchers, engineers and students involved in water treatment and adsorption processes.