US 12330137 B1Patent grantUnited States

Mesoporous Chitosan Water-Treatment Composite

Official patent title

Method of producing a mesoporous chitosan/NaFeSi2O6 based nanocomposite

Arabic title: طريقة لإنتاج مركب نانوي قائم على الكيتوسان/NaFeSi.SUB.2.O.SUB.6 ذي مسام متوسطة

Invention

Problem

Chitosan is useful for adsorption and sustainable materials but can have limited mechanical and thermal performance. Nanoparticles may improve it, yet agglomeration, uneven dispersion, uncontrolled porosity, complex synthesis, and production cost can limit composite performance.

Why it matters

A controlled chitosan–silicate composite with accessible mesopores could support adsorption, separation, and catalysis while combining a natural polymer with an inorganic nanoscale phase.

Approach

Sodium iron silicate nanoparticles are prepared hydrothermally, dispersed in a chitosan solution, and treated with sodium hydroxide. Chitosan coats and aggregates the NaFeSi2O6 nanoparticles into rod-like mesoporous structures with defined nitrogen-adsorption characteristics.

Who may benefit

Potential beneficiaries include adsorbent and catalyst developers, water-treatment researchers, separation-media manufacturers, sustainable-material companies, and laboratories working with chitosan nanocomposites.

Potential value

The process combines a biopolymer coating with sodium iron silicate nanorods and provides measurable pore-diameter, surface-area, pore-volume, and isotherm characteristics through a defined hydrothermal and alkaline assembly route.

Background

Chitosan is a biodegradable polymer with chemical groups that can bind heavy metals and organic pollutants, making it attractive for water treatment and other separation processes. Its use can be limited by mechanical strength, thermal stability, and barrier properties. Adding inorganic nanostructures can improve performance, but poor dispersion and particle agglomeration may reduce the expected benefits. The patent addresses these challenges by forming sodium iron silicate nanoparticles first and then using chitosan to coat and assemble them into rod-like mesoporous structures.

Technology overview

Sodium metasilicate pentahydrate and iron(III) chloride hexahydrate are hydrothermally reacted to form NaFeSi2O6 nanoparticles. These particles are added to a chitosan solution, and sodium hydroxide converts the precursor into a coated rod-like nanocomposite. Nitrogen adsorption shows a Type IV isotherm with an H3 hysteresis loop. Claimed embodiments have mean pores greater than 15 nm, optionally greater than 35 nm, BET area greater than 9 m²/g, and total pore volume greater than 0.09 cm³/g.

Potential applications

Adsorbent development for heavy metals and organic pollutants.
Porous separation media for water-treatment research.
Support material for heterogeneous catalysis studies.
Sustainable chitosan-based functional-material development.

Evidence-supported advantages

Combines a natural polymer with an inorganic sodium iron silicate phase.
Forms chitosan-coated rod-like nanoparticle aggregates.
Provides measured mesopore, BET-area, and pore-volume thresholds.
Exhibits a Type IV adsorption isotherm with H3 hysteresis.
Uses a defined hydrothermal preparation followed by alkaline assembly.

Development stage

Nanoparticle synthesis and WXRD, SEM, and nitrogen-adsorption characterization are described; pollutant adsorption, separation, catalytic performance, durability, and scaled operation were not established. The development stage was not independently verified.

Commercial opportunity

The material may interest adsorbent, catalyst-support, and filtration-media companies. Commercial assessment requires pollutant-specific capacity and selectivity data, mechanical integrity in flow systems, regeneration testing, chitosan stability, leaching and safety studies, batch reproducibility, scale-up economics, and application-specific benchmarking under continuous operating conditions.

Patent classifications

WIPO IPC

B01J20/24Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/10Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus

CPC

C01B33/32Non-metallic elements; compounds thereof
B01J20/10Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28071Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28083Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/3291Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28016Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/3274Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/28059Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/3085Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/24Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/3204Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
C01P2002/72Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds

Inventors

First inventorEhab Abdelhamed Abdelrahman Ahmed

Keywords

chitosan
NaFeSi2O6
sodium iron silicate
mesoporous nanocomposite
nanorods
hydrothermal synthesis
adsorption
water treatment

Patent document and drawings

The patent publication is mapped to this record. Patent drawings remain within that publication; no separately cleared public media package has been supplied.