US 12459834 B1Patent grantUnited States

Hybrid Nanomaterial for Wastewater Remediation

Official patent title

Nanocomposite for wastewater treatment

Arabic title: مركب نانوي لمعالجة مياه الصرف

Invention

Problem

Conventional water treatment may inadequately remove dissolved inorganic and organic contaminants, while photocatalysis depends on illumination and many nanocomposites have inconsistent morphology, porosity, stability, or scalable manufacture.

Why it matters

A material combining adsorption and irradiation-based treatment could broaden remediation research, but its cadmium content makes leaching, treated-water toxicity, recovery, disposal, and occupational exposure critical independent validation needs.

Approach

The method contacts contaminated water with a carbon/titanium-oxide/cadmium-oxide/magnesium-titanate particulate composite to immobilize inorganic contaminants or, under actinic irradiation, degrade organic contaminants.

Who may benefit

Potential beneficiaries include wastewater-remediation researchers, photocatalyst and adsorbent laboratories, membrane-treatment developers, environmental-safety groups, and specialty-material manufacturers.

Potential value

The disclosure combines five crystalline or elemental components with specified atomic ranges, static and flowing treatment configurations, optional membrane retention, and a defined gel-calcination synthesis.

Background

Industrial and urban wastewater can contain persistent dissolved metals and organic compounds that are not fully addressed by coagulation, clarification, filtration, or sterilization. Adsorption immobilizes contaminants, while photocatalysis may degrade organics under illumination. Practical nanocomposites nevertheless face light-dependence, limited visible response, unstable phases, inconsistent porosity, irregular particle size, and scale-up challenges. The patent proposes a multiphase titanium-, magnesium-, cadmium-, and carbon-containing material, but introducing cadmium into water treatment creates an additional hazard that must be controlled and independently assessed.

Technology overview

The composite contains elemental carbon, orthorhombic and tetragonal TiO2, cubic CdO, hexagonal MgTiO3, and orthorhombic Mg0.6Ti2.4O5. Claim 1 specifies about 1–5 atom % C, 5–15 atom % Mg, 15–30 atom % Ti, and 1–10 atom % Cd. Treatment uses about 0.05–1 wt.% material in static or flowing water; a membrane may retain it. Synthesis combines magnesium and cadmium salts with a titanium compound and 2-ketose, heats the gel at about 150–300 °C, and calcines at about 500–800 °C.

Potential applications

Potential immobilization studies for inorganic water contaminants.
Potential irradiated degradation studies for organic contaminants.
Potential static-batch adsorption research.
Potential membrane-retained flow-treatment research after leaching validation.

Evidence-supported advantages

Combines adsorption and irradiation-based treatment modes.
Supports static and flowing aqueous configurations.
Includes perpendicular and tangential membrane-flow embodiments.
Defines phase, composition, morphology, and synthesis parameters.

Development stage

Patent publication describing material synthesis and characterization; independent remediation performance, cadmium containment, safety, and commercialization were not established.

Commercial opportunity

The concept may interest water-treatment research programs, but cadmium-containing media require especially stringent assessment. Work should quantify contaminant capacity and degradation, cadmium and other leaching over pH and reuse cycles, membrane retention, treated-water toxicity, catalyst recovery, hazardous spent-media handling, worker exposure, realistic influent performance, synthesis reproducibility, reactor energy, and regulatory feasibility.

Patent classifications

WIPO IPC

C01G23/08Compounds containing metals not covered by subclasses C01D or C01F
B01J20/20Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus

CPC

B01J20/3078Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
C01G23/08Compounds containing metals not covered by subclasses C01D or C01F
B01J20/205Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B82Y30/00Specific uses or applications of nanostructures; measurement or analysis of nanostructures; manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
C02F1/281Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
B01J20/28007Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
C02F2305/10Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C01P2004/64Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
Y02W10/37Climate-change mitigation technologies related to wastewater treatment or waste management
C01P2002/60Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/01Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/85Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/82Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2002/76Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/38Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/50Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/32Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C02F2305/08Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C01P2004/03Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds
C01P2004/04Indexing scheme for structural and physical aspects of solid inorganic compounds

Inventors

First inventorEhab Abdelhamed Abdelrahman Ahmed
InventorBabiker Yagoub Elhadi Abdulkhair

Keywords

wastewater treatment
TiO2
CdO
MgTiO3
adsorption
photocatalysis
membrane retention
nanocomposite

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.