US 12491489 B1Patent grantUnited States

Lanthanum Nanocomposite for Wastewater Sorption

Official patent title

Particulate crystalline nanocomposite as a sorbent for wastewater treatment

Arabic title: مركب نانوي بلوري جسيمي كمادة مازة لمعالجة مياه الصرف

Invention

Problem

Wastewater can contain persistent organic compounds, toxic metals, metalloids, and radionuclides that require effective capture without releasing harmful sorbent constituents.

Why it matters

A broad-scope porous sorbent could support contaminated-water treatment research, but performance, regeneration, lanthanum stability, secondary waste, and real-effluent behavior must be verified.

Approach

The method contacts wastewater with a La(OH)3/La2O3/CaSiO3/g-C3N4 particulate crystalline nanocomposite in a fixed-volume dispersion or membrane-flow configuration to adsorb organic and inorganic contaminants.

Who may benefit

Potential beneficiaries include industrial-water researchers, wastewater operators, environmental-remediation laboratories, specialty sorbent producers, and teams managing hazardous aqueous waste.

Potential value

The disclosure combines lanthanum hydroxide, lanthanum oxide, calcium silicate, and mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride with specified ratios, morphology, pore properties, and contact modes.

Background

Industrial and municipal wastewater can carry hydrophobic organic pollutants and toxic inorganic species that persist in the environment. Adsorption can provide a comparatively simple separation step, but practical sorbents need sufficient capacity, selectivity in mixed matrices, hydraulic compatibility, regeneration, and stable constituent retention. The publication proposes a lanthanum-hydroxide, lanthanum-oxide, calcium-silicate, and graphitic-carbon-nitride material for multiple contaminant classes. It provides composition, morphology, pore, synthesis, dose, and contact-time specifications, but no contaminant-specific capacity, isotherms, selectivity, regeneration cycles, lanthanum leaching, real-water trials, or radionuclide waste-management evidence.

Technology overview

The sorbent contains La(OH)3, La2O3, CaSiO3, and g-C3N4, with a CaSiO3:g-C3N4:(La(OH)3+La2O3) weight ratio of (0.8-1.2):(0.8-1.2):(0.8-1.2). Acicular inorganic particles have a 40–100 nm median length, and at least 80 wt. % of g-C3N4 is in mesoporous nanosheets. BET surface area is 60–100 m2/g, pore diameter is 10–25 nm, pore volume is 0.1–0.4 cm3/g, and the loop is Type H3 at 77 K. Contact is 1–120 min at 0.1–5 g/L.

Potential applications

Batch sorption research for industrial wastewater.
Sorbent-loaded membrane-flow treatment studies.
Screening capture of organic pollutants, heavy metals, and metalloids.
Licensed radionuclide-sorption research with controlled waste handling.

Evidence-supported advantages

Four identified crystalline phases are integrated in one sorbent.
Composition ratio, particle morphology, and pore properties are specified.
Both batch dispersion and membrane-flow operation are contemplated.
Dose and contact-time ranges are disclosed.

Development stage

Laboratory synthesis, phase and pore characterization, and proposed water-contact modes are described; adsorption performance, reuse, leaching, real-water validation, scale-up, and commercial treatment were not established.

Commercial opportunity

The material may interest specialty sorbent and wastewater-treatment developers, but commercial capability is unproven. Independent tests must establish contaminant-specific capacity, selectivity, kinetics, breakthrough, regeneration, competitive-matrix effects, lanthanum and phase leaching, real-effluent performance, manufacturing consistency, and cost. Radionuclide applications require licensed handling, secondary-waste control, and disposal qualification.

Patent classifications

WIPO IPC

B01J20/10Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/06Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus

CPC

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
B01J20/06Chemical 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
B01J20/28033Chemical 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
B01J20/28061Chemical 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
B01J20/3078Chemical 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
B01J20/3204Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/3236Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
B01J20/3297Chemical or physical processes, e.g. catalysis or colloid chemistry; their relevant apparatus
C02F1/288Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C02F1/281Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C02F2101/006Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C02F2101/20Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C02F2101/308Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C02F2305/08Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge
C02F2305/10Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge

Inventors

First inventorBabiker Yagoub Elhadi Abdulkhair
InventorMohamed Khairy Abdel Fattah Omran

Keywords

lanthanum hydroxide
lanthanum oxide
calcium silicate
graphitic carbon nitride
sorbent
wastewater treatment
mesoporous nanosheets
contaminant adsorption

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.