Description
SON’s nanoscavengers address some of the biggest challenges of this century.
Water pollution: a global issue
Heavy metal pollution of water is a major environmental issue. Our entire ecosystem is jeopardised by such pollution, and human health is on the line.
Toxic metals are often found in industrial or municipal wastewater, despite the fact that this is strictly regulated.
There are in fact numerous sources of heavy metal pollution, such as the mining and metalworking industries. The waste associated with our high demand for electronic goods is also a source of heavy metal pollutants.
While filtration and treatment systems do exist, they are not always enough. This is why there is hope that nanomaterials can provide an effective means of treating wastewater contaminated with heavy metals. It is now possible to reduce the amount of heavy metals in water and thereby preserve its quality.
Wastewater remediation and capturing critical metals
SON supplies nanoparticles that can capture critical metals in wastewater: this technology is called DepolluSon©.
DepolluSon© is used to both detect and capture heavy metals in water by means of multifunctional nanoparticles. We call these SON Nanoscavengers. Using these nanoscavengers will enable you to capture metal ions in wastewater and subsequently recycle them.
What are SON Nanoscavengers?
They are DTPA-functionalised iron oxide nanoparticles. Thanks to the superparamagnetic properties of SPIONs, metal particles can be magnetically removed from water quite easily.
This technology not only enables environmental remediation but also means that costly critical metals can be reclaimed and recycled. It is also able to target and extract a specific metal.
