Claims
- 1. A material for removing contaminating metals and organic compounds from aqueous media,
said material comprising a sol-gel and a solid support.
- 2. The material of claim 1, wherein the sol-gel and the solid support is a composite.
- 3. The material of claim 1, wherein said sol-gel and a solid support form a solid material selected from the group consisting of molded, granular, and powder form.
- 4. The material of claim 1, wherein the sol-gel comprises a hydrophobic sol-gel or aerogel.
- 5. The material of claim 1, wherein the solid support is granulated activated carbon (GAC).
- 6. The material of claim 4, wherein the hydrophobic aerogel includes a quantity of phosphoric acid.
- 7. The material of claim 4, wherein the phosphoric acid of the hydrophobic aerogel is in a range of <1% to over 34%.
- 8. The material of claim 4, wherein the hydrophobic aerogel includes a quantity of phosphonate.
- 9. The material of claim 8, wherein the phosphonate of the hydrophobic aerogel is in the form (C2H5O)3SiCH2CH2P(O)(OC2H5)2.
- 10. The material of claim 4, wherein the phosphonate of the hydrophobic aerogel is in the range of <1% to 50%.
- 11. The material of claim 4, wherein the hydrophobic aerogel includes a quantity of phosphate exchangeable metal salt.
- 12. The material of claim 11, wherein the phosphate exchangeable salt is calcium nitrate.
- 13. The material of claim 11, wherein the phosphate exchangeable metal salt is in the range of <1% to 50%.
- 14. The material of claim 1, wherein the sol-gel is formed from a mixture which includes a quantity of (CH3O)4Si and a quantity of hydrophobic component.
- 15. The material of claim 14, wherein the hydrophobic component of the mixture is a fluorinated material.
- 16. The material of claim 14, wherein the hydrophobic component of the mixture is (CH3O)3SiCH2CH2CF3.
- 17. The material of claim 14, wherein the hydrophobic component is in the range of <1% to 50%.
- 18. The material of claim 14, wherein the mixture additionally includes a quantity of one of CH3OH, acetone, and (C2H5O)3SiCH2CH2P(O)(OC2H5)2.
- 19. A solid material for removing contaminants from aqueous media, comprising:
a quantity of hydrophobic aerogel, and a quantity of GAC.
- 20. The solid material of claim 19, wherein the hydrophobic aerogel and the GAC comprises a composite material.
- 21. The solid material of claim 19, wherein the hydrophobic aerogel includes material selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, phosphonate, and phosphate exchangeable metal salts.
- 22. A method for producing a solid material for removing contaminants from an aqueous media comprising:
providing a quantity of granulated activated carbon (GAC), providing material for producing a hydrophobic aerogel, and forming the solid material from the GAC and the hydrophobic aerogel producing material.
- 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the material for producing the hydrophobic aerogel includes material selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, phosphonate, and phosphate exchangeable metal salts.
- 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the forming includes preparing a first mixture containing at least (CH3O)4 Si and (CH3O)3SiCH2CH2CF3.
- 25. The method of claim 24, additionally including adding to the thus formed first mixture, a quantity of one of CH3OH, acetone, and (C2H5O)3SiCH2CH2P(O)(OC2H2)2.
- 26. The method of claim 25, additionally including forming a second mixture containing one of a quantity of CH3OH, H3PO4, and HBF4, a quantity of H2O, acetone, Ca(NO3)2, and HBF4, and a quantity H2O, CH3OH, and NH4OH.
- 27. The method of claim 26, additionally including mixing the first mixture and the second mixture together and stirred, followed by pouring into a supercritical-drying reactor containing a quantity of GAC, pulling a vacuum and gelling the mixed mixtures.
- 28. The method of claim 26, wherein the gelled mixed mixture is dried at 300° C. under supercritical conditions.
- 29. The method of claim 26, additionally including removing the dried solid material from the supercritical reactor, sieving to remove fines, mixing with a quantity of H3PO4 in acetone solution for a time period, decanting off the solvent, washing the solid material, and drying under vacuum.
- 30. The method of claim 23, wherein the solid material is selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid and hydrophobic aerogel, phosphoric acid exchanged hydrophobic aerogel, and functionalized phosphonate hydrophobic aerogel.
- 31. The method of claim 28, wherein the solid material consisting of phosphoric acid and hydrophobic aerogel contains phosphoric acid in a range of <1% to about 34%.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application relates to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/337,361 filed Nov. 5, 2001, and claims priority thereof.
Government Interests
[0002] The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48 between the United States Department of Energy and the University of California for the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60337361 |
Nov 2001 |
US |