Diffusion and Treatability Studies with Biopolymer Encapsulated Zero-valent Iron Nanoparticles

Zero-valent iron nanoparticle (NZVI) is the most popular among the metal nanoparticles used in environmental remediation. The experiments discussed in this paper are conducted in ‘micro-reactors’ made of biopolymers (e.g., alginate). The calcium alginate capsules/microreactors are made and optimized for diameter, membrane thickness, and bursting force. Diffusion studies done using monosaccharide (Xylose) and pesticide (Alachlor) show good contaminant diffusion into the microreactors (~3.4 mm dia). NZVI was encapsulated in the microreactors and treatability batch studies with specific contaminants (Alachlor) were conducted. .