Novel Swelling Mica for Cation Separations

ABSTRACT The Interfacial, Transport, and Separations Programs of the Chemical and Transport Systems Division is funding research of Dr. Sridhar Komarneni, at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Komarneni is working on developing a novel swelling mica to remove heavy, divalent cations such as lead and strontium. The material is novel in that it selectively adsorbs these cautions and after a specific uptake level, collapses, thus preventing back-exchange. The research will address the uptake kinetics and selectivity's, and will seek to characterize the material during the uptake process using X-ray diffraction and NMR analysis. This research may lead to the development of a novel material capable of selectively removing toxic, heavy metal contaminants. Additionally, after removal, the collapsible nature of the material implies that the contaminants are sealed in a compacted form. Development of this technology may lead to new methods to remove and encapsulate toxic metal ion impurities.