Surface and Bulk Modification of Iron Nanoparticles for Water Treatment
Dr. Jan Filip
Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (CATRIN), Czech Advanced Technology and
Research Institute, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
Monday July 13 | 9:30 – 11 AM | MD 497
ABSTRACT
Iron nanoparticles, generally referred to as nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI), represent one of the most extensively investigated nanomaterials with significant potential for environmental remediation technologies. Over the past two decades, nZVI has been widely applied for the reductive in situ remediation of groundwater contaminated with chlorinated hydrocarbons, hexavalent chromium, various organic contaminants, and potentially toxic elements. To meet the requirements of these applications, numerous types of nZVI particles and nZVI-based nanocomposites have been developed for reductive as well as combined groundwater and wastewater treatment technologies.
Overall, the reactivity and practical applicability of nZVI are competitive with those of conventional remediation technologies. However, their broader implementation is still limited by relatively low selectivity and restricted mobility under certain environmental conditions, particularly in low-permeability sediments. To overcome these limitations, considerable research has focused on tailoring the physicochemical properties of nZVI through surface and chemical modifications, as well as by combining nZVI with complementary materials to form advanced nanocomposites or integrating it with external factors such as electric or magnetic fields and microbial activity. These approaches aim to improve the reactivity, selectivity, transport properties, and overall remediation performance of nZVI. This presentation will provide an overview of the most promising strategies for enhancing the performance of nZVI in groundwater remediation. The underlying principles of these approaches will be illustrated using selected laboratory-scale experiments and validated by results obtained from field-scale pilot applications.
SPEAKER BIO
Dr. Jan Filip received his PhD degrees in field of Mineralogy from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic with dissertation focused on the crystal chemistry of borosilicate minerals and OH defects in nominally-anhydrous minerals. Currently, he leads the group “Environmental nanotechnologies” at the Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (as a division of Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute - CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. His research interests cover development, optimization, and application of zero-valent iron nanoparticles; ferrates; metal oxide nanoparticles and biochar in technologies for water treatment, identification of nanoparticles in the environment, application of X-ray based techniques (X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and related techniques), and Mössbauer spectroscopy in materials science. He actively participates in various national and international collaborative projects and he is the author and co-author of four book chapters, more than 150 papers in refereed journals and several other applied results including verified technologies, utility models, and prototypes.