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. 2019 Aug 21;5(8):e02325.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02325. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Functionalized magnetic particles for water treatment

Christian Baresel  1 , Vincent Schaller  2 , Christian Jonasson  2 , Christer Johansson  2 , Romain Bordes  3 , Vinay Chauhan  3 , Abhilash Sugunan  4 , Jens Sommertune  4 , Sebastian Welling  1
Affiliations

Functionalized magnetic particles for water treatment

Christian Baresel et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

In this study, we have taken the concept of water treatment by functionalized magnetic particles one step forward by integrating the technology into a complete proof of concept, which included the preparation of surface modified beads, their use as highly selective absorbents for heavy metals ions (Zinc, Nickel), and their performance in terms of magnetic separation. The separation characteristics were studied both through experiments and by simulations. The data gathered from these experimental works enabled the elaboration of various scenarios for Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The LCA showed that the environmental impact of the system is highly dependent on the recovery rate of the magnetic particles. The absolute impact on climate change varied significantly among the scenarios studied and the recovery rates. The results support the hypothesis that chelation specificity, magnetic separation and bead recovery should be optimized to specific targets and applications.

Keywords: Chemical engineering; Environmental science; Life cycle assessment; Magnetic particle; Materials chemistry; Nanotechnology; Pollutant; Water treatment.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic layout of the separation system used for testing and demonstration purposes. The setup includes turbidity sensors (particle concentration), a peristaltic pump, HGMS filter, an electromagnet and valves, all controlled by a PC.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic illustration of the developed and proven concept of functionalized magnetic particles for water treatment.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Magnetization versus field at room temperature up to 0.4 T (upper field range for a typical separation magnet), for all particle systems studied during the project. The sample magnetic moment was normalized with the mass of the particles to obtain the mass magnetization in the graph on the left (a) and with the number of particles to obtain the mean value of magnetic moment per particle in the graph on the right (b). The properties of the magnetic particles as indicated in the legends are shown in Table 1. Both the magnetic particles synthesized in this study as well as the commercial magnetic particles (MyOne, M270 and M450 Dynabeads Thermo Fisher Scientific) were used.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Illustration of the extraction capacity of the functionalized particles.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Measured separation times for all particle systems studied in the project, MyOne (1 μm diameter), M270 (2.7 μm) and M450 (4.5 μm) are commercial systems from ThermoFisher and MB01-MB07 (1–2 μm) are produced in the project. The separation time in the optical method was defined as the time when half of the light intensity value as compared to the initial value.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Separation time (in seconds) versus the parameter 1/(M0ρDp2) for the investigated particles indicated in the figure. M0 is obtained from the magnetization measurement results given in Fig. 3a.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Several FEM-models have been implemented in COMSOL to study different separation concepts including HGMS and OGMS setups. To the left (a) an OGMS system is shown where a flow channel is located on top of a permanent magnet. The particles are typically gathered on the bottom of the channel and the efficiency is given by the strength of the magnet and the flow speed of the fluid containing the particles. The middle figure (b) shows a HGMS setup with a perforated soft magnetic disc inside the flow channel. The disc is magnetized by a permanent magnet beneath the channel. The efficiency of this system is very good due to high gradients and most of the particles are collected in the filter even at higher flow rates. To the right (c) another simulated HGMS filter, built up with vertical soft magnetic bars, is shown.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Distribution of impact on climate change for selected scenarios of the system and processes included.
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