GROUNDWATER: Nanoparticles Clean Contaminants.

Industries In Transition, October, 2003

A nanotechnology process that uses particles 1,000 times thinner than a human hair to remediate or immobilize groundwater contaminants such as trichloroethene (TCE), carbon tetrachloride, dioxins, and PCBs has been developed by a Lehigh University scientist.

Lehigh assistant professor Wei-xian Zhang uses nanoparticles composed of more than 99.9% iron and less than 0.1% palladium or other Noble elements in the process, which some researchers say is one of the most promising applications of nanotechnology to the remediation of environmental pollution.

Zhang attributes the efficiency of his process to iron's oxidation. When metallic iron oxidizes in the presence of contaminants such as PCBs, TCE, carbon tetrachloride, or dioxins, the pollutants' organic...