Pollution magnet: nano-magnetite for arsenic removal from drinking water.

Arsenic contamination in groundwater is a severe global problem, most notably in Southeast Asia where millions suffer from acute and chronic arsenic poisoning. Removing arsenic from groundwater in impoverished rural or urban areas without electricity and with no manufacturing infrastructure remains a significant challenge. Magnetite nanocrystals have proven to be useful in arsenic remediation and could feasibly be synthesized by a thermal decomposition method that employs refluxing of FeOOH and oleic acid in 1-octadecene in a laboratory setup. To reduce the initial cost of production, $US 2600/kg, and make this nanomaterial widely available, we suggest that inexpensive and accessible "everyday" chemicals be used. Here we show that it is possible to create functional and high-quality nanocrystals using methods appropriate for manufacturing in diverse and minimal infrastructure, even those without electricity. We suggest that the transfer of this knowledge is best achieved using an open source concept.

Applying analytical ultracentrifugation to nanocrystal suspensions.

While applied frequently in physical biochemistry to the study of protein complexes, the quantitative use of analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) for nanocrystal analysis is relatively rare. Its application in nanoscience is potentially very powerful as it provides a measure of nanocrystal density, size and structure directly in the solution phase. Towards that end, this paper examines the best practices for applying data collection and analysis methods for AUC, geared towards the study of biomolecules, to the unique problems of nanoparticle analysis. Using uniform nanocrystals of cadmium selenide, we compared several schemes for analyzing raw sedimentation data. Comparable values of the mean sedimentation coefficients (s-value) were found using several popular analytical approaches; however, the distribution in sample s-values is best captured using the van Holde-Weischt algorithm. Measured s-values could be reproducibly collected if sample temperature and concentration were controlled; under these circumstances, the variability for average sedimentation values was typically 5%. The full shape of the distribution in s-values, however, is not easily subjected to quantitative interpretation. Moreover, the selection of the appropriate sedimentation speed is crucial for AUC of nanocrystals as the density of inorganic nanocrystals is much larger than that of solvents. Quantitative analysis of sedimentation properties will allow for better agreement between experimental and theoretical models of nanocrystal solution behavior, as well as providing deeper insight into the hydrodynamic size and solution properties of nanomaterials.

Size-dependent sedimentation properties of nanocrystals.

Centrifugation is an increasingly important technique for nanomaterial processing. Here, we examine this process for gold, cadmium selenide, and iron oxide nanocrystals using an analytical ultracentrifuge. Such data provide an accurate measure of the sedimentation coefficients for these materials, and we find that this parameter has a significant dependence on the size and surface coating. Conventional models for particle sedimentation cannot capture the behavior of these nanocrystals unless the density of the nanocrystals is described by a size-dependent term that accounts for both the inorganic core and the organic coating. Using this modification in the particle sedimentation framework, it is possible to estimate sedimentation coefficients from information about the nanocrystal core and surface coating dimensions. Such data are useful in choosing the speeds for a centrifugation process and are particularly important when bimodal nanocrystal distributions are present.

Low-field magnetic separation of monodisperse Fe3O4 nanocrystals.

Magnetic separations at very low magnetic field gradients (<100 tesla per meter) can now be applied to diverse problems, such as point-of-use water purification and the simultaneous separation of complex mixtures. High-surface area and monodisperse magnetite (Fe3O4) nanocrystals (NCs) were shown to respond to low fields in a size-dependent fashion. The particles apparently do not act independently in the separation but rather reversibly aggregate through the resulting high-field gradients present at their surfaces. Using the high specific surface area of Fe3O4 NCs that were 12 nanometers in diameter, we reduced the mass of waste associated with arsenic removal from water by orders of magnitude. Additionally, the size dependence of magnetic separation permitted mixtures of 4- and 12-nanometer-sized Fe3O4 NCs to be separated by the application of different magnetic fields.