Nano-Catalysts and Colloidal Suspensions of Carbo-Iron for Environmental Application

The present paper shows two different examples for exsitu and in-situ water treatment using nano-sized materials. Two novel colloidal particles have been developed and tested in initial studies for i) the in-situ generation of sorption/reaction barriers based upon zero-valent iron on sorption-active carbon carriers (carbo-iron) for application in subsurface water treatment and ii) the selective catalytic elimination of halogenated hydrocarbons using Pd on magnetic carriers as agent for ex-situ waste water treatment. The common ground for both applications is the utilization of nano-particles for dehalogenation reactions in the aqueous phase in order to minimize mass transport limitation and therefore permit high decontamination rates. These water treatment applications have been selected for presentation in order to show the wide applicability of nano-sized materials in environmental technology.