Patent ID: 11866353
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.
Field: Environmental technology (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  H  B | IPC B  C

Claim 0:
1. A method for removing ultrafine particulate pollutants, comprising: introducing a plurality of magnetic nanoparticles to an aqueous suspension that includes a dispersion of target ultrafine particulate pollutants, wherein the magnetic nanoparticle has a longest dimension of about 10 nm to 500 nm, wherein the target ultrafine particulate pollutants comprise phosphorous sorbed onto a surface of the target ultrafine particulate pollutants, wherein the target ultrafine particulate pollutant has a longest dimension of about 10 nm to 1 micron, wherein the aqueous suspension is storm water runoff, sewage, industrial effluent, or a combination thereof, forming an aggregate of the magnetic nanoparticles and the target ultrafine particulate pollutants; flowing the aggregate across a magnet; separating the aggregate from the aqueous suspension as the aggregate flows across the magnet, wherein the aggregate is magnetically attached to the magnet, wherein separation of the aggregate from the aqueous suspension forms a treated aqueous suspension; and flowing the treated aqueous suspension into a lake, a river, an estuary, a marsh, or a swamp.