Patent ID: 6849186

Claim:
A composite material that is capable of being suspended in an aqueous fluid for removing at least one substance contained in the fluid, the composite material comprising: at least one buoyant component that is buoyant with respect to said fluid; a magnetic component that includes an amount of paramagnetic material that is sufficient to cause the magnetic component to be susceptible to an induced magnetic field; and an active component comprising a metal oxide having a stoichiometric ratio resulting in the composite material having a net charge, wherein the active component is active with respect to the at least one substance to be removed; wherein at least one of the magnetic component and the active component is at least partially attached to the buoyant component, and the composite material comprises a sufficient amount of the magnetic component and the active component to adjust the bulk density of the composite material to more than the specific gravity of the fluid and no greater than about 115% of the specific gravity of said fluid.