Patent ID: 7915475

Claim:
A method for remediating metals, which comprises: treating the metals at a pH of about 4 to 12 with a mesoporous nanocomposite that contains one or more head groups; wherein the mesoporous nanocomposite is produced by reacting C n H 2n+1 X(R) y and Si(OC 2 H 5 ) 4 , wherein X(R) y is NH 2 , NH 4 + , NR 4 + , OH − , PO 4 3− , SO 4 2− , or SO 3 2− , wherein R=H, CH 3 , C 2 H 5 , C 3 H 7 or C 4 H 9 ; and n is 6-18; wherein X(R) y is not NH 2 when n is 12 and wherein X(R) y is not N(CH 3 ) 4 + when m is 16.