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Tailored Minerals |
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Tailored minerals are naturally occurring materials that have been chemically or structurally modified to exhibit specific, useful properties. The properties we are investigating include catalytic ability, preferential sorption or partitioning of chemical compounds from aqueous or gas phases, and modified reactivity in terms of solubility and reactive surface area. Some uses of such modified materials include large-scale in situ environmental clean-up efforts, industrial catalytic applications, and the enhancement of properties of materials such as concrete. Our most recent efforts using tailored minerals are in the following areas: 1) surfactant-modified zeolites with applications in contaminant immobilization; 2) structurally and chemically modified zeolites for use in the selective partitioning and in situ catalytic breakdown of volatile organics; 3) immobilization of contaminants in groundwater using insoluble phosphates, carbonates, and fluorocarbonates; 4) preferential sorption of heavy metals using manganese oxides; and 5) chemical modification of cement to allow the formation or persistence of mineral phases capable of isolating radionuclides for the safe storage and disposal of radioactive waste.
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