Zirconium Polymer Metal Composites for Biological Contaminant Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies for removing biological contaminants from air and aqueous systems, such as alumina filters and highly oxidative materials, face challenges due to toxicity concerns and high costs, particularly when incorporating metals like silver for antimicrobial properties.
Innovation Solution
A zirconium polymer composition with metal particles, including aluminum, antimony, and silver, is developed to effectively remove bacteria and viruses from fluids by supporting these metal particles on polymeric zirconium oxychloride, acetate, or nitrate, enhancing biocidal efficacy while minimizing toxicity and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If silver particles are used for antimicrobial properties, then biocidal efficacy is improved, but toxicity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces expensive silver particles with cheaper alternative metal particles (such as copper, zinc, or aluminum) that provide similar antimicrobial efficacy without the high cost and reduced toxicity concerns associated with silver
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the metal type parameter from silver to alternative metals, and optimizes particle size and concentration parameters to achieve effective biocidal activity at lower costs and with reduced toxicity
2Reliability
If metal particles are incorporated into air or aqueous system treatment, then biocidal effectiveness is improved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes expensive metal particles (silver, gold) with inexpensive alternatives (copper, zinc, aluminum, iron oxide) to reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining antimicrobial effectiveness in air and water treatment applications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates composite materials combining metal particles with support matrices or coatings that enhance the antimicrobial activity of cheaper metals, achieving silver-like effectiveness at fraction of the cost
3Reliability
If filters with small pore sizes are used, then contaminant removal is improved, but flow resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical filtration (physical blocking through small pores) with chemical/biological mechanisms (antimicrobial metal particles that inactivate contaminants), allowing larger pore sizes and reduced flow resistance while maintaining high contaminant removal efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the contaminant removal mechanism from physical size-based filtration to chemical inactivation based on metal particle reactivity, enabling optimized pore sizes that balance flow resistance and removal efficiency
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The zirconium polymer composition achieves over 99.5% reduction in biological contaminants from air and water, offering a cost-effective and safe solution for microbial removal with high efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
Certain metals have also found use because they exhibit the oligodynamic effect which is the biocidal effect of metals
Implementation Method 2
Various technologies have been used to remove biological contaminants from air and aqueous systems. Examples of such techniques include adsorption on high surface area materials
Data Source
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AI summary
A zirconium polymer composition comprising a zirconium polymer selected from the group consisting of polymeric zirconium oxychloride, polymeric zirconium acetate, and polymeric zirconium nitrate and having metal particles thereon is beneficial to aid in the removal of biological contaminants, such as bacteria, virus, yeast, algae, and amoeba, from fluids, including air and water. In this composition, the metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum (Al), antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), barium (Ba), silicon (Si), boron (B), copper (Cu), gold (Au), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), silver (Ag), thorium (Th), tin (Sn), zinc (Zn), and mixtures thereof, and the metal particles are about 0.001% by weight to about 30% by weight of the composition. These zirconium polymer compositions are used in methods for removing biological contaminants from fluids.