- 9 May 2007 -

Electropositive filter media developed

Argonide Corporation has developed its NanoCeram® patented electropositive non-woven filter media, with the introduction of NanoCeram-NET, a technology which enables nano powders to be incorporated into a non-woven web, like paper. The nano powders can be a photocatalyst such as titanium dioxide, an oxidation catalyst such as platinum, a sorbent such as fumed silica, and even a biological particle such as DNA.

This new technology uses powdered activated carbon (PAC), which laboratory testing with flowing streams of iodine has shown to have extraordinary dynamic adsorption capacity, the company says. When compared to other carbon-containing media, the volume of iodine adsorbed until it becomes detectable by taste or odour is about 180 times as great, the company says. Granular activated carbon (GAC) is typically used in standard filters which contain carbon, but it is widely recognized that GAC is not as dynamically effective as PAC. Unfortunately, PAC can't be retained in a non-woven media without the use of foams, binders or adhesives, that tend to deactivate and/or foul the carbon. Argonide says that its new technology circumvents this difficulty and incorporated other, smaller particles in lieu of the PAC. Fumed silica, only 10 nanometers in size, has been successfully integrated into the non-woven structure, followed by nano titanium dioxide, then a catalyst, then RNA.

"NanoCeram-NET allows nano powders in the non-woven structure to be more interactive with the fluid in which the media is suspended, and without affecting the surface properties of the nanomaterial itself," said Fred Tepper, President of Argonide. As a result, this new technology would enhance the performance of nano powders in their intended function. Once the technology reaches beyond the laboratory stage, such new media could be custom manufactured by a wet laying process.

www.argonide.com