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Reactive zero valent iron nanoparticles can degrade toxic nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPL) rapidly in contaminated groundwater to nontoxic products in situ, provided they can be delivered preferentially to the NAPL/water (oil/water) interface. This study demonstrates the ability of novel triblock copolymers to modify the nanoiron surface chemistry in a way that both promotes their colloidal stability in aqueous suspension and drives their adsorption to the oil/water interface. The ability of the copolymers to drive adsorption is demonstrated by the ability of copolymer-modified iron nanoparticles, but not the unmodified iron nanoparticles, to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions.
Saleh et al. (Tue,) studied this question.