Tag Archives: Gabriel Ramirez Monter

Nanofiltration of heavy metals from water in Mexico

A June 3, 2013 news item on Nanowerk highlights a technology for filtering heavy metals from water,

The methods traditionally used to remove heavy metals from wastewater have limitations because they only withdraw a certain percentage and the remaining amount is very difficult to remove. This motivated a young graduate researcher at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in Mexico, Gabriel Ramirez Monter, to create a technology capable of removing such contaminants at low cost and with an efficiency that surpasses existing technologies.

According to Monter Ramirez, this project led him to design some structures called dendrimers, which are highly branched molecules with shape similar to a shrub or a tree with multiple branches.

“Dendrimers adhere and spread on a microfiltration membrane; ie, thin sheets of porous material that are not normally capable of retaining heavy metals due to its pore size. Once placed, it achieves total removal of heavy metal ions in the same way a marine anemone would act, using tentacles to concentrate and catch food; in this case, the branches of the dendrimers capture pollutants, “says the researcher.

He explains that through dendrimers the team converted a microfiltration membrane into a nanofiltration one. “Another advantage of these structures is that they can be washed and reused, plus the captured metals are removed without problem.”

A May 27, 2014 Investigación y Desarrollo news release (Spanish language), which originated the news item, provides more details (or you can check Nanowerk for an English translation).

After some searching I found this 2012 YouTube presentation featuring researcher, Gabriel Ramirez Monter, discussing his work in Spanish,

According to the news item on Nanowerk, Ramirez Monter is in the early stages of commercializing his work. While the partner organization is identified as ‘Nanotecnología México’, I believe the correct name is Nano Tec México.