Oil-field wastewater purification by magnetic separation technique using a novel magnetic nanoparticle

In the present work, oil-field wastewater purification through superconducting magnetic separation technique using a novel magnetic nanoparticle was investigated. The magnetic nanoparticle, which has a multi-shell structure with ferroferric oxide as core, dense nonporous silica as inter layer and mesoporous silica as outer layer, was synthesized by co-precipitation method. To functionalize the magnetic nanoparticle, plasma polymerization technique was adopted and poly methyl acrylate (PMA) was formed on the surface of the nanoparticle. The multi-shell structure of the nanoparticle was confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and the characteristic is measurable by FTIR. It is found that most of the pollutants (85% by turbidity or 84% by COD value) in the oil-field wastewater are removed through the superconducting magnetic separation technique using this novel magnetic nanoparticle. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.