Stabilization of highly concentrated suspensions of iron nanoparticles using shear-thinning gels of xanthan gum

Nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) particles have recently become subject of great interest in the field of groundwater remediation for their ability to treat a wide variety of organic and inorganic contaminants. However, the field application of this technology is strongly hindered by the lack of stability of NZVI water suspensions. This study demonstrates that highly concentrated NZVI slurries (15 g/L) can be stabilized for more than 10 days adding 6 g/L of xanthan gum biopolymer. Stability against aggregation and sedimentation was achieved in the range of ionic strength 6 × 10-3-12 mM and is mainly due to the formation of a viscous gel characterized by shear-thinning behaviour.