US Patent 7264726 - Metal oxide nanoparticles for water filtration

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7264726.html

One application of nanotechnology that has gathered much interest is environmental control and cleaning. This patent for instance teaches using metal oxide nanoparticles as a binding agent for carbon particles so as to create a high efficiency water filter. Claim 1 reads:

1. A filtration media for water, comprising: a plurality of metal oxide nanoparticles, wherein the metal oxide comprises aluminum oxide, and optionally further comprises titanium oxide, zinc oxide, zirconium oxide, or a mixture thereof; a plurality of activated carbon particles; and a polymeric binder matrix present in sufficient amount to adhere the activated carbon particles to each other in the form of a porous water filter block, and wherein the metal oxide nanoparticles are dispersed and encapsulated within the polymeric binder matrix.