The production, use, and disposal of nanomaterials could lead to their appearance in the environment, creating high exposure to humans and the ecosystem and affecting mobility and bioavailability of other toxics. Mathematical models were performed to validate experimental data investigating the transport and retention of nano-scale particles in water-saturated porous media. The aqueous solution was introduced into several columns packed with sand at a flow rate of 10 ml/min. The sand columns were packed with sand obtained from AGSCO Co. 20-30 mesh (d50= 0.71 mm). It is composed mainly of quartz and trace quantities of feldspar. Glass columns have an internal diameter of 2.5 cm and 45 cm length. The sand was thoroughly cleaned using sequential acid wash, water rinse and oven drying. The column had a void volume of 85 ml and a porosity of 0.37. Before introducing the nano-particle suspensions, the column was saturated and cleaned by Milli Q water. A schematic of the column experiments could be seen in figure 1.
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