Contamination of soil by engineered nanomaterials (ENM) is an emergent environmental problem that urges the development of robust treatment protocols to prevent ENM transport through soil. We developed a method for efficient entrapment and retention of ENM in solid porous media of quartz sand with grain size of 300–500 μm used as a simple model of soil and studied the transport of multi-walled carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, silica and gold nanoparticles through the sand-packed column by UV–vis and fluorescent spectroscopy. The treatment of ENM-contaminated porous media with a mixture of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, cationic poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) and anionic poly(acrylic acid) sodium salt, dissolved in NaCl solution followed by dilution in the column results in strong electrostatic interaction between the polyelectrolytes and a formation of inter-polyelectrolyte complexes (IPEC) that induce flocculation of ENM and adsorption to the surface of sand. The method demonstrates excellent ENM entrapment efficiency (>90%) and high capacity of several grams of ENM per 1 g of polyelectrolytes. The IPEC network formed after the treatment also serves as an efficient protection barrier for newly added ENM contaminants. The method is universal for various types of ENM (carbon ENM, metal and oxide nanoparticles) and equally efficient for distilled water, tap water, or lake water eluents.

工程纳米材料（ENM）对土壤的污染是一个新出现的环境问题，促使人们开发出强有力的处理方案来防止ENM通过土壤运输。我们开发了一种有效地将ENM截留并保留在粒径为300–500μm的石英砂固体多孔介质中（作为土壤的简单模型）的方法，并研究了多壁碳纳米管，富勒烯，二氧化硅和金纳米颗粒的传输通过紫外可见光谱和荧光光谱法通过填充砂的色谱柱。用带相反电荷的聚电解质，阳离子聚（二烯丙基二甲基氯化铵）和阴离子聚（丙烯酸）钠盐的混合物处理受ENM污染的多孔介质，溶解在NaCl溶液中，然后在色谱柱中稀释会导致聚电解质之间发生强烈的静电相互作用，并形成聚电解质间复合物（IPEC），从而引起ENM的絮凝并吸附到沙子表面。该方法显示出出色的ENM截留效率（> 90％）和每1 g聚电解质几克ENM的高容量。处理后形成的IPEC网络也可作为新添加的ENM污染物的有效保护屏障。该方法适用于各种类型的ENM（碳ENM，金属和氧化物纳米颗粒），并且对于蒸馏水，自来水或湖水洗脱液同样有效。该方法显示出出色的ENM截留效率（> 90％）和每1 g聚电解质几克ENM的高容量。处理后形成的IPEC网络也可作为新添加的ENM污染物的有效保护屏障。该方法适用于各种类型的ENM（碳ENM，金属和氧化物纳米颗粒），并且对于蒸馏水，自来水或湖水洗脱液同样有效。该方法显示出出色的ENM截留效率（> 90％）和每1 g聚电解质几克ENM的高容量。处理后形成的IPEC网络也可作为新添加的ENM污染物的有效保护屏障。该方法适用于各种类型的ENM（碳ENM，金属和氧化物纳米颗粒），并且对于蒸馏水，自来水或湖水洗脱液同样有效。