The Use of Modified Fe(3)O(4) Particles to Recover Polyphenolic Compounds for the Valorisation of Olive Mill Wastewater from Slovenian Istria

Olive mill waste water (OMWW), a by-product created during the processing of olive oil, contains high amounts of polyphenolic compounds. If put to further use, these polyphenolic compounds could be a valuable resource for the speciality chemical industry. In order to achieve this, isolation of the polyphenolic compounds from OMWW is needed. Several techniques for this process already exist, the most widely used of which is adsorption beds. This research describes new ways of collecting polyphenolic compounds by using unmodified iron oxide (Fe(3)O(4)) particles and Fe(3)O(4) modified with silica gel (Fe(3)O(4)@C18), citric acid (Fe(3)O(4)@CA), and sodium dodecyl sulphate (Fe(3)O(4)@SDS). This approach is superior to adsorption beds since it can be used in a continuous system without clogging, while the nano-sized shapes create a high surface area for adsorption. The results of this study show that, if used in a loop system of several adsorption and desorption cycles, (un)modified Fe(3)O(4) has the potential to collect high concentrations of polyphenolic compounds. A combination of different modifications of the Fe(3)O(4) particles is also beneficial, as these combinations can be tailored to allow for the removal of specific polyphenolic compounds.