Accurate determination of key surface properties that determine the efficient separation of bovine milk BSA and LF proteins

The aim of this work is to accurately measure fundamental surface properties, i.e., zeta potential, isoelectric point and protein size that determine the optimal separation conditions of Bovine serum albumin and lactoferrin, two high added value food proteins whose similarity in weight makes their separation a scientific and technical challenge. The systematic study of these proteins’ surface properties was performed under different conditions: (i) 3.0 < pH < 10.0, (ii) electrolyte type: KCl, NaCl and CaCl2 and concentration (0.01–0.1 M KCl) and (iii) protein concentration in the range of 0.04–4.0 g L-1 for BSA and 0.01–1.0 g L-1 for LF with the objective of establishing the optimal separation conditions. Finally, the comparison of the experimental and theoretically calculated values revealed significant deviations under specific conditions, highlighting the simplicity of the theoretical assumptions and leading to the conclusion that the use of experimental surface properties is still needed for the correct design of food protein separation processes.Financial support from the Projects CTQ2011-25262, CTM2011- 23912 and CTQ2012- 31639 (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-MINECO/SPAIN and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional-FEDER) is gratefully acknowledged

The critical role of the operating conditions on the Fenton oxidation of 2-chlorophenol: assessment of PCDD/Fs formation

This work assesses the influence of the operating conditions H2O2dose (20 or 100% of the stoichiometric amount), temperature (20 or 70◦C), and the presence of chloride in the oxidation medium in the formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) during Fenton treatment of aqueous samples of 2-chlorophenol, 2-CP, one of the strongest precursor of PCDD/Fs. After 4 h of oxidation in the experiments carried out with 20% H2O2chlorinated phenoxyphenols and biphenyls, which are intermediates in PCDD/Fs formation, as well as PCDD/Fs were observed, resulting in concentrations11 times higher than in the untreated sample. Additionally, when NaCl was also present in the reaction medium, PCDD/Fs were formed at higher extent, with a total concentration 74.4 times higher than in the untreated 2-CP solution. Results depicted a preferential formation of PCDFs over PCDDs, with dominance of lower chlorinated PCDD/Fs (tetra and penta-PCDD/Fs). Besides, the formation of the most toxic PCDD/Fs congeners (2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs) was not favored under the operating conditions used in this work.Financial support from the projects CTQ2011-25262, CTQ2008-05545 and CTQ2008-00690 (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad – MINECO (SPAIN) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional – FEDER) is gratefully acknowledged

Split regeneration of chelating resins for the selective recovery of nickel and copper

The management of spent acids containing heavy metals has been traditionally carried out by neutralization-precipitation technologies that often fail to provide the required selectivity for metal recovery. This work proposed a split elution process using H2SO4 and NH4OH solutions to regenerate bispicolylamine-based chelating resins (Puromet™ MTS9600) employed in a previous work to separate nickel and copper from spent sulfuric acid effluents. Operation variables namely S/L ratio, concentration of the regeneration agents and process configuration were analysed to select the best conditions to optimize the metal unloading and their selective recovery in independent solutions. It was found that 43% of nickel was eluted from the resin by H2SO4 2.0 M and recovered with purities of 98% while 47% of copper was desorbed with NH4OH 2.0 M and recovered with purities of 97%. The long-term assessment evidenced that copper removal and metal recovery were not affected after 10 adsorption-regeneration cycles, while the nickel adsorption efficacy decreased about 10%.This research was developed in the framework of the projects CTM2017-87740-R (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities), RTI2018-093310-B-I00 (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities), TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R) (AEI/FEDER, UE & PID2019-107270RB-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), and grant BES-2017-080076