Novel, simple, and environmentally safe method for wastewater pollutant removal

In this work, a new methodology has been developed for the elimination of cobalt, nickel and a mixture of both metals from synthetic wastewater in a continuous way. This methodology consists of the electrochemical formation of ferrites of these metals through the oxidation of iron sheets and the reduction of water. Two critical process parameters, current densities and initial pollutant concentration, were analysed. An initial batch prototype resulted in efficiencies on the order of 98% under conditions of applied densities of 50 mA/cm2 and concentrations of both metals of until 100 ppm of the ions. The obtained particles have been characterized by ꭕ-ray diffraction to determine the formation of ferrites without the appearance of secondary phases. The formed particle sizes are approximately 30 nm, with hemispherical or flower-like shapes. A flow system prototype was designed for the recirculation of the solution with 100 ppm of both contaminating metals, obtaining approximately 90% recovery with an easy magnetic harvestingThis research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities under projects PGC2018-095642-B-I00 and PGC2018-096016-B-I00. L.G. acknowledges financial support from the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2014-15512). E. Mazario. acknowledges financial support from the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement with Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in the line of action encouraging youth research doctors, in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation), (SI1-PJI-2019-00366). L. Duque acknowledges for the contract obtained from Ayudas para la contrataciónde ayudantes investigación y técnicos de laboratorio of Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. The authors would like to acknowledge the use of the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (INA-Universidad de Zaragoza) for access to their instrumentation and expertis

Extracto acuoso natural de Morinda Citrifolia como inhibidor de corrosión del acero AISI-1045 en ambientes ácidos de HCl.

Mara Franco quisiera agradecer a la beca del CONACYT que le ha permitido realizar su trabajo de tesis y su visita a la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, UAM. También se agradece al proyecto MAT2015-67557-C2-2-P del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad por su financiación. En particular el Dr. Héctor Herrera Hernández agradece el apoyo económico recibido por el proyecto de investigación 3817/2014/CID (UAEM-Secretaria de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados). Por último, Dr. Héctor Herrera Hernández y el Dr. Iván García Orozco, reconocen al CONACyT por la distinción al mérito como INVESTIGADOR NACIONAL, SNI.Natural liquid-extract of Morinda Citrifolia as corrosion inhibitor for steels (AISI-1045) exposed to acidic environments of HCl. Both the organic and inorganic compounds commonly used in the industry to inhibit the corrosion process of metals and its alloys are mostly composed by highly toxic chemicals, in addition to being more expensive. In this research sugar-components derived from the Morinda Citrifolia (MC) leaves have been extracted in aqueous solution to perform a natural inhibitor capable to control de corrosion damage, which can replace the traditional inhibitors, being environmentally friendly. The experimental results indicate that this compound has shown excellent performance as corrosion inhibitor, reaching inhibition efficiency (EI), values up to 90% at inhibitor concentrations ranging 0.8 to 2 g•L−1 and immersion times of about 1 to 4 h. It has been found that the inhibition process takes place by the adsorption of the molecules on the surface of the metal (AISI 1045), by a physisorption mechanism.proyecto de investigación 3817/2014/CID (UAEM-Secretaria de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados)

Scanning-tunneling-microscopy study on the growth mode of vapor-deposited gold films

The growth of gold deposits on smooth glass from the vapor phase at 30 nm−1 s −1, 298 K, and incident angle near the substrate normal covering the 30—1000 nm average film thickness (h¯) range is investigated through scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) complemented with oxygen-adatom electrosorption measurements. The STM images of the deposits reveal a columnar structure resulting from a mechanism involving shadowing and surface diffusion. Quantitative data are obtained directly from STM images. The height distribution N(h) of the interface obeys an N(h)∝ e −kh relationship. For h¯ 500 nm it reaches a steady state. Under the latter condition, ξ depends on the STM scan length (S) as ξ∝ Sα with a close to 1/3. These results indicate that the growth process of the gold deposits results in compact nonfractal structures with self-affine fractal surfaces, as predicted by ballistic deposition models. However, the latter fail to describe some aspects of the morphology and evolution of thin vapor-deposited gold films on this substrate.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Exacta

Fractal characterisation of electrodispersed gold electrodes

The fractal dimension of the surface, Ds, of thin columnar gold electrodeposits (surface roughness factor 50–100) grown on gold wire cathodes by electroreducing hydrous gold oxide layers has been determined by measuring the diffusion controlled current of the Fe(CN)4−6/Fe(CN)3−6 reaction. The diffusion current (I) vs. time (t) relationships obeyed a Iαt−α dependence with Ds = 2α + 1. The initial Ds, value is 2.5 ± 0.1, and decreases to 2.3 ± 0.1 by keeping the deposit in contact with the electrolyte solution at 298 K due to the smoothing of the rough metal surface by surface diffusion.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Exacta

Fractal characterisation of electrodispersed gold electrodes

The fractal dimension of the surface, Ds, of thin columnar gold electrodeposits (surface roughness factor 50–100) grown on gold wire cathodes by electroreducing hydrous gold oxide layers has been determined by measuring the diffusion controlled current of the Fe(CN)4−6/Fe(CN)3−6 reaction. The diffusion current (I) vs. time (t) relationships obeyed a Iαt−α dependence with Ds = 2α + 1. The initial Ds, value is 2.5 ± 0.1, and decreases to 2.3 ± 0.1 by keeping the deposit in contact with the electrolyte solution at 298 K due to the smoothing of the rough metal surface by surface diffusion.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Exacta

Scanning-tunneling-microscopy study on the growth mode of vapor-deposited gold films

The growth of gold deposits on smooth glass from the vapor phase at 30 nm−1 s −1, 298 K, and incident angle near the substrate normal covering the 30—1000 nm average film thickness (h¯) range is investigated through scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) complemented with oxygen-adatom electrosorption measurements. The STM images of the deposits reveal a columnar structure resulting from a mechanism involving shadowing and surface diffusion. Quantitative data are obtained directly from STM images. The height distribution N(h) of the interface obeys an N(h)∝ e −kh relationship. For h¯ 500 nm it reaches a steady state. Under the latter condition, ξ depends on the STM scan length (S) as ξ∝ Sα with a close to 1/3. These results indicate that the growth process of the gold deposits results in compact nonfractal structures with self-affine fractal surfaces, as predicted by ballistic deposition models. However, the latter fail to describe some aspects of the morphology and evolution of thin vapor-deposited gold films on this substrate.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Exacta

Electrofenton with reticular vitreous carbon and iron oxide nanoparticles for dye removal: a preliminary study

In this work, an RVC electrode coated with magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles was used for the degradation of methylene blue as a model dye. The electrofenton process was carried out by the reduction of oxygen dissolved in the electrolyte on the modified RVC electrode to produce hydrogen peroxide. The presence of the magnetite/maghemite nanoparticles in the structure produces the formation of OH∙ radicals that oxidize methylene blue. The RVC/coated was prepared by two different methodologies: Methodology A: by immersion of the electrode in a solution saturated with magnetite nanoparticles; and Methodology B: by electrochemical synthesis. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy shows a uniform coating of the electrode. The Mössbauer spectroscopy determines the only presence of maghemite using methodology A and the presence of 60% of magnetite and a 40% of maghemite when methodology B was used. The dipping methodology is the one that has provided the best results in the electrofenton degradation of methylene blue, obtaining a 100% removal after 35 min, applying a current of 100 mA in a 20 mg L−1 solution of methylene blue, and a concentration of 50 mM sodium sulfat

Ofloxacin degradation over nanosized Fe3O4 catalyst viathermal activation of persulfate ions

In this work, an Fe3O4 catalyst was synthetized in a single step via electrochemical synthesis. The Fe3O4 catalyst was used to evaluate the degradation of Ofloxacin (OFX) using a heterogeneous advanced oxidation process with sodium persulfate (PS). PS activation was successfully achieved via thermal conventional heating directly and subsequently applied for the degradation of OFX. The degradation kinetics were studied under different conditions, such as catalyst and oxidant concentration and temperature. The results show that a higher reaction temperature, catalyst and initial PS dose strongly influence the degradation efficiency. Thermal activation of persulfate was tested at 20, 40 and 60 °C. At 60 °C, the half-time of OFX was 23 times greater than at 20 °C, confirming the activation of persulfate. Mineralization studies also showed that under optimized conditions (20 mM of persulfate, 1 g/L catalyst and 100 mg/L OFX), a 66% reduction in organic matter was observed, in contrast to that obtained at 40 °C and 20 °C, which was null. The reusability, as tested through the fourth reuse cycle, resulted in a 38% reduced degradation efficiency when comparing the first and last cycle. Furthermore, the electrosynthesized catalyst presented similar degradation efficiencies in both real water and MilliQ, mainly because of the (Formula presented.) generation at high (Formula presented.) concentrations that takes place in (Formula presented.) contaminated waterThis research was funded by the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement with Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in the line of action encouraging youth research doctors, in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation), (SI1-PJI-2019-00366), and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and In-novation under project no. PID2021-123431OB-I0

Improved Suzuki–Miyaura reaction conversion efficiency using magnetic nanoparticles and inductive heating

The use of magnetic nanoparticles in C–C coupling reactions enables the facile recovery of the catalyst under environmentally friendly conditions. Herein, the synthesis of Pd/Fe@Fe3O4 nanoparticles by the reduction of Pd2+ and oxidation of Fe on the surface of preformed Fe@Fe3O4 is reported. The nanoparticles were characterized using a variety of analytical techniques (transmission electron microscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction) to determine their size, structure, and chemical composition. The catalytic efficiency of these nanoparticles in classical Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions was investigated. The nanoparticles achieved high catalytic activity with the application of local heating by an alternating magnetic field. An investigation was conducted at identical temperatures to compare global heating with the application of an external magnetic field; magnetic heating demonstrated excellent substrate conversion in lesser time and at a lower temperature. The catalyst could also be recycled and reused three times, with ~ 30% decrease in the substrate conversion, which is most likely due to the agglomeration of the Pd nanoparticles or poisoning of the Pd catalyst. This approach, which takes advantage of the catalytic activity and magnetic susceptibility of magnetic nanoparticles, can be applied to several organic transformations to improve their efficiencyWe are grateful for financial support provided by the Government of Spain through project PGC2018-095642-B-I00. In addition, A. Villacampa and L. Duque acknowledge the Community of Madrid for Predoctoral contracts PEJD-2019-PRE/IND-15356 and PEJ-2019-AI/IND-12506, respectively, co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Youth Employment Operational Program and the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI