Preparação de compostos de alumínio a partir da bauxita: considerações sobre alguns aspectos envolvidos em um experimento didático

Aluminum metal and aluminum compounds have many applications in several branches of the industry and in our daily lives. The most important raw material for aluminum and its manufactured compounds is bauxite, a rock constituted mainly by aluminum hydroxides minerals. In this work, a didactic experiment aiming the preparation of alumina and potassium alum starting from bauxite is proposed for undergraduate students. Both compounds are of great commercial, scientific and historical interest. The experiment involves applications of important chemical principles such as acid-base and precipitation. Some chemical properties and uses of aluminum compounds are also illustrated.

Nano vitrocerâmica de escória de aciaria

The manufacture of glass-ceramics is an alternative route for the commercial use of metallurgical slags. Such types of glass-ceramics may find commercial applications owing to their low cost, good mechanical properties and superior visual aspect. Besides, due to the elimination of that industrial residue from the environment and also due to the possibility of replacement of natural stones such as marbles and granites, the use of slags is an activity with strong ecological appeal. While the use of blast-furnace slags for the production of glass-ceramics is well known, the utilization of steel making slags constitutes a challenge, because these materials possess low concentration of SiO2. In this work a novel composition for producing glasses and glass-ceramics from a steelmaking slag is presented. The crystal nucleation kinetics, the characterization of the resulting microstructures for two different thermal treatments and mechanical properties of the glass-ceramics are discussed. A glass-ceramic having a marble aspect, fine volumetric crystallization, high degree of crystallization and improved mechanical strength was obtained.

A utilização de materiais obtidos pelo processo de sol-gel na construção de biossensores

The use of sol-gel materials to develop new biosensors has received great attention due to its characteristics and versatility of sol-gel process. An overview is presented of the state-of-the-art of electrochemical biosensors employing sol-gel materials. Low-temperature, porous sol-gel ceramics represent a new class for the immobilization of biomolecules. The rational design of sol-gel sensing materials, based on the judicious choice of the starting alkoxide, encapsulated reagents, and preparation conditions, allows tailoring of material properties in a wide range, and offers great potential for the development of electrochemical biosensors.

Estudo do efeito da quantidade de óxido de ferro em cinzas pesadas de carvão mineral na obtenção de vitrocerâmicos

Bottom ash has been used as raw material to glass and glass ceramic production because it is a source of SiO2 and Al2O3. However, the high concentration of iron (about 10% wt.) difficulty the control of the nucleation and the crystallization processes. The iron content was reduced by magnetic process, where the magnetite phase was mainly removed. In order to compare glass ceramics obtained from original and low iron bottom ashes, microstructural and dilatometric characterizations were performed.

Novos materiais à base de nanofibras de carbono como suporte de catalisador na decomposição da hidrazina

Today satellites propulsion is based on the use of monopropellant and/or bipropellant chemical systems. The maneuvering of satellite is based on the hydrazine decomposition micropropulsors catalyzed by metallic iridium supported on g-alumina. This reaction is a surface reaction and is strongly exothermic and implies that the operation of the micropropulsor is controlled by the mass and heat diffusions. For this reason and for the fact that the propulsor operation is frequently in pulsed regime, the catalyst should support high pressure and temperature variations within a short time period. The performance and the durability of the commercial catalyst are jeopardized by the low thermal conductivity of the alumina. The low thermal conductivity of the alumina support restricts the heat diffusion and leads to the formation of hot spots on the catalyst surface causing the metal sintering and/or fractures of the support, resulting in loss of the activity and catalyst destruction. This work presents the synthesis and characterization of new carbon composite support for the active element iridium, in substitution of the commercial catalysts alumina based support. These supports are constituted of carbon nanofibers (30 to 40 nm diameter) supported on a macroscopic carbon felt. These materials present high thermal conductivity and mechanical resistance, as well as the easiness to be shaped with different macroscopic shapes. The mechanical stability and the performance of the iridium supported on the carbon composite support, evaluated in a laboratory scale test in hydrazine decomposition reaction, are superior compared to the commercial catalyst.

Quantitative analysis of phenol and alkylphenols in Brazilian coal tar

The main purpose of this work is the identification and quantification of phenolic compounds in coal tar samples from a ceramics factory in Cocal (SC), Brazil. The samples were subjected to preparative scale liquid chromatography, using Amberlyst A-27TM ion-exchange resin as stationary phase. The fractions obtained were classified as "acids" and "BN" (bases and neutrals). The identification and quantification of phenols, in the acid fraction, was made by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Nearly twenty-five phenols were identified in the samples and nine of them were also quantified. The results showed that coal tar has large quantities of phenolic compounds of industrial interest.

Evidências da formação de monocamada de óxido de alumínio sobre sílica, através de reações de enxerto

Aluminum oxide was dispersed on a commercial silica gel surface, using successive grafting reactions. The reaction products were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The progressive incorporation of aluminum, up to 5.5% (w/w), does not produce agglomeration of alumina, since changes in the original pore size distribution of the silica matrix were not observed. The aluminum oxide covers homogeneously the silica surface.

Interações hiperfinas em catalisadores metálicos

Heterogeneous catalysts are of fundamental importance in several modern chemical processes. The characterization of catalysts is an issue of very present interest as it can provide a better understanding of the fundamental aspects of the catalytic phenomena, thus helping in the development of more efficient catalysts. In order to extend and improve the characterization of catalysts, new and less conventional methods are being applied, such as nuclear spectroscopies. In this paper we focus on the application of angular correlation, with can be used to resolve different local environments of probe atoms in solids and can be applied, as shown here, in the characterization of heterogeneous catalysts. A brief theoretical introduction is given and experimental results related to catalytic systems of alumina and niobia-supported Pt-In and Pd-In catalysts are presented.

Efeito do teor metálico em catalisadores Co/Al2O3 aplicados à reação de reforma a vapor de etanol

The development of cobalt catalysts to produce hydrogen from ethanol is the goal of this investigation. Co/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by impregnation and characterized by atomic absorption, nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, temperature programmed reduction and carbon analysis. The catalysts contained Co3O4 oxide and Co3+ and Co2+ species interacting with alumina. The cobalt load affects the crystal size and the crystalline structure and higher Co loads influence the reaction mechanism, changing the selectivity of the catalysts, decreasing the amount of CO produced and avoiding the formation of products catalyzed by the support. The ethanol conversion was 50-70% with 10-<1% of CO in the hydrogen.

Influência do material e volume do porta-amostra na determinação termogravimétrica do teor de cinzas em mel

The results suggest that the two variables studied are significant and that they may be independently optimized. The material of the sample holder interferes with the incineration process only due to the amount of heat transfered. The sample holder volume aids diffusion of the atmosphere to the honey sample, minimizing the foaming effect. According to the results, for the thermogravimetric analysis of ash content in honey, sample holders of platinum or alumina of 150 µL are indicated.

Decomposição térmica de espumas de poliuretano para fabricação de vitrocerâmica celular de Li2O-ZrO2-SiO2-Al2O3 (LZSA)

Characterization of the thermal decomposition of polyurethane (PUR) foams was performed by Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Three main weight loss paths were observed by TGA, the residue being lower than 3 wt.% for 3 different PUR foams analyzed. FT-IR spectra indicated CO2, CO, NH3 and isocyanides as main decomposition products. PUR foams of different cell sizes were immersed in a slurry of the parent glass ceramic of composition Li2O-ZrO2-SiO2-Al 2O3 (LZSA) and submitted to heat treatment. The LZSA cellular glass ceramics obtained after sintering and crystallization resembled the original morphology of the PUR foams.

Cinética de redução do catalisador CuO/ZnO/Al2O3

The reduction kinetics of a CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst by hydrogen was investigated isothermally and by temperature programmed reduction (TPR). Two reducible Cu2+ species were detected; the first one was identified as CuO bulk and the other as Cu2+ strongly interacting with alumina, possibly in the form of copper aluminate. The activation energies for the reduction of these two species were 60 and 90 kJ mol-1, respectively, and the reaction order with respect to hydrogen was one. The isothermal reduction data showed that the isotropic growth model is the most appropriate to describe the reaction rate data for both Cu2+ species.

A convenient method for lecithin purification from fresh eggs

The increasing demand for fatty acid-free lecithin required modifications in existing purification methods. In this technical note we describe a purification procedure with the following steps: a) homogenization and extraction of yolks obtained from fresh eggs with acetone, b) solubilization with ethanol and solvent elimination and c) repeated solubilization/precipitation with petroleum ether/acetone. This crude extract was chromatographed on neutral alumina, which was exhaustively washed with chloroform before elution with chloroform:methanol, allowing the sequential separation of fatty acids and lecithin. Chromatographic behavior and mass spectra of the product are presented. This fast procedure yields fatty acid-free lecithin at a competitive cost.

Estudo sobre a utilização da lama vermelha para a remoção de corantes em efluentes têxteis

Red mud is the principal residue of the alumina (Al2O3) industry. Generated during the Bayer process, it is characterized by strong alkalinity and ion exchange. Iron oxides are the principal component (30 to 60%). Annually millions of tons of red mud are generated in the world. Red mud disposal is responsible for a large part of the cost of alumina production. On the other hand, textile industry wastewaters containing dyes have a great impact on the environment and on human health. In this paper the possibility of applying red mud for the removal of dyes was investigated by two processes: adsorption and degradation by the Fenton reagent.

Estudo de adsorção de compostos sulfurados utilizando um diesel comercial dopado com benzotiofeno e dibenzotiofeno

Desulphurization process by adsorption was studied employing a commercial diesel dooped with 1000 mg/L of benzothiophene and dibenzothiophene. The adsorbents materials employed were three types of activated alumina (acid, basic and neutral). For comparison, adsorption process was made also using oxidized diesel sample. The results showed that the adsorbents were selective for sulphur compounds removal from fuels. The contact time have influence in adsorption process achieving 80% of removal for not oxidized dibenzothiophene. The three studied alumina types showed similar behavior and a greater selective in dibenzothiophene adsorption than benzothiophene. Dibenzothiophene removal is more effective in samples not oxidized, whereas the benzothiophene was almost totally removed in oxidized sample.