Redução de poluentes de efluentes das indústrias de papel e celulose pela floculação/coagulação e degradação fotoquímica

The abatement of recalcitrant lignin macromolecules from effluents of pulp and paper industry was investigated by combined process. Flocculation and coagulation with aluminum sulfate and natural polyelectrolytes extracted from cactus Cereus peruvianus were used in the first step. After separation of solid residues by filtration, the photochemical methods using TiO2 as catalyst were employed for photocatalytic degradation of lignin compounds from solution. The abatement of lignin compounds after flocculation and coagulation was 46%, and after the overall process, the pollutants reduction observed were 66%. The remaining organic compounds may be removed by any biological treatment.

A new experimental procedure to obtain titania powders as anatase phase by a sol-gel process

Titania powders were synthesized by a sol-gel process using titanium tetrabutoxide as precursor. The syntheses were performed in water or in solutions of dimethylformamide (dmf) or dimethylsulfoxide (dmso). It is demonstrated, by X-ray diffraction patterns of the synthesized powders, that the samples obtained in dmf or dmso solutions are crystalline (anatase phase) with some minor amount of brookite phase, whereas the sample synthesized in water is amorphous. The anatase phase can be obtained independently of any previous or further treatment of the synthesized powder, such as hydrothermal or heat treatment, providing a new, simple, quick and inexpensive route to synthesize anatase powders. From the peak broadening of the anatase (101) diffraction, the crystallite sizes were calculated as 6 nm.

Montagem de câmara com lâmpada de ultravioleta de baixo custo

Thin layer chromatography is a quick, inexpensive and effective way of screening mixtures of non-volatile organic compounds and it is highly recommended for analytical studies. Inspection of plates under ultraviolet light for the detection of colourless compounds should be performed before any further chemical methods are applied. Construction of a low-cost UV-viewing cabinet with lamp employing parts easily found on the local market is described.

Transesterificação de óleos vegetais: caracterização por cromatografia em camada delgada e densidade

We studied the transesterification of two vegetable oils: soybean and waste frying oil. The main problem of transesterification is related to the measurement of the ethyl ester content. In this work we used a quick analytical method for assessing the ethyl ester fraction of the purified fuel-grade transesterification products by applying a simple correlation with density. If the ester content is higher than 85% by weight the correlation allows the determination by a single density measurement. This method is suitable for control and determines the ethyl ester quickly and simply.

Aerosol particle size distributions at a traffic exposed site and an urban background location in Oporto, Portugal

Aerosol size distributions from 6 to 700 nm were measured simultaneously at an urban background site and a roadside station in Oporto. The particle number concentration was higher at the traffic exposed site, where up to 90% of the size spectrum was dominated by the nucleation mode. Larger aerosol mode diameters were observed in the urban background site possibly due to the coagulation processes or uptake of gases during transport. Factor analysis has shown that road traffic and the neighbour stationary sources localised upwind affect the urban area thought intra-regional pollutant transport.

Influência das características das substâncias húmicas aquáticas na eficiência da coagulação com o cloreto férrico

The aim of this study was to verify the influence of the apparent molecular size of aquatic humic substances on the effectiveness of coagulation with ferric chloride. Coagulation-filtration tests using jar test and bench-scale sand filters were carried out on samples of water with true color of approximately 100 Hazen units, prepared with aquatic humic substances of different molecular sizes (F1: < 0.45 µm, F2: 100 kDa - 0.45 µm, F3: 30 - 100 kDa and F4': < 30 kDa). For the water samples with lower apparent molecular size fractions, greater dosages of coagulant was needed to remove the color around 5.0 Hanzen units, mainly because these water samples contain higher concentrations of fulvic acids, which exhibited a larger number of negatively-charged groups.

QuEChERS: um método moderno de preparo de amostra para determinação multirresíduo de pesticidas em alimentos por métodos cromatográficos acoplados à espectrometria de massas

This review attempts to provide an updated overview of the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Ruged and Safe (QuEChERS) multiresidue extraction method, that involves initial extraction in acetonitrile, an extraction/partition step after the addition of salt, and a cleanup step utilizing dispersive solid phase extraction. QuEChERS method is nowadays the most applied extraction method for the determination of pesticide residues in food samples, providing acceptable recoveries for acidic, neutral and basic pesticides. Several applications for various food matrices (fruits, vegetables, cereals and others) in combination with chromatographic mass spectrometry analysis were presented.

Autoamostrador de baixo custo para análise por injeção em fluxo

This paper describes a homemade autosampler for flow injection analysis (FIA), constructed with two step motors from old floppy disk drives (5¼-inch). The autosampler was connected to a computer through the parallel port and the sampling process was controlled by software in Quick Basic. The performance of the system was assessed by the determination of ammonium, based on the gaseous diffusion into a bromocresol purple solution, following the spectrophotometric determination of change in absorbance. The easy and simple construction is the main characteristics of this equipment and analytical results with RSD lower than 1% were obtained.

Utilização de diferentes tipos de policloretos de alumínio para purificação de hidrolisado de bagaço de cana através da técnica de coagulação e floculação

In order to investigate the action of the flocculating agents Panfloc and Panclar a full factorial design 2³ and a Central Composite design 2² were carried out. The control variables were the flocculant concentration, pH and temperature. The response variables were phenolic compounds reduction and spectral area reduction. The best conditions of treatment was hydrolyzate at pH 9 for both coagulants, but the use of Panfloc was more effective in the phenolic compounds reduction (73.9%) and spectral area reduction (65.8%).

Avaliação do processo eletrolítico em corrente alternada no tratamento de água de produção

The main objective was to study the treatment of wastewater generated by the oil industry. This work consisted of tests of electroflocculation with alternate current (AC), and chemical coagulation. The removal efficiencies of organic load were evaluated by the removal of oils and greases, color and turbidity. The parameters investigated were the change in alternate current frequency, the initial pH, the distance between electrodes, the applied potential and time lapse. From the results, one may conclude that the electroflocculation process is potential applicability to the effluent studied, while chemical coagulation was not successful.

Implementação de método analítico para determinação de resíduos de organofosforados em leite por cromatografia a gás com detector fotométrico de chama

This paper regards the implementation of the QuEChERS method for the analysis by GC-FPD of 53 different pesticides from the organophosphate class, in whole UHT and pasteurized milk. Selectivity, linearity, repeatability, recovery and limits of detection and quantification were evaluated. Of all pesticide recoveries, 51 were considered satisfactory since the values ranged from 70 to 120% with RSD < 20%. The quantification limits ranged from 0.005 to 0.4 mg kg-1. The QuEChERS method was suitable for determination of 52 pesticides, presenting several advantages - quick, cheap, easy, effective, rugged and safe - with regard to other traditional methodologies.

Máscaras mecânicas de sombra por eletrocorrosão para dispositivos eletro-ópticos

Shadow masks are used in manufacturing processes for electro-optic devices to transfer patterns with different shapes and dimensions. For fabrication of organic based devices, shadow masks should be made of materials stable against organic solvents, high temperature, and robust, remaining unchanged after multiple cycles of use and fixation. Thus, stainless steel is suitable for shadow masks. A simple, cheap and quick method of obtaining shadow masks by electrochemical corrosion of stainless steel is reported. The shadow mask was used to evaporate cathode material to obtain an organic light emitting diode with active area of 9 mm². This device exhibited a turn-on voltage of 5 V and luminance of 14 cd/m².

Proteases virais: importantes alvos terapêuticos de compostos peptideomiméticos

Proteases catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds of proteins and peptides to produce smaller peptides and free amino acids. These enzymes are involved in physiologic processes such as blood coagulation and cellular death, and are related to life cycle of several viruses, such as hepatitis C, dengue, and AIDS. These features make most of proteases very important therapeutic targets for new pharmaceutical compounds. The development of peptidemimetics with improved pharmacokinetic properties is driving extensive research in the field of viral protease inhibitors. The present paper aims to highlight the design and synthesis of peptidemimetics that are able to inhibit viral proteases related to hepatitis C, dengue, and AIDS.

Avaliação da remoção de fármacos e de desreguladores endócrinos em águas de abastecimento por clarificação em escala de bancada

In this work, the efficiency of clarification treatment (coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation) with polyaluminum chloride (PAC) and aluminum sulfate (SA) as coagulants was evaluated in the removal of 7 microcontaminants (diclofenac - DCF, sulfamethoxazole - SMX, ethinylestradiol - EE2, bisphenol-A - BPA, estradiol - E2, estrone - E1 and estriol - E3) in water of low and high turbidity. The clarification treatment led to poor removal rates (40% at most) for all microcontaminants except SMX which exhibited intermediate removal efficiency (67 to 70%). Overall, PAC application yielded better performance compared to SA.

Use of semi-seletive media for detection of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum on bean and soybean seeds

This work was aimed at evaluating the possibility of using bromophenol blue as an indicator for detecting the presence of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in the seeds of dry-beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and soybean (Glycine max), through incubation of the seeds on an agar medium and "blotter" substrates. The seeds were artificially inoculated with four S. sclerotiorum isolates, plated on the agar medium, named Neon, and on modified Neon agar media all incubated at 14 and 20 ºC for seven days in the dark. Half of the seeds inoculated were surface desinfested prior to plating on the medium. The seeds showing change of colour in the medium, from blue to light yellow, as well as formation of typical mycelium and sclerotia in some cases, were considered to be infected or contaminated by S. sclerotiorum. The two incubation temperatures compared did not show significant (P<0.05) differences in detection level for most of the isolates tested on the different media. According to results obtained in this study, the Neon agar medium with incubation at 14 or 20 ºC has proved to be a reliable and quick method for the detection of S. sclerotiorum mycelium in naturally infected seeds of bean and soybean.