Reassessment of the potential applications of Eu3+-doped Y2O3 photoluminescent material in ceramic powder form

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Hydroxyquinoline derived vanadium(IV and V) and copper(II) complexes as potential anti-tuberculosis and anti-tumor agents

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Exploring copper nanostructures as highly uniform and reproducible substrates for plasmon-enhanced fluorescence

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

EVALUATION OF EUCALYPTUS KRAFT PULP LIGNIN THROUGH THE NITROBENZENE OXIDATION, COPPER OXIDE REDUCTION AND ACIDOLYSIS TECHNIQUES

This study aimed to evaluate the sensitiveness of the information obtained for the residual lignin from Eucalyptus grandis kraft pulps analyzed through the nitrobenzene oxidation, copper oxide (CuO) reduction and acidolysis techniques. The chips were cooked, resulting pulps of kappa number 14,5 and 16,9, respectively. Both lignins' pulps were evaluated through three methods (nitrobenzene oxidation, copper oxide oxidation and acidolysis). Then, they were subjected to an oxygen delignification stage. The 16,9 kappa number pulp resulted in higher levels of non-condensed lignin structures by the acidolysis method, higher syringyl/vanillin ratios (S/V) by the nitrobenzene and copper oxide methods and better performance in the oxygen delignification stage. The different methods allowed to differ the residual lignin pulps with kappa number 14,5 and 16,9, and the nitrobenzene oxidation method showed the highest sensitiveness in this study results.

Síntese e caracterização estrutural de pigmentos cerâmicos a base de cromita por método químico

The ceramic pigments are colored inorganic substances that during the process of dispersion in the ceramic glazes and subsequent calcination, are stable against physical and chemical attack. Therefore, they are crystalline compounds applied in the ceramic industry for coloring vitreous base. In this study, the Pechini method was used for obtaining the pigment CuCr2O4 with heat treatment at the temperatures of 800, 900 and 1000 ° C. The powder pigments were characterized on their structural, morphological and colorimetric aspects. The thermal analysis conducted on an amorphous precursor in a TG / DTA indicates the weight loss in the entire temperature range investigated, with characteristic exothermic peak of the elimination of the organic composition of the precursor around 300°C. The development of the crystalline phases were investigated by XRD, using a diffractometer with Cu Ka radiation and graphite monochromator, where it was observed the presence of crystalline phases corresponding to Cr2O3 and CuCr2O4.The measurements of the specific surface area of the powders pigments were carried out in an equipment Micromeritcs, model ASAP 2000, using N2 as gas of adsorption/desorption. The colorimetric measurements of the pigments were made in a colorimeter Gretac Macbeth Color-eye spectrophotometer 2180 / 2180UV in CIELAB standards. Based on the obtained results, it can be verified the thermal stability of the powder pigments of green coloration, which enables it as an alternative to the materials currently used in the manufacture of ceramic tiles.

Effect of the iron doping on the thermal decomposition of the polymeric precursor for the titanium dioxide powder synthesis

The Polymeric Precursor Method has proved suitable for synthesizing reactive powders using low temperatures of calcination, especially when compared with conventional methods. However, during the thermal decomposition of the polymeric precursor the combustion event can be releases an additional heat that raises the temperature of the sample in several tens of degrees Celsius above the set temperature of the oven. This event may be detrimental to some material types, such as the titanium dioxide semiconductor. This ceramic material has a phase transition at around 600 ° C, which involves the irreversible structural rearrangement, characterized by the phase transition from anatase to rutile TiO2 phase. The control of the calcination step then becomes very important because the efficiency of the photocatalyst is dependent on the amount of anatase phase in the material. Furthermore, use of dopant in the material aims to improve various properties, such as increasing the absorption of radiation and in the time of the excited state, shifting of the absorption edge to the visible region, and increasing of the thermal stability of anatase. In this work, samples of titanium dioxide were synthesized by the Polymeric Precursor Method in order to investigate the effect of Fe (III) doping on the calcination stages. Thermal analysis has demonstrated that the Fe (III) insertion at 1 mol% anticipates the organic decomposition, reducing the combustion event in the final calcination. Furthermore, FTIR-PAS, XRD and SEM results showed that organic matter amount was reduced in the Fe (III)-doped TiO2 sample, which reduced the rutile phase amount and increased the reactivity and crystallinity of the powder samples.

A simple method based on ICP-MS for estimation of background levels of arsenic, cadmium, copper, manganese, nickel, lead, and selenium in blood of the Brazillian population

Throughout the world, biomonitoring has become the standard for assessing exposure of individuals to toxic elements as well as for responding to serious environmental public health problems. However, extensive biomonitoring surveys require rapid and simple analytical methods. Thus, a simple and high-throughput method is proposed for the determination of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and selenium (Se) in blood samples by using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICPMS). Prior to analysis, 200 ml of blood samples was mixed with 500 ml of 10% v/v tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution, incubated for 10 min, and subsequently diluted to 10 ml with a solution containing 0.05% w/v ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) + 0.005% v/v Triton X-100. After that, samples were directly analyzed by ICP-MS (ELAN DRC II). Rhodium was selected as an internal standard with matrix-matching calibration. Method detection limits were 0.08, 0.04, 0.5, 0.09, 0.12, 0.04, and 0.1 mg//L for As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Se, respectively. Validation data are provided based on the analysis of blood samples from the trace elements inter-\comparison program operated by the Institut National de Santé Publique du Quebec, Canada. Additional validation was provided by the analysis of human blood samples by the proposed method and by using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The method was subsequently applied for the estimation of background metal blood values in the Brazilian population. In general, the mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Se in blood were 1.1, 0.4, 890, 9.6, 2.1, 65.4, and 89.3 mg/L, respectively, and are in agreement with other global populations. Influences of age, gender, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, and geographical variation on the values were also considered. Smoking habits influenced the levels of Cd in blood. The levels of Cu, Mn, and Pb were significantly correlated with gender, whereas Cu and Pb were significantly correlated with age. There were also interesting differences in Mn and Se levels in the population living in the north of Brazil compared to the south.

Voltammetric behaviour of a modified electrode with azide copper octa(3-aminopropyl)octasilsesquioxane composite in the oxidation of ascorbic acid

A novel nanostructured composite, azide copper octa (3-aminopropyl)octasilsesquioxane (ASCA) was incorporated into a graphite paste electrode and the electrochemical studies were conducted with cyclic voltammetry. The cyclic voltammogram of the modified graphite paste electrode with ASCA (GPE-ASCA), showed one redox couple with formal potential (E  ) = 0.30 V and an irreversible process at 1.1 V (vs Ag/AgCl; NaCl 1.0 mol L-1 ; v = 20 mV s-1 ). The redox couple with (E  ) = 0.30V presents an electrocatalytic response for determination of ascorbic acid. The modified electrode gives a linear range from 1.010-4 – 1.010-3 mol L-1 (r = 0.998) for the determination of ascorbic acid with detection limit of 6.910-5 mol L-1 and standard deviation of 2.3% for n = 3 . The amperometric sensitivity was 122.1 mA/mol L-1 for ascorbic acid. The application this electrode was tested and ascorbic acid in three commercial pharmaceutical product (Cebion, Cewin and Redoxon) have been determined.

Coherence characteristics of random lasing in a dye doped hybrid powder

The photon statistics of the random laser emission of a Rhodamine B doped di-ureasil hybrid powder is investigated to evaluate its degree of coherence above threshold. Although the random laser emission is a weighted average of spatially uncorrelated radiation emitted at different positions in the sample, a spatial coherence control was achieved due to an improved detection configuration based on spatial filtering. By using this experimental approach, which also allows for fine mode discrimination and timeresolved analysis of uncoupled modes from mode competition, an area not larger than the expected coherence size of the random laser is probed. Once the spectral and temporal behavior of nonoverlapping modes is characterized, an assessment of the photon-number probability distribution and the resulting second-order correlation coefficient as a function of time delay and wavelength was performed. The outcome of our single photon counting measurements revealed a high degree of temporal coherence at the time of maximum pump intensity and at wavelengths around the Rhodamine B gain maximum.

High activity photocatalyst powder formed by three ceramic oxides

A Photocatalyst ceramic powder that presented high photoactivity based on TiO2 modified with 25% molar of SnO2 and up to 5% molar of Ag2O was obtained in the present work. The aforementioned ceramic powder was obtained using all commercial oxides as well as the oxides mixture technique. The powders were ground in high energy mill for one hour with subsequent thermal treatment at 400°C for four hours. They were, furthermore, characterized using surface area of around 6m2/g, where the X-Ray diffraction results provided evidence for the presence of anatase and rutile phases, known to be typical characteristics of both the TiO2 and SnO2 used. During the thermal treatment, Ag2O was reduced to metallic silver. The photodegradation rehearsals were carried out using a 0.01 mmol/L Rhodamine B solution in a 100mg/L photocatalyst suspension in a 500ml beaker, which was irradiated with 4W germicide Ultraviolet light of 254nm. In addition, samples were removed after duration of about 10 minutes to an hour, where they were analyzed thoroughly in UV-vis spectrophotometer. The analysis of the results indicated that for the compositions up to 2.5% molar of Ag2O, the photoactivity was found to be greater than that of Degussa P25 photocatalyst powder, and as such it was then used as a reference. Taking into account 90% degradation of Rhodamine B, a duration period of 11 minutes was obtained for the developed photocatalyst powder compared to the 38 minutes observed for the Degussa P25. FEG-SEM micrographies enabled the verification of the morphology as well as the interaction of the oxide particles with the metallic silver, which led us to propose a model for the increase in photoactivity observed in the photocatalyst powder under investigation.

Bromofhenol blue discoloration using peroxidase immobilized on highly activated corncob powder

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of peroxidase immobilized on corncob powder for the discoloration of dye. Peroxidase was extracted from soybean seed coat, followed by amination of the surface of the tertiary structure. The aminated peroxidase was immobilized on highly activated corncob powder and employed for the discoloration of bromophenol blue. Amination was performed with 10 or 50 mmol.L-1 carbodiimide and 1 mol.L-1 ethylenediamine. The amount of protein in the extract was 0.235 ± 0.011 mg.mL-1 and specific peroxidase activity was 86.06 ± 1.52 µmol min-1 . mg-1, using 1 mmol.L-1 ABTS as substrate. Ten mmol.L-1 and 50 mmol.L-1 aminated peroxidase retained 88 and 100% of the initial activity. Following covalent immobilization on a corncob powder-glyoxyl support, 10 and 50 mmol.L-1 aminated peroxidase retained 74 and 86% of activity, respectively. Derivatives were used for the discoloration of 0.02 mmol.L-1 bromophenol blue solution. After 30 min, 93 and 89% discoloration was achieved with the 10 mmol.L-1 and 50 mmol.L-1 derivatives, respectively. Moreover, these derivatives retained 60% of the catalytic properties when used three times. Peroxidase extracted from soybean seed coat immobilized on a low-cost corncob powder support exhibited improved thermal stability.

Influence of the addition of calcium hydroxide powder on some physical and chemical properties of the sealer MTA fillapex

Objective: This study evaluated the flow, pH and calcium release of MTA Fillapex (G1) or Fillapex plus 10% in weight of calcium hydroxide powder (G2), compared to AH Plus (G3) and Sealapex (G4). Materials and methods:The flow test was performed according to ISO 6876:2001 requirements. The sealers were placed into plastic tubes and immersed in deionized water. After 24 hours, 7, 14 and 28 days, the water of each tube was removed and tested to evaluate the pH values and the level of released calcium. Calcium release values were analyzed statistically by Kruskal Wallis and Dunn tests and pH values analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey tests (? = 5%). Results:G1 presented higher flow among all sealers. The addition of 10% calcium hydroxide into MTA Fillapex reduced the flow (p < 0.05) but, in a level, that is lower than the one recommended for ISO norms. G2 and G4 presented pH values and calcium release higher than G3 (p < 0.05) in all periods. G1 presented pH value higher than G3 (p < 0.05), except in 7 days period (p > 0.05). G4 presented higher pH values than G1 and G2, but the calcium release was similar for all periods (p > 0.05). G3 presented lower calcium release among all groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The addition of 10% calcium hydroxide in MTA Fillapex caused reduction in flow and no negative interference in pH and/or calcium release. However, the obtained flow is different from ISO requirements. Clinical relevance: MTA Fillapex presents levels of flow above the ISO norms. The addition of calcium hydroxide is a suggestion for solving this problem, but the impact of these procedures should be carefully evaluated.

Characterization of corn (Zea mays) leaf powder and Its adsorption properties regarding Cu(II) and Cd(II) from aqueous samples

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Determination of uronic acids in sugarcane bagasse by anion-exchange chromatography using an electrode modified with copper nanoparticles

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Direct preparation and characterization of copper pentacyanonitrosylferrate nanoparticles

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)