Preparation and characterization of polysulfone-polyurethane membranes for recovery of simulated wastewater from industrial textile processes.

Techniques using membranes for the treatment of wastewaters usually promote higher quality of treated water when compared to other processes. Among them, pervaporation has advantages in terms of selectivity in addition to low working pressure, which can prevent clogging problems. Polysulfone and polyurethane have complementary characteristics and are interesting in the context of membranes for industrial applications. In this sense, the aim of this work was to prepare and characterize polysulfone/polyurethane-based membranes and tested them with a simulated wastewater containing the reactive black dye and sodium chloride by pervaporation. In their manufacture, thermal treatment (at 60°C) and photo-radiation treatment (using ultraviolet light) were also applied. The characterizations were performed using different analytical tools. In general, it was possible to verify that all membranes have a dense layer. The thermal analysis allowed to define that the indicated working temperature is below 50°C. With respect to the simulated wastewater treatment, all membranes reached 100% selectivity. Concerning the saline solution, the mean selectivity was around 98.5%. Moreover, the permeate flow values were within the range presented by commercial membranes ranging from 1.6 to 2.4 kg m-2 h-1. Although for the photoirradiated membranes the photo-graft reaction has occurred, among all membranes, the blend without any treatment stood out from the others, presenting the highest permeate flow of the simulated wastewater. Finally, the results reveal that these membranes are capable of recovering wastewater from textile processes, in addition to having the potential to remove salts from water through the pervaporation process.Highlights Polysulfone/polyurethane-based membranes were not yet evaluated for wastewater recovery.Modifications in the membrane characteristics promoted variations in the permeate flow.Changes in physical-chemical properties of membrane as a result of a photoinitiation reaction.Removal efficiency achieved was 100% for reactive black dye and 98.5% for sodium chloride.A new way of performing pervaporation on the recovery of aqueous solutions.

Removal of Congo red dye from aqueous solutions using a halloysite-magnetite-based composite.

Adsorption has been considered as one of the most effective methods to remove dyes from aqueous solutions due to its ease of operation, high efficiency and wide adaptability. In view of all these aspects, this study aimed to evaluate the adsorption capacity of a halloysite-magnetite-based composite in the removal of Congo red dye from aqueous solutions. The effects of stirring rate, pH, initial dye concentration and contact time were investigated. The results revealed that the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order model, and equilibrium was well represented by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. The thermodynamic data showed that dye adsorption onto the composite was spontaneous and endothermic and occurred by physisorption. Finally, the composite could also be regenerated at least four times by calcination and was shown to be a promising adsorbent for the removal of this dye.

Characterization of films of weak polyelectrolytes incorporated with poly(vinyl-pyrrolidone)-stabilized gold nanoparticles.

The incorporation process of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) into self-assembled films was obtained using the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique where two weak polyelectrolytes, i.e., poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) as polycation and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) as polyanion, were sequentially adsorbed. To evaluate this process, the films of PAH and PAA were immersed in gold solutions containing different sizes of Au NPs (6 nm and 10 nm) stabilized with poly(vinyl-pyrrolidone) (PVP) before and after treatment with a 0.1 mol L(-1) solution of hydrochloric acid. The systems were analyzed using a multi-method approach involving UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the self-assembled polyelectrolyte films that were not treated by acid showed greater incorporation and better distribution of Au NPs.

Fluorescence fingerprint of fulvic and humic acids from varied origins as viewed by single-scan and excitation/emission matrix techniques.

Excitation/emission matrix (EEM), single-scan excitation and synchronous fluorescence spectra of a series of FA and HA from distinct environments are presented. The EEM plots show at least four spectral features whose corresponding Ex/Em pairs relate to the alpha', alpha, beta and gamma (or delta) fluorophores previously found in natural waters spectra. The alpha' and alpha peaks, which identify typical humic-like components, are present in all samples, independently of the organic matter (OM) source. In FA, their Ex/Em pairs are approximately 260 nm/460 nm and approximately 310 nm/440 nm, respectively. In HA their excitation and emission maxima are red-shifted, the corresponding Ex/Em pairs being located at approximately 265 nm/525 nm and approximately 360 nm/520 nm, respectively. The appearance of beta and gamma (or delta) peaks is dependent both on the OM origin and on HS aging. The former (Ex/Em approximately 320 nm/430 nm), that has been associated with the incidence of marine humic-like material, is present only in a few marine and estuarine HA. It emerges as a shoulder on the alpha peak and its detection is dependent on a balance between its magnitude and the magnitude and emission maxima location of the alpha peak. The gamma (or delta) peak (Ex/Em approximately 275 nm/315 nm in FA, and approximately 275 nm/330 nm in HA), on the other hand, is better visualized in FA than in HA diagrams. It has typical protein-, mainly tryptophan-like, fluorescence properties and appears with varied significance in a few marine and estuarine samples being hardly detected in samples from exclusively terrestrial environments. It is also shown in this study that with selected lambda(ex), lambda(em) and (delta)(lambda) values, regular emission, excitation and synchronous spectra can, together, provide a good picture of the OM sources and aging for extracted HS.