Porous Structural Properties of K or Na-Co Hexacyanoferrates as Efficient Materials for CO2 Capture.

The stoichiometry of the components of hexacyanoferrate materials affecting their final porosity properties and applications in CO2 capture is an issue that is rarely studied. In this work, the effect that stoichiometry of all element components and oxidation states of transition metals has on the structures of mesoporous K or Na-cobalt hexacyanoferrates (CoHCFs) and CO2 removal is reported. A series of CoHCFs model systems are synthesized using the co-precipitation method with varying amounts of Co ions. CoHCFs are characterized by N2 adsorption, TGA, FTIR-ATR, XRD, and XPS. N2 adsorption results reveal a more developed external surface area (72.69-172.18 m2/g) generated in samples containing mixtures of K+/Fe2+/Fe3+ ions (system III) compared to samples with Na+/Fe2+ ions (systems I, II). TGA results show that the porous structure of CoHCFs is affected by Fe and Co ions oxidation states, the number of water molecules, and alkali ions. The formation of two crystalline cells (FCC and triclinic) is confirmed by XRD results. Fe and Co oxidation states are authenticated by XPS and allow for the confirmation of charges involved in the stabilization of CoCHFs. CO2 removal capacities (3.04 mmol/g) are comparable with other materials reported. CO2 adsorption kinetics is fast (3-6 s), making CoHCFs attractive for continuous operations. Qst (24.3 kJ/mol) reveals a physical adsorption process. Regeneration effectiveness for adsorption/desorption cycles indicates ~1.6% loss and selectivity (~47) for gas mixtures (CO2:N2 = 15:85). The results of this study demonstrate that the CoHCFs have practical implications in the potential use of CO2 capture and flue gas separations.

Chemical speciation of selected toxic metals and multivariate statistical techniques used to assess water quality of tropical Mexican Lake Chapala.

Mexican Lake Chapala is used as water supply for human consumption. Consequently, water quality of this lake is of paramount importance for the lake's wellbeing. The contribution presented in this paper investigates monitoring and assessment of lake water quality using water quality index (WQI), metal chemical speciation, and multivariate statistical techniques. Descriptive statistics shows total metal concentrations undetected conferring the lake a healthy status. Dissolved Cd and Pb exceed criterion continuous concentration limit, whereas Zn is below this limit indicating that water quality is satisfactory for aquatic life. However, WQI indicates poor water quality attributed to failure of conductivity, total solids, nitrogen, and phosphates, due to industrial and agro-industrial effluents. Metal speciations indicate that the presence of low concentrations of dissolved metals reflect interactions with gills of fish through metal-biotic ligand complexes affecting water quality. Positive correlations are obtained between conductivity and nitrates, indicating that agricultural activities and fertilizer runoffs increase the conductivity and that the environmental state of lake is being altered by human activities. Factors F1 (31%), F2 (19%), and F3 (11%) represent 61% of variability; F1 and F2 corroborate the pressure exerted by pollutants related with fertilizers and agrochemicals; F3 contains Zn and Pb with positive loads attributed to influx of tourist visitors. Sites S4, S5, S6, and S9 are identified as the most environmentally affected by COD, Alk*, pH, Cl-, nitrites, phosphates, and TS. Multivariate techniques permit to conclude that environmental stress of Lake Chapala is caused by variables pertaining to agrochemical, fertilizers and municipal wastes.

Determination of distributions of Cd, Cu, and Pb concentrations in sediments of a Mexican reservoir to infer their environmental risk.

The José Antonio Alzate Dam in the State of Mexico, Mexico, receives wastewaters from domestic, industrial, and agricultural activities through the Lerma River. Chemical and physicochemical characteristics of the water were determined. Sediment has been studied in order to define the importance of its influence on the reservoir's state as a whole. The quantification of the metals, Cd, Cu, and Pb in total forms and the geochemical distribution and the chemical mobility of these metals in sediment have been established using a chemical sequential extraction scheme. The three metals showed a common characteristic, being more abundant in fraction F6 (residual), but the other fractions of the geochemical distribution were variable depending on the metal. First, the contamination level was evaluated with the results of the total metals, using the criteria of EPA, Thomas and Murdoch, and the Ontario Ministry of Environment for sediment in water bodies. Subsequently, the risk was assessed using the same criteria but considering the results of sequential extractions, where the geochemical distribution of each metal allowed a better understanding of metal portions with more influence on the risk, in which Cu and Pb presented low risk, but not Cd.

Removal of Cu(II) ions from aqueous streams using poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) hydrogels.

The adsorption of Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions onto poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) hydrogels was investigated. The hydrogels were prepared via free-radical solution polymerization using Irgacure 754 as a photoinitiator and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a cross-linking agent. Loading of acrylamide/acrylic acid moieties on the surfaces of hydrogels and the amount of cross-linking agent were varied to determine the maximum metal uptake. Polymerization kinetics was investigated by (1)H NMR. The physicochemical properties of hydrogels were investigated by nitrogen sorption measurements, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The (1)H NMR results demonstrated that the polymerization reaction was carried out almost to completion and confirmed the absence of residual monomers. Swelling results indicated that, by appropriate selection of cross-linking agent amount and monomer ratio, hydrogels can be swollen up to 70,000%. Further characterization of the hydrogels showed rapid adsorption kinetics and equilibrium Cu(II) adsorption capacities of 121 mg g(-1). Cu(II) adsorption kinetic data followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. Adsorption equilibrium data were better fitted by a Langmuir isotherm. FTIR and XPS results indicated the presence of a tetradentate copper complex on the surfaces of hydrogels. The copper uptake achieved suggests the potential use of hydrogels to extract toxic metals from industrial aqueous streams.

Surface characterization of electrodeposited silver on activated carbon for bactericidal purposes.

The use of an electrochemical reactor operated under different flow conditions to deposit silver from aqueous AgNO(3) solutions and tartaric acid as an organic additive on a commercial activated carbon with ultimate bactericidal applications in water purification processes is presented. The characterization of carbon/silver samples was studied by BET, FTIR, X-ray diffraction, XPS, and SEM techniques. The bactericidal activity of the carbon/silver samples was tested on drinking water samples inoculated with E. coli. A reduction of carbon surface area was detected and was caused by increased amounts of silver deposited on carbon samples. Adherent silver deposits were obtained on the carbon/silver samples. X-ray diffraction studies of carbon with electrodeposited silver showed two different preferential deposition planes, [111] and [220]. The FTIR results confirm the presence of carboxyl, phenolic, quinone, and ether surface groups. The XPS results suggest the formation of Ag(2)O and AgO surface species and confirm the reduction of silver to the metallic form. Antimicrobial activity toward E. coli indicated reductions by up to 7 orders of magnitude in the log CFU/mL in just 10 min contact time and for silver contents of 2.47 wt%.