RESUMEN

Nanotechnology-based strategies have played a pivotal role in innovative products in different technological fields, including medicine, agriculture, and engineering. The redesign of the nanometric scale has improved drug targeting and delivery, diagnosis, water treatment, and analytical methods. Although efficiency brings benefits, toxicity in organisms and the environment is a concern, particularly in light of global climate change and plastic disposal in the environment. Therefore, to measure such effects, alternative models enable the assessment of impacts on both functional properties and toxicity. Caenorhabditis elegans is a nematode model that poses valuable advantages such as transparency, sensibility in responding to exogenous compounds, fast response to perturbations besides the possibility to replicate human disease through transgenics. Herein, we discuss the applications of C. elegans to nanomaterial safety and efficacy evaluations from one health perspective. We also highlight the directions for developing appropriate techniques to safely adopt magnetic and organic nanoparticles, and carbon nanosystems. A description was given of the specifics of targeting and treatment, especially for health purposes. Finally, we discuss C. elegans potential for studying the impacts caused by nanopesticides and nanoplastics as emerging contaminants, pointing out gaps in environmental studies related to toxicity, analytical methods, and future directions.

RESUMEN

In the last decades, the growth of world agricultural activity has significantly contributed to the increased presence of emerging pollutants such as atrazine (ATZ) in aquatic ecosystems. Due to its high stability to the natural or artificial degradation processes, the ATZ environmental remediation by adsorption has been investigated. In this study, a graphitic-porous-carbon- (GPC) based material with magnetic domains was applied to remove ATZ from aqueous solution. ATZ high adsorption efficiency in a reduced time was achieved in the presence of the GPC adsorbent, leading to a detailed investigation of the mechanisms involved in the adsorption processes. Pseudo-first-order (PFO), pseudo-second-order (PSO), Ritchie, Elovich, and Weber-Morris models were applied to calculate the kinetic process efficiency. Likewise, adsorption isotherms based on Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Redlich-Peterson models were applied for a detailed understanding of the adsorption mechanisms. GPC was successfully applied for ATZ remediation in natural waters, confirming its high potential for treating natural waters contaminated by ATZ using adsorption process. The material can also be recovered and reused for up to 4 application cycles due to its magnetic properties, showing that in addition to ATZ adsorption efficiency, its sustainable use can be achieved.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

In this study, a spectrophotometric-chemometric (Spec-Chem) approach was applied as an alternative to chromatography to monitor ATZ and by-products after photolytic and photocatalytic oxidation aiming to unveil the ATZ degradation mechanism. Spec-Chem is an accessible, easy-to-operate, low-cost analytical approach to monitor atrazine (ATZ) and by-products, and its applicability was validated by HPLC, the reference technique for the evaluation of pollutant degradation mechanisms. The chromatographic (DChro) and spectrophotometric (DSpec) data found 95% and 57% ATZ removal after 30 min, respectively, proving that the DSpec erroneously induces a 38% loss in removal efficiency. When DSpec was treated by multivariate curve resolution (MCR) analysis for providing chemometric data (DChem), it found ATZ removal and hydroxyatrazine (HAT) formation statistically equal to DChro (t-test, p = 0.05). After unraveling the ATZ degradation mechanism using Spec-Chem, a new hypothesis for the kinetic calculation of ATZ degradation was presented, where the concentrations of ATZ and HAT were used to find k and R2 values representative for the ATZ degradation mechanism. The values found for k were compatible with the literature under similar conditions of ATZ degradation, and the linear correlation coefficients (R2 = 0.99) showed an optimal fit for the proposed hypothesis. Thus, Spec-Chem was successfully applied to unravel the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of ATZ in the presence of TiO2, while k was obtained by the new hypothesis proposed that considered ATZ and HAT concentration as parameters of kinetic interest. Therefore, the importance of monitoring quantitatively ATZ and HAT were provided in this study, providing new information for the scientific community.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

A fast, efficient, and non-chromatographic method was presented in this study for nitrite, nitrate, and p-nitrophenol (N-compounds) extraction and speciation analysis of environmental samples. By applying ultrasound-assisted solid-liquid extraction (USLE), analytes were efficiently extracted from water, soil, or sediment collected in areas of environmental disaster. These analytes were selectively converted to NO(g) through UV photolysis (NO3-), H2O2/UV photocatalysis (PNP), and direct conversion (NO2-). Following conversion, NO(g) was separated from the liquid phase and determined by high-resolution continuum source molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS MAS). The LODs obtained were 0.097 ± 0.004 mg L-1 for nitrite, 0.119 ± 0.004 mg L-1 for nitrate, and 0.090 ± 0.006 mg L-1 for p-nitrophenol. On applying this speciation method to environmental samples, concentrations were found to be up to 0.99 ± 0.03 mg L-1 (NO2-), 49.80 ± 2.5 mg L-1 (NO3-), and 0.10 ± 0.02 mg L-1 (PNP). Finally, addition/recovery study of real water, soil, and sediment samples showed 101 ± 2% recovery for NO2-, 100 ± 1% for NO3-, and 96 ± 5% for PNP.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

In this paper, we study theoretically and experimentally the effect of induced charging currents on the fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. As explained in this paper, the phenomenon originates from the coupling between faradaic and capacitive currents in the presence of uncompensated resistance. Due to the existence of induced charging currents, the capacitive contribution to the total current is different from the capacitive current measured in the absence of electroactive species. In this paper, we show that this effect is particularly important when the ratio of the capacitive current and the total current is close to unity, even for a relatively low cell time constant. Consequently, the conventional background subtraction method may be inaccurate in these situations. In this work, we develop a method that separates the faradaic and capacitive currents, combining simulation and experimental data. The method is applicable even in the presence of potential-dependent capacitance. The theoretical results are compared with some previously reported results and with experiments carried out on the potassium ferrocyanide/ferricyanide redox couple. Platinum disk electrodes of different diameters and NaClO4 support electrolyte of different concentrations were used to obtain different cell time constants. The proposed method allowed us to separate the real capacitive current even in the situations where the conventional background subtraction used in many published papers is clearly inappropriate.

RESUMEN

Photocatalysis over TiO2 substrates is widely used in effluent treatment specially for organic compounds and for inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms. In the present work, TiO2 coatings were synthesized by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) and its pathogenic bacteria inhibitory photoactivity was investigated. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 coatings was investigated for the inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella bongori and the results were correlated with pore diameter and crystallite size. It was observed that both morphology and microstructure have an important role in the antibacterial photoactivity. The results show the larger the crystallite size and pore diameter the greater the photoactivity of the material. Porous materials that have a smaller pore diameter than the microorganism to be inactivated have low photoactivity. On the other hand, films that have pores with a diameter of the order or larger than the size of the microorganism to be inactivated present greater photocatalytic activity, once its pores allow the entrance and internal adsorption of the microorganisms, leading to the rupture of the cell membrane. Thus, in order to not sub-utilize the photocatalysts surface area, TiO2 coatings for using in microorganism inactivation must be synthesized with pore diameter bigger than the size of the microorganism.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and applied to the simultaneous determination of hydroquinone (HQ), catechol (CC), bisphenol A (BPA) and phenol by using square-wave voltammetry. The MWCNTs were deposited on the GCE and the AgNPs were then electrodeposited onto the MWCNT/GCE by the application of 10 potential sweep cycles using an AgNP colloidal suspension. The modified GCE was characterized by using SEM, which confirmed the presence of the AgNPs. The electrochemical behavior of the material was evaluated by using cyclic voltammetry, and by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy that employed hexacyanoferrate as an electrochemical probe. The results were compared to the performance of the unmodified GCE. The modified electrode has a lower charge-transfer resistance and yields an increased signal. The peaks for HQ (0.30 V), CC (0.40 V), BPA (0.74 V) and phenol (0.83 V; all versus Ag/AgCl) are well separated under optimized conditions, which facilitates their simultaneous determination. The oxidation current increases linearly with the concentrations of HQ, CC, BPA and phenol. Detection limits are in the order of 1 µM for all 4 species, and the sensor is highly stable and reproducible. The electrode was successfully employed with the simultaneous determination of HQ, CC, BPA and phenol in spiked tap water samples. Graphical abstract A glassy carbon electrode was modified with carbon nanotubes and silver nanoparticles and then successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of four phenolic compounds. The sensor showed high sensitivity in the detection of hydroquinone, catechol, bisphenol A and phenol in water samples.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

There are some electrocatalytic reactions in which the key parameter explaining their behavior is a local change in pH. Therefore, it is of utter importance to develop an electrode that could quantify this parameter in situ, but also be customizable to be used in different systems. The purpose of this work is to build a versatile rotating ring/disc electrode (RRDE) with IrOx deposited on a glass tube as a ring and any kind of material as disc. As the IrOx is sensitive to pH variation, the reactions promoted on the disc can trigger proportional pH shifts on the ring. In such assembly, the IrOx ring presents a fast response time even during the pH transients due to the small thickness of the ring (approximately 10 µm), which enables the detection of interfacial pH changes. The ring electrode was tested toward the interfacial pH shift observed during the electrolytic reduction of water on the disc and also characterized by acid-base titration to determine the response time. As the main conclusions, fast response and durable RRDE were obtained, and this assembly could be used to revisit many electrocatalytic reactions in order to test the importance of local pH on the process.

RESUMEN

In this study, a novel material for the electrochemical determination of 17ß-estradiol using an electrode based on reduced graphene oxide and a metal complex porphyrin has been applied to environmental monitoring. The electrochemical profile of the proposed electrode was analyzed by differential pulse voltammetry, which showed a shift of the oxidation peak potential of 17ß-estradiol to 150mV in a less positive direction compared to the bare reduced graphene oxide electrode. DPV experiments were performed in PBS at pH 7.0 to determine 17ß-estradiol without any previous step of extraction, cleanup, or derivatization, in the range of 0.1-1.0µmolL(-1) with a detection limit archived at 5.3nmolL(-1) (1.4µgL(-1)). The proposed sensor was successfully applied in the determination of 17ß-estradiol in a river water sample without any purification step and was successfully analyzed under the standard addition method. All the obtained results were in agreement with those from the HPLC procedure.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

We merged the microwave synthesis approach with an extension of the nonhydrolytic sol-gel method to induce highly selective crystallization of MoS(2) layers over graphene sheets. This hybrid material showed superior electrocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reactions.

RESUMEN

Potentiodynamic electrochemical synthesis was used to controllably synthesize nanofibers (mean diameter 48 nm) and/or nanoparticles (mean diameter 88 nm) of polyaniline (PANI) on gold electrodes. The films were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The type and dimensions of the nanostructures depend on deposition conditions such as monomer concentration and scan rate. This study shows that the nucleation and growth steps play a key role on the film development and its nano-morphology.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Reportamos el caso de una paciente, quien posterior a intentos fallidos de evacuación farmacológica del útero por óbito fetal, presentó ruptura del hemicuerpo uterino grávido, ameritando histerectomía de urgencia. Su evolución fue satisfactoria y no hubo morbi-mortalidad asociada al procedimiento quirúrgico

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Nanostructured films from two conducting polymers, poly(o-methoxyaniline) (POMA) and poly(3-thiopheneacetic acid) (PTAA), were fabricated with the layer-by-layer (LBL) technique. The electrochemical response of the LBL films differs from that of a POMA cast film, even in a potential range where PTAA is inactive. This is attributed to differences in the diffusion-controlled charge and mass transport, where distinct ionic species participate in the LBL films, as demonstrated by quartz crystal microbalance measurements. The results show that the transport properties of conducting polymers can be changed by alternation with layers of appropriate materials in LBL films.