Herlys Viltres

Wastewater remediation technologies are rapidly evolving to meet the increasing water demand. The need to develop efficient, low-cost, and simplistic strategies has motivated researchers to explore newer fields of material science. Owing to high thermal stability, porosity, and accessible functionalities, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are finding numerous applications in the domain of wastewater treatment and resource recovery. The application-oriented development of MOFs has been accepted as a novel approach for the removal and recovery of metals from waste solutions. The desired properties in MOFs could be achieved by adopting suitable synthesis or post-synthesis functionalization strategies. Here, we have reviewed differently functionalized MOFs and their application in the removal of metals from waste solutions. We have also discussed the application of MOFs in the pre-concentration and recovery of actinides from seawater. Conclusions regarding the future scope of employing MOFs in the domain of environmental remediation have been included.

Due to the importance of bioactive peptides, proteins and drug for pharmaceutical purpose, there is a growing interest for suitable delivery systems, able to increase their bioavailability and to target them to the desired location. Some of the most studied delivery systems involve encapsulation or entrapment of drugs into biocompatible polymeric devices. A multitude of techniques have been described for the synthesis of nanomaterials from polymers, however, the use of ionizing radiation (γ, e-), to obtain nano- and microgels polymer is characterized by the possibility of obtaining products with a high degree of purity. Although, in the world, electronic radiation is used for this purpose, gamma radiation has not been utilized for these purposes. In this paper is developed the formulation the formulation of Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanogels synthesized by gamma radiation techniques, for their evaluation as potential system of drug delivery. Experiments were performed in absence of oxygen using aqueous solutions of PVP (0.05% -1%). Crosslinking reactions were carried out at 25° C in a gamma irradiation chamber with a ⁶⁰Co source (MPX-γ 30). The Viscosimetry, Light Scattering, X-Ray Diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), were used as characterization techniques.

Inorganic As (V) and As (III) species are commonly found in groundwater in many countries around the world. It is known that arsenic is highly toxic and carcinogenic, at present exist reports of diverse countries with arsenic concentrations in drinking water higher than those proposed by the World Health Organization (10 μg/L). It has been reported that adsorption strategies using magnetic nanoparticles as magnetite (3 and FeCl₂ as metal source and NaOH aqueous solution as precipitating agent. Magnetite nanoparticles synthesized were put in contact with As₂O₃ and As₂O₅ solutions at room temperature to pH 4 and 7. The nanoparticles were characterized by FT-IR, DRX, UV-vis, and XRF. The results showed that synthesized magnetite had an average diameter of 11 nm and a narrow size distribution. The presence of arsenic on magnetite nanoparticles surface was confirmed, which is more remarkable when As (V) is employed. Besides, it is possible to observe that no significant changes in the band gap values after adsorption of arsenic in the nanoparticles.