Publications by authors named "Antonio A U de Souza"

Surfactin has potential as next generation antibiofilm agent to combat antimicrobial resistance against emerging pathogens. However, the widespread industrial applications of surfactin is hampered by its high production cost. In this work, surfactin was produced from using a low-cost brewery waste as a carbon source.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The remediation of a real textile wastewater aiming its reuse in the textile industry was carried out by integrating two processes: (i) a chemical or electrochemical advanced oxidation process (AOP or EAOP) based on Fenton's reaction for organics degradation, and (ii) a cation exchange process using marine macroalgae for removal of the iron acting in the Fenton's reaction based processes. Four AOPs/EAOPs at acidic pH 2.8 were tested: Fenton, photo-Fenton with ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation (PF/UVA), electro-Fenton (EF) and photoelectro-Fenton with UVA radiation (PEF/UVA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Strategies for developing materials with the functionality to combat bacterial infection are targets for applications such as smart bandages and bone tissue integration. This work milestone was to develop ZnO-polyetherimide (ZnO/PEI) composite scaffolds with antibacterial activity against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The electrospinning process using suspensions of PEI with different ZnO nanoparticles content were heightened to promote spinnability, jet stability, and fibers with morphological homogeneity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The oxidative systems including enzymatic systems have been widely studied as an alternative for textile effluents treatment. However, studies have shown that some oxidative processes can produce degradation products with higher toxicity than the untreated dye. In this work, enzymatic dye decolorization was evaluated by horseradish peroxidase enzyme (HRP) and the toxicity of discoloration products was evaluate against Daphnia magna, Euglena gracilis algae, and Vibrio fischeri.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of this work was to study the feasibility of textile sludge as a precursor to prepare catalysts for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) by chemical and thermal treatments. Textile sludge was characterized by physical-chemical and metal composition analyses. The chemical activation was evaluated using iron sulfate and the thermal treatment was carried out at 720 °C in a vacuum pyrolysis reactor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The textile industry can benefit from the use of microcapsules, both adding value to products through the production of technical or functional textiles and improving the processes in the production chain. Some applications have been widely explored in academic research, but many are not feasible for use in industrial scale. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop consistent and efficient methodologies for the encapsulation of active compounds commonly used in the textile industry, employing materials which are viable for large-scale application.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The aim of this work was to remove the dyes Reactive Blue 221 (RB 221) and Reactive Blue 198 (RB 198) of synthetic effluent using the immobilized enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in Ca-alginate beads. Experimental parameters affecting the dye removal process such as the effect of pH, temperature, hydrogen peroxide concentration, mass capsules, and reuse were evaluated, and a numerical model of mass transfer was developed. A maximum removal of 93 and 75%, respectively, for the dyes RB 221 and RB 198, at pH 5.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sludge from the textile industry was used as a low-cost adsorbent to remove the dye Reactive Red 2 from an aqueous solution. Adsorbents were prepared through the thermal and chemical treatment of sludge originating from physical-chemical (PC) and biological (BIO) effluent treatment processes. The adsorbent characterization was carried out through physical-chemical analysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, pHPZC determination, Boehm titration method, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Membrane performance is decreased by fouling, reducing permeate flux and membrane lifespan. This paper assesses ultrafiltration of a model textile effluent assisted by permanent magnetic field as an alternative to improve the water permeability recovery. Ultrafiltration was performed in a tangential module and model solutions, composed of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and sodium sulphate (Na2SO4).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The burning of fossil fuels has released a large quantity of pollutants into the atmosphere. In this context, sulfur dioxide is one of the most noxious gas which, on reacting with moist air, is transformed into sulfuric acid, causing the acid rain. In response, many countries have reformulated their legislation in order to enforce the commercialization of fuels with very low sulfur levels.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The application of ozonation has been increasing in recent years, the main disadvantage of this type of treatment being related to the by-products, which can have toxic and carcinogenic properties, and therefore should be studied further. In this study, the combined treatment of ozonation and subsequent biological degradation with a biofilm, to reduce the color and chemical oxygen demand (COD), was investigated. The experimental part of the study consisted of two phases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF