Biochars produced from various agro-industrial by-products applied in Cr(VI) adsorption-reduction processes.

This study aimed to reuse different agro-industrial by-products (poultry litter, pig manure, sewage sludge and coffee husk) for biochar production and to evaluate their Cr(VI) removal capacities in aqueous medium. The biochars showed different morphologies with porous structures. The percentages of Cr(VI) removal from solution were higher in acid medium (pH = 2), reaching values up to 87%.

Magnetic photocatalysts from δ-FeOOH and TiO and application in reactions for degradation of methylene blue and paracetamol with UV-C and sunlight.

Water contamination is a common problem, especially considering dyes and drugs disposal. A possible and effective treatment method to remove these organic pollutants from water is photocatalytic reaction. This study aimed to improve the photocatalytic properties of TiO using iron oxides (Ti/Fe composite).

Use of tar pitch as a binding and reductant of BFD waste to produce reactive materials for environmental applications.

In this work, a new approach is presented for the modification of the hazardous steel industry waste BFD (Blast Furnace Dust) into a versatile material for application in environmental remediation processes. Tar pitch, another waste, was used to agglomerate the very fine (submicrometric) dust particles to produce a compact and robust pelletized material that under simple thermal treatment produces notably reactive reduced Fe phases. SEM, TG/DTA, Mössbauer, XRD, Raman, BET and elemental analyses indicated that the tar/BFD composite (1:1wt ratio) pellets treated at 400, 600 and 800°C lead to tar decomposition to form a carbon binding coat concomitant with the reduction of the Fe oxides to produce primarily Fe3O4 (magnetite), FeO (wüstite) and Fe(0).

Controlled reduction of red mud waste to produce active systems for environmental applications: heterogeneous Fenton reaction and reduction of Cr(VI).

In this work, controlled reduction of red mud with H(2) was used to produce active systems for two different environmental applications, i.e. the heterogeneous Fenton reaction and the reduction of Cr(VI).