Carbon Materials Prepared from Invading Pelagic Sargassum for Supercapacitors' Electrodes.

Since 2011, substantial amounts of pelagic Sargassum algae have washed up along the Caribbean beaches and the Gulf of Mexico, leading to negative impacts on the economy and the environment of those areas. Hence, it is now crucial to develop strategies to mitigate this problem while valorizing such invasive biomass. This work deals with the successful exploitation of this pelagic Sargassum seaweed for the fabrication of carbon materials that can be used as electrodes for supercapacitors.

Spectroscopic, Electrochemical, and Biological Assays of Copper-Binding Molecules for Screening of Different Drugs and Plant Extracts against Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Neurodegenerative disorders, caused by prone-to-aggregation proteins, such as Alzheimer disease or Huntington disease, share other traits such as disrupted homeostasis of essential metal ions, like copper. In this context, in an attempt to identify Cu chelating agents, we study several organic compounds (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, phenylenediamine, metformin, salicylate, and trehalose) and organic extracts obtained from L., which has been used in Ayurvedic therapies and presented a broad spectrum of biological properties.

Theoretical study on the interactions between chlordecone hydrate and acidic surface groups of activated carbon under basic pH conditions.

A theoretical study of the influence of acidic surface groups (SG) of activated carbon (AC) on chlordecone hydrate (CLDh) adsorption is presented, in order to help understanding the adsorption process under basic pH conditions. A seven rings aromatic system (coronene) with a functional group in the edge was used as a simplified model of AC to evaluate the influence of SG in the course of adsorption from aqueous solution at basic pH conditions. Two SG were modeled in their deprotonated form: carboxyl and hydroxyl (COO and O), interacting with CLDh.

Improving of understanding of beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) adsorption on activated carbons by temperature-programmed desorption studies.

In order to understand the interactions between beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and chemical groups at activated carbon (AC) surface, the solid samples were hydrogenated aiming to decrease the amounts of oxygenated groups. Two AC samples designated by BagH2O and BagP1.5 were prepared by water vapor activation and phosphoric acid activation, respectively, of sugarcane bagasse used as an AC precursor.

Assessment of the surface area occupied by molecules on activated carbon from liquid phase adsorption data from a combination of the BET and the Freundlich theories.

A new equation is derived from a combination of the BET (Brunauer, Emmett, Teller) and Freundlich isotherms fitted for liquid phase adsorption data on activated carbons. This equation, depending on the Freundlich parameters and the equilibrium adsorption-desorption constant can be used for assessment of the surface area occupied by the solute molecules on a surface in a liquid phase system under some conditions.