This study describes the effects of ceria (CeO₂) and dolomite [CaMg(CO₃)₂] additives on the pyrolysis behavior and fire resistive property of conventional intumescent flame retardant (IFR) coating system for I-beam steel substrate called ammonium polyphosphate-melamine-expandable graphite (APP-MEL-EG) system. The fire resistance of various formulations was evaluated using the standard vertical Bunsen burner fire test. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to understand the degradation of coating formulations. Observations by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) demonstrated that significant amounts of additives favored the formation of homogeneous compacted char structures, which were predominantly composed of carbon (C), phosphorus (P) and oxygen (O). These three main components of the char were also found to be in various binding combinations with other lighter elements like nitrogen (N) and hydrogen (H) as illustrated by the attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy results. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) further suggest that polyethylene([(CH₂-C₂H₂-CH₂)^n-]) free radicals were abundant on the char surface for the two best formulations and the binding energy of this radical promoted the formation of aromatic carbon chains that enhanced the char's thermal stability. This means that the selection of appropriate additives and combinations of flame-retardant ingredients could significantly change the morphology of the char layer and improve its thermal stability during fire exposure.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is generally managed via active or passive treatment strategies. Between the two, passive treatment is explored as a more sustainable alternative, especially for abandoned and legacy mines due to their low energy, manpower and material requirements. Recent studies of the authors have explored the use of limestone and waste materials like low-grade ores (LGO), fly ash (FA), and concrete wastes (CW) for AMD treatment and found that although these materials generated alkalinity individually, they could only partially remove sulfate (SO₄ ^2-) and some heavy metals. To address this limitation, a mixed media approach using these four materials is proposed to neutralize the pH of AMD and maximize metal and SO₄ ^2- removal. A total of twenty (20) mixtures of the four materials were identified based on the response surface methodology (RSM) experimental design. Laboratory-scale experiments using simulated AMD were performed to assess the performance of each mixture by monitoring the pH, oxidation-reduction potential (Eh), electrical conductivity (EC), and concentrations of metals and SO₄ ^2-. Based on the results, three optimized mixed media compositions were identified. Overall, simulated AMD passively treated by the optimized mixed media compositions met the Philippine effluent standards except for SO₄ ^2-.

Ammonium thiosulfate leaching is a promising alternative to the conventional cyanide method for extracting gold from ores. However, strategies for recovering gold from the leachate are less commercially used due to its low affinity to gold. The present study investigated the recovery of gold from the leachate using iron oxides (hematite, Fe₂O₃ or magnetite, Fe₃O₄). Cementation experiments were conducted by mixing 0.15 g of aluminum powder as an electron donor and 0.15 g of an electron mediator (activated carbon, hematite, or magnetite) in 10 mL of ammonium thiosulfate leachate containing 100 mg/L gold ions and 10 mM cupric ions for 24 h at 25 °C. The results of the solution analysis showed that when activated carbon (AC) was used, the gold was recovered together with copper (recoveries were 99.99% for gold and copper). However, selective gold recovery was observed when iron oxides were used, where the gold and copper recoveries were 89.7% and 21% for hematite and 85.9% and 15.4% for magnetite, respectively. An electrochemical experiment was also conducted to determine the galvanic interaction between the electron donor and electron mediator in a conventional electrochemical setup (hematite/magnetite–Al as the working electrode, Pt as the counter electrode, Ag/AgCl as the reference electrode) in a gold–thiosulfate medium. Cyclic voltammetry showed a gold reduction “shoulder-like” peak at −1.0 V using hematite/Al and magnetite/Al electrodes. Chronoamperometry was conducted and operated at a constant voltage (−1.0 V) determined during cyclic voltammetry and further analyzed using SEM-EDX. The results of the SEM-EDX analysis for the cementation products and electrochemical experiments confirmed that the gold was selectively deposited on the iron oxide surface as an electron mediator.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial for green energy applications due to their unique properties, but their extraction poses sustainability challenges because the global supply of REEs is concentrated in a few countries, particularly China, which produces 70% of the world’s REEs. To address this, the study investigated TK221, a modified extraction chromatographic resin featuring diglycolamide (DGA) and carbamoyl methyl phosphine oxide (CMPO), as a promising adsorbent for REE recovery. The elemental composition and functional groups of DGA and CMPO on the polystyrene-divinylbenzene (PS-DVB) support of TK221 were confirmed using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The adsorption kinetics of neodymium (Nd), yttrium (Y), cerium (Ce), and erbium (Er) followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm, indicating monolayer chemisorption. Furthermore, iron (Fe) adsorption reached apparent equilibrium after 360 min, with consistent Fe adsorption observed at both 360 min and 1440 min. The inclusion of Fe in the study is due to its common presence as an impurity in most REE leachate solutions. The Fe adsorption isotherm results are better fitted with the Langmuir isotherm, implying chemisorption. Maximum adsorption capacities (q_max) of the resin were determined as follows: Nd (45.3 mg/g), Ce (43.1 mg/g), Er (35.1 mg/g), Y (15.6 mg/g), and Fe (12.3 mg/g). ATR-FTIR analysis after adsorption suggested that both C=O and P=O bands shifted from 1679 cm⁻¹ to 1618 cm⁻¹ and 1107 cm⁻¹ to 1142 cm⁻¹ for Y, and from 1679 cm⁻¹ to 1607 cm⁻¹ and 1107 cm⁻¹ to 1135 cm⁻¹ for Ce, implying possible coordination with REEs. These results suggest that TK221 has a huge potential as an alternative adsorbent for REE recovery, thus contributing to sustainable REE supply diversification.

Iron oxides (hematite, Fe₂O₃, and magnetite, Fe₃O₄), previously used as electron mediators in the galvanic system with zero-valent aluminum (ZVAl), have been shown to recover Au upon cementation in Au–Cu ammoniacal thiosulfate media selectively, and this warrants further investigation. This research is focused on investigating the role of the semiconductive properties of metal oxides by performing a cementation experiment by mixing 0.15 g of electron mediators (Fe₃O₄, Fe₂O₃, TiO₂ (anatase and rutile)) and 0.15 g of zero-valent aluminum powder as an electron donor in various electrochemical experiments. The results revealed that upon the cementation experiment, synthetic Fe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄ were consistently able to selectively recover Au at around 90% and Cu at around 20%. Compared to activated carbon (AC), TiO₂, in anatase and rutile forms, obtained selective recovery of gold, but the recovery was utterly insignificant compared to that of iron oxides, obtaining an average of 93% Au and 63% Cu recovery. The electrochemical and surface analysis supports the results obtained upon the cementation process, where TiO₂, upon cyclic voltammetry (CV), obtained two reduction peaks centered at −1.0 V and −0.5 V assigned to reducing Au and Cu ions, respectively. Furthermore, various electrochemical impedance spectroscopic analyses revealed that the flat band potential obtained in the Mott–Schottky plot is around −1.0 V and −0.2 V for iron oxides and titanium oxides, respectively, suggesting that the electrons travel from semiconductor interface to electrolyte interface, and electrons are accessible only to Au ions in the electrolyte interface (reduction band edge around −1.0 V). The determination of this selective cementation mechanism is one of a kind. It has been proposed that the semiconductive properties of Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, and, by configuring their relative energy band diagram, the travel of electrons from the iron oxide–electrolyte interface facilitate the selective cementation towards Au(S₂O₃)₂³⁺ ions in gold–copper ammoniacal thiosulfate solutions.

Multiple combinations of CeO₂-Dolomite as fillers and Intumescent Flame Retardant (IFR) ingredients were used to optimize the intumescent coatings designed for I-beam steel substrates. The influenced of fillers and various combinations of flame-retardants on the fire protective performance of the coatings were evaluated using vertical Bunsen burner fire test and various characterization techniques. Formula C and Formula F having 1:1 and 2:2 CeO₂-Dolomite ratio, obtained the lowest substrate temperature around 150^oC and 150.4^oC, respectively after 90 minutes fire exposure. Also, the morphological structures of intumescent char observed by SEM-EDX, demonstrated that Formula C and Formula F stimulated the formation of homogeneous and more compacted surface structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provide the binding energies of C and O constituents, it was observed that [-(C₂H₄)n-] was the most important free radical as it could promote the formation of aromatic carbon chain in the char surface. Finally, the findings of this study revealed that the selection of appropriate fillers and combinations of flame-retardant ingredients significantly influenced the morphological structure of the char layer, of which, Formula C and Formula F produced a char with higher thermal stability, resulting to a more fire resistive IFR coating during fire exposure.