The use of plant waste, such ashusks, fibers, and bagasse, as additives in polymeric matrices generated great interest recently, since they became an option to be used as additives, reinforcers, or only as fillers. The pistachio is a seed for human consumption, while the Jatropha curcas (JC) is a seed from which oils are extracted, and are used to obtain biofuels; however, their shells are not used when discardedbecause no useful application is known.An interesting application for this waste material is to use it as a bioadditive in polymeric matrix. The objective of the present work is to prepare polymer composites with polypropylene (PP) as a matrix and as a bio-additive particle inseed shells, in this case Jatropha curcas shell particles (JA) and pistachio shell particles (PI), in different content from 2 to 10 phr. The composites were characterized by techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to evaluate crystallinity; by using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the thermal stability was studied, and by using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) the viscoelastic behavior of composites was evaluated. According to DSC, results suggest that a nucleating effect occurs with the addition of the JA and PI, which was reflected in an increase in thepercent of crystallinity of the composites. The TGA results show that thermal stability of the composites was modified with the presence of JA and PI, compared with that PP pristine.In addition, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) reported that the viscoelastic behavior was modified, findinga higher capacity to dissipate energy for composites, PI being the one that presented a greater effect on them.

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) with photocatalytic activity was successfully synthetized by a non-covalent method using ibuprofen as the target molecule. Adsorption assays and a photodegradation study was done. The results showed that TiO ₂ influences the adsorption behavior, when the TiO ₂ content is low the materials follow a Langmuir model, but when is higher Freundlich model best represents the adsorption process in the MIPs. 25% of TiO ₂ is the optimum amount in a photocatalytic imprinting matrix; the complete degradation is reached within the 2.5 minutes.

This research focused on the development and characterisation of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) modified with titanium dioxide (TiO₂) for the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of sodium naproxen (NPX). Different percentages of TiO₂ (5% and 25%) were tested and compared to non-imprinted polymers (NIPs). FT-IR analysis confirmed the interaction between methacrylic acid and TiO₂, promoting the formation of specific binding sites and presenting a good imprinting factor. The results showed that the MIP with 5% TiO₂ had the highest adsorption and retention capacity, attributed to the imprinting effect and the reduced interference from TiO₂. The surface of the MIPs is heterogeneous, as it was indicated by the Freundlich isotherm model. The K_F for the MIP with 25% of TiO₂ was higher than for the materials with 5%; values for the MIP/TiO₂ 5% and the NIP/TiO₂ 5% K_F were 4.808 and 4.163 (mg/g)(L/mg)^1/n respectively, while for the MIP/TiO₂ 25% was 6.542 (mg/g)(L/mg)^1/n and for the NIP/TiO₂ 25% it was 2.736 (mg/g)(L/mg)^1/n. Kinetic studies followed the pseudo-second-order model, suggesting more active binding sites in MIPs. Photocatalytic experiments achieved 60% degradation, demonstrating the degradation performance of MIPs; however, this behavior is restricted by the slow degradation of NPX. The materials were evaluated using a water sample (Querétaro River, México); the sample was preconcentrated and analyzed, detecting a concentration of 0.332 mg/L of NPX. This finding highlights the MIPs’ potential application in environmental monitoring and treatment; nevertheless, due to the recalcitrant nature of NPX, MIPs should be used along with other advanced treatment methods to achieve effective removal.