In this work, a comparative study of the tribological performance of two hard coatings, CrN/TiBN, was conducted for research purposes and industrial applications in food products, particularly for food packaging into cans using the double hermetic sealing process. CrN and TiBN coatings were successfully deposited on a base-cobalt metal substrate of a CoCrW commercial alloy using physical vapor deposition by arc evaporation (AEPVD) technology to improve the tribological properties of the commercial alloy, including wear and corrosion resistance, lower coefficient of friction, and overall durability. This research focuses on conducting scratch and abrasion wear resistance tests in dry conditions; specifically, it pursues to evaluate the wear corrosion properties, known as tribocorrosion performance, on CrN/TiBN hard coatings. The experimental results show that the CrN coating (2.9 μm) is slightly thicker than the TiBN coating (2.7 μm), with a 47 N critical load. It also shows a lower coefficient of friction (CoF) in a dry environment, while the TiBN coating showed total detachment and a high coefficient of friction in a dry environment condition. Tribocorrosion testing in brine aqueous solution indicated that CrN coating shows a high friction coefficient with a higher open circuit potential value (E_corr), and TiBN shows the lowest corrosion potential (E_corr) and the lowest friction coefficient. This suggests that CrN could provide better corrosion protection for commercial cobalt alloys and improve tool performance during the food canning process in brine environments.

In this work, the effect of reinforcement of the iPP with ceramic waste (CW), and the use of maleic anhydride compatibilizing agent grafted with polyolefin elastomer (POE-g-MAH) are studied. The composites were fabricated by extrusion and injection processes, and their morphology and microstructure, as well as fracture surface and mechanical and thermal properties were analyzed. Characterization by polarized optical microscopy showed that the ceramic waste particles were well-dispersed into the iPP matrix without the presence of agglomerates. However, the POE-g-MAH did not show good compatibility when it was added to the iPP/CW composite. Hardness Rockwell R, tensile and flexural measurements showed that the hardness, Young´s modulus, and flexural modulus increased with the incorporation of CW and without the POE-g-MAH. The ductility of the composites was several decreased with the addition of CW. POE-g-MAH affected the hardness, ductility, strength tensile, Young´s modulus, flexural modulus, and interfacial interaction in the iPP/CW composite. Analysis by X-ray diffraction showed that the CW also acted as a nucleating agent, increasing the crystallization degree, and forming the β-phase. Analysis of the Fourier transformed infrared showed transmittance bands of the iPP, CW, POE-g-MAH and composites. The bands were similar and there were no major changes in characteristic bands of composites, but CW and POE-g-MAH produced changes in the shape and intensity of band peaks of the iPP matrix. The CW addition to the iPP matrix modified the thermal properties of pure iPP, such as the degree of crystallization and melting temperature in the iPP/CW composites. The incorporation of POE-g-MAH decreased the crystallization temperature and crystallinity degree in the iPP/CW composite.

Atrazine is one of the most widely used herbicides in agriculture, which has been detected as a contaminant in surface and groundwater. In this work atrazine attenuation was studied in soils amended with construction waste, ground corn straw and biosolids.. Adsorption of atrazine was carried out in batch and column systems, four percentages of amendments in the soil were evaluated: 0 (control, 0 g/kg), 5, 10, and 20 g/kg. The physicochemical and biological behavior of the amended soils in relation to the retention of atrazine was analyzed. Organic matter and biological activity of the amended soil favored atrazine adsorption in comparison with the control soil. The experimental data were best adjusted to the pseudo second order and Freundlich model indicating that atrazine adsorption on amended soils was controlled by chemical adsorption and heterogeneity of the materials. The results show that the amended soils are good materials for the adsorption, retention and degradation of atrazine. The mineralization half-lives of atrazine depend on the amendment added to the soil. The construction waste amendment is composed of a mineral mixture, which favored the generation of aggregates of different compounds, and these could provide sorption sites, electron donor-acceptor interaction, and general stability to the soil. The ground corn straw amendment with a high organic matter content promotes the development of microorganisms that may degrade atrazine. The conditions studied are applied to a soil from an agricultural land that produces corn where herbicides and chemical fertilization have been applied. However, it should be considered that the soil is a living, complex and dynamic entity.

Copper is one of the most used metals today due to its wide range of applications. Traditionally, this metal has been primarily extracted through pyrometallurgical methods, which presents several environmental and energy-related drawbacks. An alternative is hydrometallurgy, which has achieved acceptable copper extraction rates. However, this process has not found widespread industrial application due to operational challenges and the complexity associated with the selective recovery of copper ions from the Pregnant Leach Solution (PLS), especially due to the coexistence of copper and iron ions, complicating the efficient separation of both metals. In this work, the use of aluminum shavings as a cementation agent is proposed, analyzing variables such as the initial shaving concentration (2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 g/L), the agitation speed (0, 200, and 400 rpm), and a temperature of 20, 30, and 40 °C. The results demonstrated selective copper cementation, achieving a 100% recovery in 30 min under stirring conditions of 400 rpm. The analysis performed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed the formation of solid phases such as metallic copper (Cu), aluminum hydroxide [Al(OH)₃], and elemental sulfur (S). Additionally, it was observed that the iron ion concentration remained constant throughout the experiment, indicating a high selectivity in the process. The kinetic analysis revealed that the reaction follows a first-order model without stirring. An activation energy of 62.6 kJ/mol was determined within the experimental temperature range of 20–40 °C, confirming that the process fits the chemical reaction model. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the system’s behavior, highlighting its feasibility and potential for industrial-scale applications.

In this work, a methodology was developed for the manufacture of a composite from AA6061 in a combination of microparticles (3 μm) of residual Mullite/Zircon ceramic as a reinforcing agent. During the development, the Stir Casting technique was used to facilitate the homogeneous combination between matrix and reinforcement, a T6 treatment was also carried out, later the composite was analyzed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Optical Microscopy (OM) to verify the presence and distribution of the particles, finally hardness tests were carried out, the estimation of the grain size was carried out by means of computer software and the comparison of results between the alloy and the composite was carried out.