In the present work, the preparation of activated carbon pellets from cigarette butts by thermal treatment was evaluated. The morphological, textural, topological, and surface chemical properties were studied by SEM-EDX, N₂ adsorption, Raman, and FTIR spectroscopy. For adsorption assays, activated carbon was tested for the adsorption of phenol as a model molecule at different solution pH, temperature, and type of water. In addition, leaching tests before and after carbonization were conducted to evaluate the lixiviation of ions present in the solid. The results revealed a microporous material, composed of cylindrical fibers (thickness of 13 µm) with a microporous area of 713 m²/g and narrow and uniform slit-shaped pores (0.4–0.8 nm). The surface chemistry analysis evidenced the presence of oxygenated groups (carboxylic, esters, and phenolics). Activated carbon leaching tests indicated that the concentrations of the leached ions did not exceed the maximum permissible limit for drinking water. Phenol adsorption revealed an exothermic process with a maximum adsorption capacity of 272 mg/g at 10 °C. Finally, it was confirmed that phenol diffusion was drastically affected by hindered phenomena due to the similarity in the molecular size of phenol and the average size of micropores, and as a result an effective diffusion coefficient between 6.10 × 10⁻⁰ and 5.50 × 10⁻¹² cm²/s and a maximum tortuosity value of 3.3 were obtained.

The search for adsorbent materials with a certain chemical inertness, mechanical resistance, and high adsorption capacity, as is the case with alumina, is carried out with structural or surface modifications with the addition of additives or metallic salts. This research shows the synthesis, characterization, phase evolution and Cd(II) adsorbent capacity of α-Al₂O₃/Ba-β-Al₂O₃ spheres obtained from α-Al₂O₃ nanopowders by the ion encapsulation method. The formation of the Ba-β-Al₂O₃ phase is manifested at 1500 °C according to the infrared spectrum by the appearance of bands corresponding to AlO₄ bonds and the appearance of peaks corresponding to Ba-O bonds in Raman spectroscopy. XRD determined the presence of BaO·Al₂O₃ at 1000 °C and the formation of Ba-β-Al₂O₃ at 1600 °C. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of spherical grains corresponding to α-Al₂O₃ and hexagonal plates corresponding to β-Al₂O₃ in the spheres treated at 1600 °C. The spheres obtained have dimensions of 4.65 ± 0.30 mm in diameter, weight of 43 ± 2 mg and a surface area of 0.66 m²/g. According to the curve of pH vs. zeta potential, the spheres have an acid character and a negative surface charge of −30 mV at pH 5. Through adsorption studies, an adsorbent capacity of Cd(II) of 59.97 mg/g (87 ppm Cd(II)) was determined at pH 5, and the data were fitted to the pseudo first order, pseudo second order and Freundlich models, with correlation factors of 0.993, 0.987 and 0.998, respectively.

In this work, the extraction of vanadium (V) ions from an alkaline solution using a commercial quaternary ammonium salt and the production of metal vanadates through precipitation stripping were carried out. The crystallization of copper vanadates from the extracts was performed using a solution containing a copper(II) source in concentrated chloride media as a stripping agent. In an attempt to control growth, a stabilizing polymer (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP) was added to the stripping solution. The structural characteristics of the crystallized products, mainly copper pyrovanadate (volborthite, Cu₃V₂O₇(OH)₂·(H₂O)₂) nanoflakes and nanoflowers and the experimental parameter influencing the efficiency of the stripping process were studied. From the results, the synthesis of nanostructured vanadates is a simple and versatile method for the fabrication of valuable three-dimensional structures providing abundant active zones for energy and catalytic applications.

Objective: To photodegrade Diuron with TiO2-Al2O3 nanomaterials supported on graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) Design/methodology/approach: The synthesis of the materials was carried out by the sol-gel method under mild conditions. Subsequently, the obtained materials were subjected to thermal processing for structural stabilization and pulverized. Synthesized nanomaterials were then characterized by nitrogen adsorption/desorption, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Uv-Vis spectroscopy. Results: The adsorption/desorption results indicated that the ternary TiO2-Al2O3/GnPs nanomaterials were found to have complex porosity, which suggested that TiO2-Al2O3 was formed on agglomerated GnPs. X-ray diffraction data revealed that the anatase phase of TiO2 and the g-Al2O3 phase coexist with the crystalline phase of graphene. The morphology of the materials indicates that the nanoplatelets were randomly dispersed in a continuous mixed oxide phase. About the UV analysis, the presence of GnPs at 1 wt % concentration reduces the band gap by 6%. Limitations on study/implications: The physical and chemical properties of GnPs make the material an excellent candidate for the degradation of pollutants by photocatalysis. Findings/conclusions: The addition of GnPs improved the Diuron degradation, probably by forming a nanostructured interface or heterojunction.

Cobalt, nickel, manganese and zinc vanadates were synthesized by a hydrometallurgical two-phase method. The extraction of vanadium (V) ions from alkaline solution using Aliquat^® 336 was followed by the production of metal vanadates through precipitation stripping. Precipitation stripping was carried out using solutions of the corresponding metal ions (Ni (II), Co (II), Mn (II) and Zn (II), 0.05 mol/L in 4 mol/L NaCl), and the addition time of the strip solution was varied (0, 1 and 2 h). The time-dependent experiments showed a notable influence on the composition, structure, morphology and crystallinity of the two-dimensional vanadate products. Inspired by these findings, we selected two metallic vanadate products and studied their properties as alternative cathode materials for nonaqueous sodium and lithium metal batteries.