ORCID Profile
0000-0002-7411-4479
Current Organisation
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia Facultad de Ciencias
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 13-09-2019
DOI: 10.3390/CATAL9090769
Abstract: A new hybrid photocatalytic membrane reactor that can easily be scaled-up was designed, assembled and used to test photocatalytic membranes developed using the sol–gel technique. Extremely high removals of total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, phenolic and volatile compounds were obtained when the hybrid photocatalytic membrane reactor was used to treat olive mill wastewaters. The submerged photocatalytic membrane reactor proposed and the modified membranes represent a step forward towards the development of new advanced treatment technology able to cope with several water and wastewater contaminants.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 19-01-2022
DOI: 10.3390/W14030292
Abstract: Natural disasters (such as earthquakes, floods, heatwaves and landslides), isolation and war affect the water access of millions of people worldwide. Developments in the areas of membrane filtration, photolysis and photocatalysis are important for safe water production and water re-use applications. This work aimed to test alternative ways to ensure effective disinfection of wastewater effluents: light-emitting diodes that emit at different wavelengths, photocatalytic membranes, and the combination of the two solutions. The different treatment processes were tested at the laboratory scale to assess their performance in the removal and inactivation of water quality indicator bacteria and fungi present in wastewater effluents. The membranes were found to be effective to retain the microorganisms (rejection values higher than 96%), while three small ultraviolet C light-emitting diodes that emitted light at 255 and 265 nm showed an excellent performance for inactivation (higher than 2.5-log inactivation of total coliforms and Escherichia coli after 10 min of exposure in real wastewater effluents). When photocatalytic membranes are used, ultraviolet A light-emitting diodes ensured effective treatment of the retentate (higher than 65%). The combination of these two processes is extremely promising since it ensures not only the production of a high quality permeate that can be reused, but also the treatment of the retentate.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2022
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 06-12-2019
DOI: 10.3390/MOLECULES24244481
Abstract: This work described a new sustainable method for the fabrication of ceramic membranes with high photocatalytic activity, through a simple sol-gel route. The photocatalytic surfaces, prepared at low temperature and under solvent-free conditions, exhibited a narrow pore size distribution and homogeneity without cracks. These surfaces have shown a highly efficient and reproducible behavior for the degradation of methylene blue. Given their characterization results, the microfiltration photocatalytic membranes produced in this study using solvent-free conditions are expected to effectively retain microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi that could then be inactivated by photocatalysis.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-06-2022
Abstract: The development of effective disinfection treatment processes is crucial to help the water industry cope with the inevitable challenges resulting from the increase in human population and climate change. Climate change leads to heavy rainfall, flooding and hot weather events that are associated with waterborne diseases. Developing effective treatment technologies will improve our resilience to cope with these events and our capacity to safeguard public health. A submerged hybrid reactor was used to test the efficiency of membrane filtration, direct photolysis (using ultraviolet-C low-pressure mercury l s, as well as ultraviolet-C and ultraviolet-A light-emitting diodes panels) and the combination of both treatment processes (membrane filtration and photolysis) to retain and inactivate water quality indicator bacteria. The developed photocatalytic membranes effectively retained the target microorganisms that were then successfully inactivated by photolysis and advanced oxidation processes. The new hybrid reactor could be a promising approach to treat drinking water, recreational water and wastewater produced by different industries in small-scale systems. Furthermore, the results obtained with membranes coated with titanium dioxide and copper combined with ultraviolet-A light sources show that the process may be a promising approach to guarantee water disinfection using natural sunlight.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 30-12-2021
Abstract: The combination of photocatalysis and membrane filtration in a single reactor has been proposed, since the photocatalytic treatment may degrade the pollutants retained by the membrane and reduce fouling. However, polymeric membranes can be susceptible to degradation by UV radiation and free radicals. In the present study, five commercial polymeric membranes were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation before and after applying a sol–gel coating with TiO2 nanoparticles. Membrane stability was characterized by changes in hydrophilicity as well as analysis of soluble substances and nanoparticles detached into the aqueous medium, and by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) for structural, morphological, and elemental distribution analysis, respectively. The TiO2 coating conferred photocatalytic properties to the membranes and protected them during 6 h of UV radiation exposures, reducing or eliminating chemical and morphological changes, and in some cases, improving their mechanical resistance. A selected commercial nanofiltration membrane was coated with TiO2 and used in a hybrid reactor with a low-pressure UV l , promoting photocatalysis coupled with cross-flow filtration in order to remove 17α-ethinylestradiol spiked into an aqueous matrix, achieving an efficiency close to 100% after 180 min of combined filtration and photocatalysis, and almost 80% after 90 min.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-01-2022
DOI: 10.3390/MEMBRANES12010098
Abstract: Spent caustic effluents are very challenging due to their very hazardous nature in terms of toxicity as well as their extreme pH (approximately 12–14). Spent caustic has presented a challenge for wastewater treatment in refineries, due to its composition rich in mercaptans, sulfides and other aromatic compounds. To address such problems, membrane filtration was studied using real effluents from Sines Refinery, in Portugal. The present study attempts to assess the potential for spent caustic treatment with nanofiltration (NF) polymeric and ceramic membranes, assessing membrane life expectancy. For that, membrane aging studies in static mode were performed with the polymeric membrane before attempting NF treatment (dynamic studies). A ceramic membrane was also tested for the first time with this type of effluents, though only in dynamic mode. Although the polymeric membrane performance was very good and in accordance with previous studies, its lifespan was very reduced after 6 weeks of contact with spent caustic, compromising its use in an industrial unit. Contrarily to expectations, the ceramic membrane tested was not chemically more resistant than the polymeric one upon direct contact with spent caustic (loss of retention capacity in less than 1 h in contact with the spent caustic). The results obtained suggest that a pH of 13.9 is very aggressive, even for ceramic membranes.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-07-2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-01-2023
DOI: 10.3390/MEMBRANES13010056
Abstract: Increase water usage has led to its deterioration. Pollutants are easily found in the aquatic environment and treatment techniques must keep improving to meet the current needs and future demands. Membranes are attractive for water treatment, but limitations like fouling and the highly concentrate produced affect their performance. Combining membrane filtration with photocatalysis provides the opportunity to integrate a self-cleaning step during membrane filtration. In this work, we studied two simple and efficient approaches to combine membrane filtration with zinc oxide nanoparticles (using the catalyst in suspension and immobilized) activated by light emitting diodes (LED) emitting light at 365 nm. Both systems were used to test the disinfection efficiency in real surface water, compared in terms of catalyst concentration in the permeate stream (below the limit of detection) and its recovery after filtration (higher that 74%). The system’s capability to retain and inactivate target bacteria (total coliforms and E. coli) in the retentate stream was tested with s les of real surface water. The results obtained show that both configurations led to an improved performance in comparison to the membrane treatment alone with a higher retention of the bacteria (not detected in the permeate s les) and higher treatment of the retentate. For the modified membranes, different catalyst concentrations and thermal treatments were tested. The performance of all the processes was evaluated in terms of the level of treatment achieved and the permeate flux. All the modified membranes showed an efficient retention of the target bacteria from surface water, with higher performances than the unmodified membrane (96.2% for total coliforms and 94.9% for E. coli). Remarkable retention and treatment of the retentate was achieved using a membrane modified with a catalyst load of 125 mg subject during two hours to a thermal treatment of 300 °C. This modification has a performance comparable to the system with the same catalyst load in suspension. During operation, the permeate flux reduction is lower with the modified membranes which could lead to longer operation times without the need of further cleaning or replacement. The combined system, ceramic membranes modified with zinc oxide and UV-A LEDs proved to be effective to retain and disinfect water quality indicator bacteria present in real surface water matrices.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2017
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 30-10-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-09-2014
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 08-07-2022
DOI: 10.3390/MEMBRANES12070697
Abstract: This study covers the modification, (bio)fouling characterization, use, and cleaning of commercial heterogeneous anion exchange membranes (AEMs) to evaluate their feasibility for reverse electrodialysis (RED) applications. A surface modification with poly (acrylic) acid resulted in an improved monovalent perm-selectivity (decreased sulfate membrane transport rate). Moreover, we evaluated the (bio)fouling potential of the membrane using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS), and Aeromonas hydrophila as model organic foulants and a biofoulant, respectively. A detailed characterization of the AEMs (water contact angle, ion exchange capacity (IEC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra) was carried out, verifying that the presence of such foulants reduces IEC and the maximum current obtained by CV. However, only SDS and SDBS affected the contact angle values. Cleaning of the biofouled membranes using a sodium hypochlorite aqueous solution allows for (partially) recovering their initial properties. Furthermore, this work includes a fouling characterization using real surface and sea water matrixes, confirming the presence of several types of fouling microorganisms in natural streams. A lower adhesion of microorganisms (measured in terms of total bacteria counts) was observed for the modified membranes compared to the unmodified ones. Finally, we propose a cleaning strategy to mitigate biofouling in AEMs that could be easily applied in RED systems for an enhanced long-term process performance.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.CARBPOL.2018.03.010
Abstract: The purpose of this work is the development and characterisation of new hybrid polysaccharide (FucoPol) membranes. These membranes were prepared by incorporation of a SiO
Location: Portugal
Location: Spain
Location: Spain
Location: Spain
Location: No location found
Location: Australia
Start Date: 2018
End Date: 2021
Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2018
End Date: 2021
Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2016
End Date: 2019
Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2018
End Date: 2021
Funder: FCT-Fundos Europeus Estruturais e de Investimento (FEEI) for Programa Operacional Regional (POR) Lisboa 2020.
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2020
End Date: 2024
Funder: European Commission
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2008
End Date: 2010
Funder: Gobierno de España Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2011
End Date: 2012
Funder: Gobierno de España Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2018
End Date: 2021
Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2018
End Date: 2021
Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2021
End Date: 2023
Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
View Funded Activity