International Summer School on «Carbon and related mnanomaterials: Synthesis, characterization and properties».
Boletín del Grupo Español del Carbón (2018) 50, pp.21 – 24.
Del 23 al 27 de Julio de 2018 tuvo lugar en Jaca (Huesca) el curso internacional de verano “Nanomateriales a base de carbón y próximos en estructura: Síntesis, caracterización y estudio de propiedades” que ha sido dirigido por el Dr. Raúl Arenal (INA-LMA-Universidad de Zaragoza) y por el Dr. Wolfgang Maser (Instituto de Carboquímica, ICB-CSIC, Zaragoza). El curso estaba dirigido a estudiantes universitarios, de máster o doctorandos de ciencias (física, química e ingeniería, preferentemente) con interés en la nanociencia y la nanotecnología. …
How does phosphoric acid interact with cherry stones? A discussion on overlooked aspects of chemical activation
Wood Science and Technology (2018) 52, pp.1645 – 1669.
The fabrication of activated carbon (AC) is widely carried out by the so-called chemical activation method, in which the biomass substratum is put in touch with an impregnating chemical agent prior to the carbonization stage. Even though this methodology is known for a long time, there are many features that are still poorly understood, particularly those regarding the details of the underlying mechanisms involved during the interaction of the activating agent with the precursor, eventually leading to the development of AC. Previous research conducted in the laboratories dealt with the use of cherry stones (CS) and phosphoric acid, toward ACs with tailored porous structures, finding out that the experimental variables of the impregnation stage were crucial for their eventual characteristics. …
Cysteine functionalized bio-nanomaterial for the affinity sensing of Pb(II) as an indicator of environmental damage.
Microchemical Journal (2018) 141, pp.271 – 278.
This work aims at the development of an electrochemical affinity biosensor for Pb(II) quantification using a platform that combines glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) and an aqueous dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) covalently modified with cysteine residues (Cys). The biosensing protocol includes the accumulation of Pb(II) at the electrode surface through the affinity interaction promoted by Cys residues at open circuit potential, followed by the reduction of the accumulated Pb(II) at ‐0.900 V and the transduction step performed by linear sweep-adsorptive stripping voltammetry (LSAdSV) in a 0.020 M acetate buffer solution pH 5.00. There is a linear relationship between Pb(II) oxidation peak current and Pb(II) concentration. The dynamic linear range extends from 5.0 to 125.0 μg·L−1, exhibiting a sensitivity of 0.061 μAμg−1L and a detection limit of 0.69 μg·L−1. In addition, the selectivity of the biosensor was evaluated in the presence of high concentrations of possible interferents such as Cu(II), Cd(II), Ni(II), Hg(II), Rh(II), Ru(II), Zn(II), Ir(IV), Co(II) and As(III) demonstrating a high discrimination of Pb(II) in complex samples. The sensor was challenged with tap and rain water samples enriched with Pb(II), demonstrating outstanding properties in terms of recovery percentages showing an excellent agreement with ICP- MS.
Three-Dimensional Conductive Scaffolds as Neural Prostheses Based on Carbon Nanotubes and Polypyrrole
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2018) 10, pp. 43904-43914
Three-dimensional scaffolds for cellular organization need to enjoy a series of specific properties. On the one hand, the morphology, shape and porosity are critical parameters and eventually related with the mechanical properties. On the other hand, electrical conductivity is an important asset when dealing with electroactive cells, so it is a desirable property even if the conductivity values are not particularly high. Here, we construct three-dimensional (3D) porous and conductive composites, where C8-D1A astrocytic cells were incubated to study their biocompatibility. The manufactured scaffolds are composed exclusively of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a most promising material to interface with neuronal tissue, and polypyrrole (PPy), a conjugated polymer demonstrated to reduce gliosis, …
Environmental impact of the production of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide
SN Applied Sciences 2019, 1 (2), 179
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is widely seen as the most promising route for the low-cost mass production of graphene for many applications ranging from ultrathin electrodes to structural nanocomposites. The Hummers and Marcano methods are the two most successful approaches for producing high-performance rGO, but have been criticized for producing toxic emissions. We have applied life cycle assessment methodology to evaluate the environmental impacts of both production routes for GO and rGO in the context of applications requiring bulk materials or thin coatings. We find no current obstacle to the industrial scale production of graphene arising from its environmental impact. The cumulative energy demand is found to have a cap value between 20.7 and 68.5 GJ/Kg, a relatively high value; impact in other categories (such as human toxicity or resource depletion) is lower, and materials inventory …
