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Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11285/345284
Artículo científico o editorial en una publicación periódica académica sujeto a revisión de pares. Cumple con los índices internacionales o bases de datos de amplia cobertura, como el listado del Current Contents, ISI WEB of Knowledge (http://isiknowledge.com/) e índice de revistas mexicanas de CONACYT (www.conacyt.mx/dac/revistas). Éstos indizan y resumen los artículos de revistas seleccionadas, en todas las áreas del saber.
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- Pharmaceuticals Market, Consumption Trends and Disease Incidence Are Not Driving the Pharmaceutical Research on Water and Wastewater(MDPI, 2021-03-04) Gonzalez Peña, Omar Israel; López Zavala, Miguel Ángel; Cabral Ruelas, Héctor; GONZALEZ PENA, OMAR ISRAEL; 162547; Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de MonterreyPharmaceuticals enhance our quality of life; consequently, their consumption is growing as a result of the need to treat ageing-related and chronic diseases and changes in the clinical practice. The market revenues also show an historic growth worldwide motivated by the increase on the drug demand. However, this positivism on the market is fogged because the discharge of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites into the environment, including water, also increases due to their inappropriate management, treatment and disposal; now, worldwide, this fact is recognized as an environmental concern and human health risk. Intriguingly, researchers have studied the most effective methods for pharmaceutical removal in wastewater; however, the types of pharmaceuticals investigated in most of these studies do not reflect the most produced and consumed pharmaceuticals on the market. Hence, an attempt was done to analyze the pharmaceutical market, drugs consumption trends and the pharmaceutical research interests worldwide. Notwithstanding, the intensive research work done in different pharmaceutical research fronts such as disposal and fate, environmental impacts and concerns, human health risks, removal, degradation and development of treatment technologies, found that such research is not totally aligned with the market trends and consumption patterns. There are other drivers and interests that promote the pharmaceutical research. Thus, this review is an important contribution to those that are interested not only on the pharmaceutical market and drugs consumption, but also on the links, the drivers and interests that motivate and determine the research work on certain groups of pharmaceuticals on water and wastewater.
- Use of Cyclic Voltammetry to Describe the Electrochemical Behavior of a Dual-Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell(MDPI, 2019-09-14) López Zavala, Miguel Ángel; Cabral Ruelas, Héctor; Delgado Mena, Cristina; Guizani, Mokhtar; Gonzalez Peña, Omar Israel; GONZALEZ PENA, OMAR ISRAEL; 162547; Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de MonterreyCyclic voltammetry (CV) was used in this work to describe the electrochemical behavior of a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The system performance was evaluated under vacuum and non-pressurized conditions, different reaction times, two sweep potentials, 25 and 50 mVs−1 and under different analyte solutions, such as distilled water and domestic wastewater. CV experiments were conducted by using a potentiostat with three different configurations to collect the measurements. A dual-chamber MFC system was equipped with a DupontTM Nafion® 117 proton exchange membrane (PEM), graphite electrodes (8.0 cm × 2.5 cm × 0.2 cm) and an external electric circuit with a 100-Ω resistor. An electrolyte (0.1 M HCl, pH ≈ 1.8) was used in the cathode chamber. It was found that the proton exchange membrane plays a major role on the electrochemical behavior of the MFC when CV measurements allow observing the conductivity performance in the MFC in the absence of a reference electrode; under this potentiostat setting, less current density values are obtained on the scanned window potentials. Therefore, potentiostat setting is essential to obtain information in complex electrochemical processes present in biological systems, such as it is the case in the MFCs. Results of the study showed that wastewater constituents and the biomass suspended or attached (biofilm) over the electrode limited the electron charge transfer through the interface electrode-biofilm-liquor. This limitation can be overcome by: (i) Enhancing the conductivity of the liquor, which is a reduction of the ohmic drop, (ii) reducing the activation losses by a better catalysis, and (iii) by limiting the diffusional gradients in the bulk liquor, for instance, by forced convection. The use of the electrolyte (0.1 M HCl, pH ≈ 1.8) and its diffusion from the cathode to the anode chamber reduces the resistance to the flow of ions through the PEM and the flow of electrons through the anodic and cathodic electrolytes. Also reduces the activation losses during the electron transfer from the substrate to the electrode surface due to the electrode catalysis improvement. On the other hand, vacuum also demonstrated that it enhances the electrochemical performance of the dual-chamber MFC due to the fact that higher current densities in the system are favored.
- Improvement of Wastewater Treatment Performance and Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells by Enhancing Hydrolysis and Acidogenesis, and by Reducing Internal Losses(MDPI, 2018-09-02) López Zavala, Miguel Ángel; Torres Delenne, Pamela Renée; Gonzalez Peña, Omar Israel; GONZALEZ PENA, OMAR ISRAEL; 162547; Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de MonterreyIn this study, biodegradation performance and power generation in MFCs were improved. Domestic wastewater was biodegraded in a dual-chamber MFC system equipped with a DupontTM Nafion® 117 proton exchange membrane, graphite electrodes (8.0 cm × 2.5 cm × 0.2 cm) in both chambers and an external electric circuit with a 100 Ω resistor. Experiments were conducted using an anaerobic inoculum that was prepared onsite by acclimating mixed liquor from municipal wastewater. Aqueous hydrochloric acid (0.1 M HCl, pH 1.82) was used as the electrolyte in the cathode chamber. Free-oxygen conditions were promoted in both chambers by means of a vacuum (77.3 kPa). Low pH (< 5) and mixing conditions were maintained in the anode chamber and all the tests were carried out at 25 ± 1 °C. These conditions enhanced the hydrolysis and acidogenesis, inhibited the methanogenesis and reduced the internal losses. All of them together contributed to improve the treatment performance and power generation of the MFCs. Results of batch tests show COD reductions of up to 95%, voltages peaks of 0.954 V, maximum power densities on the order of 2.1 W·m−2 and 36.9 W·m−3, and energy generation peaks of 99.4 J·mg−1 COD removed. These values are greater than those reported in the MFCs’ literature for municipal wastewater (26 mW·m−2–146 mW·m−2), industrial wastewater (419 mW·m−2) and culture medium solutions (1.17 W·m−2), and similar to those of glucose (3.6 W·m−2). Thus, these results can contribute to further enhancing the energy generated in MFCs and moving forward to make the MFCs more ready for practical applications of bioenergy production.