Browsing by Author "Rojas, Susana"

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    Degradation of dairy wastewater using sustainable nanotechnology composed of a-Fe2O3/TiO2 rod-shaped material and photocatalytic process: a complementary treatment approach for industrial wastewater
    (2024) Espinoza-Villalobos, Nicole; Rojas, Susana; Barrientos, Lorena; Salazar-Gonzalez, Ricardo; Luna, Damari; Flores, Caetano; Escalona, Nestor
    BACKGROUND: High water consumption and the toxic pollutants found in industrial wastewater are key challenges in achieving a more sustainable development. In this sense, it is crucial to develop sustainable ways to reduce the organic pollutants found in wastewater and to promote its reuse.
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    Germicidal effect of UV light on epiphytic fungi isolated from blueberry
    (PONTIFICIA UNIV CATOLICA CHILE, FAC AGRONOMIA INGENIERIA FORESTAL, 2012) Latorre, Bernardo A.; Rojas, Susana; Diaz, Gonzalo A.; Chuaqui, Hernan
    B.A. Latorre, S. Rojas, G.A. Diaz, and H. Chuaqui. 2012. Germicidal effect of UV light on epiphytic fungi isolated from blueberry. Cien. Inv. Agr. 39(3): 473-480. The present study examined the inactivation effect of ultraviolet (UV) light on the conidia of Botrytis cinerea Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. herbarum and Pestalotiopsis clavispora, common pathogens of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), often found as epiphytes. The fungi were grown at 20 degrees C in acidified potato dextrose agar (APDA) in the dark; conidial suspensions (10(6) conidia mL(-1)) were placed the bottom of 5 cm glass Petri plates with a maximum height of 0.5 mm. Uncovered plates were immediately exposed to either UVA (lambda = 361 nm), UVB (lambda = 302 nm) or UVC (lambda = 254 nm) at doses between 40 and 110 mJ.cm(2). The results were expressed as survival ratios Nt/N0 (the number of colonies obtained after conidia were exposed to UV irradiance/the total number of fungal colonies in the non-irradiated controls). The fungal-dependent rate constants (k), a measure of the mortality rate, were estimated from an exponential model. The species in order of greatest to least resistance to UV light were Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. herbarum, R clavispora and B. cinerea. The type of fungal species and the dose of UV irradiance had a significant (P <= 0.001) influence on Nt/N0. The interaction between the fungal species and the UV irradiance dose was significant (P <= 0.004) only when the conidia were exposed to UVB or UVC. The resistance of Cladosporium spp. to UV radiation may explain the ubiquity of Cladosporium spp. in nature and could allow for the abundant populations of Cladosporium spp. often found on the foliage, flowers and fruits of blueberries.
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    Role of β-CD Macromolecule Anchored to α-Fe2O3/TiO2 on the Selectivity and Partial Oxidation of Guaiacol to Add-Value Products
    (2021) Espinoza-Villalobos, Nicole ; Rojas, Susana ; Salazar, Ricardo Andrés ; Contreras, David ; Escalona, Nestor ; Vergara, Elizabeth ; Laguna-Bercero, Miguel Angel ; Mendizabal, Fernando ; Barrientos, Lorena
    Biomass is a naturally abundant, sustainable, and clean resource, which has the potential to replace fossil feedstock for sustainable production of high add-value chemicals. However, an efficient conversion process is still difficult to achieve due to the difficult reaction conditions. In this study as a novel and versatile concept, we introduced the use of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) macromolecule to enhance the photocatalytic behavior of a alpha-Fe2O3/TiO2 heterojunction. The selective conversion of guaiacol was evaluated using 0.2, 1.0, and 2.0 molar ratios of beta-CD anchored on 0.7 wt % alpha-Fe2O3/TiO2 under mild reaction conditions. 1.0 molar ratio of beta-CD promoted photo-oxidation of guaiacol to mainly produce p-benzoquinone with similar to 68% selectivity at similar to 10% conversion. To understand this effect, Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (EPR) in operando mode and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) experiments were performed. The results showed that the 1.0 molar ratio of beta-CD decreases the bandgap from 3.06 to 2.76 eV and controls the center dot OH radical concentration due to the formation of a covalent bond between beta-CD and semiconductors. The improved guaiacol adsorption capacity on the photocatalyst resulted in the enhancement of the photochemical activity and selectivity. Additionally, a possible pathway of guaiacol transformation was proposed through the oxidation intermediates. Furthermore, the photocatalyst beta-CD/alpha-Fe2O3/TiO2 can be recycled efficiently and reused three times, without loss in reactivity.