AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING QUESTIONS PRODUCED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN A TEACHING PROGRAM BASED ON SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION LITERATURE. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the use of scientific dissemination literature (SDL) in the process of formulating questions developed by chemistry students in a Teaching Program in Chemistry. To this end, the book entitled The Disappearing Spoon was analyzed in terms of categories referring to format and content, while the 18 questions produced by these students about the chapters read were analyzed in terms of presupposition and request. The investigation was carried out with 16 undergraduates who were taking a theoretical course on “Introduction to Chemistry”, as part of the Teaching Program in Chemistry. According to the analysis carried out, some particularities of format, such as the scarcity of visual resources, the autonomous structure of the chapters and the language, may have influenced the elaborated presentations. It is interesting to note that almost half of the questions produced were of an investigative nature, demonstrating the potential of SDL to stimulate high cognitive skills. In addition, the questions with investigative requests were mostly opinion questions, which may have been motivated by characteristics of the text read, such as the content with a controversial approach used by the author, when reporting on some aspects of scientific activity.

This work qualitatively analyzes the productions resulting from an extension course, developed with 24 teachers in initial and continuing training. This course was constituted by the (re)construction of knowledge related to Environmental Education (EE), in its critical aspect, to promote the debate on socio-environmental problems, allied to the theme of perfluorinated compounds, as a way of inserting these discussions in basic education, through the construction of teaching materials in the format of Thematic Units (TU). Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the four TU produced by the course participants, in order to classify such productions supported by indicators and parameters of critical environmental education. Thus, it was possible to observe that most productions significantly contemplated these indicators, demonstrating that the activities and discussions developed enabled teachers to build a critical view of socio-environmental issues and perceptions of the possibility of developing them in the school environment.

Triclosan (5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol) is commonly used as an antibacterial agent in various industrial products and is often detected in wastewater effluent. Comparison was made for triclosan degradation by photolysis and TiO2 photocatalysis (under UV irradiation (125 W)) based on analysis of transformation products, together with ecotoxicity evaluation. The morphology of the TiO2 was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM). Triclosan quantitation was performed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The optimal condition was obtained using a response surface model and desirability profile. The initial concentration of triclosan used in all the experiments was 10 mg L-1 to achieve comprehensive identification of transformation products. The optimal experimental condition was 30 mg L-1 TiO2 at pH 10. The photocatalytic system achieved > 99% triclosan degradation at 30 min of reaction. The mineralization rates by photolysis and photocatalysis were 25 and 90%, respectively. A total of 27 transformation products were identified using liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (QTOF MS), being that 25 were new structures, not previously reported in the literature. Ecotoxicity assays demonstrated that triclosan and some of the major transformation products did not cause deleterious effects towards Lactuca sativa and Daphnia magna after 16 h of treatment.

Neste trabalho, a degradação de cânfora em solução aquosa foi avaliada utilizando-se processos fotocatalíticos mediados por suspensões e formas imobilizadas de TiO2 e ZnO. Os catalisadores suportados (TiO2/anéis de vidro, TiO2/alginato de cálcio e ZnO/alginato de cálcio) foram caracterizados por microscopia eletrônica de varredura com espectroscopia de energia dispesiva de raios X (SEM/EDX), difratometria de raios X (XRD), fluorescência de raios X por energia dispersiva (EDXRF) e espectroscopia Raman, técnicas que permitiram confirmar a elevada porosidade dos materiais, assim como as fases cristalinas características (anatase e wurtzita). A eficiência de degradação dos fotocatalisadores suportados foi comparada com a dos semicondutores em suspensão, observando-se resultados comparáveis entre TiO2 Degussa P25 e TiO2 imobilizado em anéis de vidro. Por outro lado, o uso de esferas de alginato de cálcio propiciou menores eficiências de degradação, provavelmente em decorrência da significativa redução da área superficial nos sistemas imobilizados.

In this work, the degradation of aqueous solution of camphor by heterogeneous photocatalysis was study using suspended and supported TiO2 and ZnO. The supported catalysts (TiO2/borosilicate reaching ring, TiO2/calcium alginate and ZnO/calcium alginate) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and Raman spectroscopy, techniques that permitted to confirm the porosity of the material as well as the characteristic crystalline forms (anatase and wurtzite). The degradation efficiency of the supported photocatalysts was compared with the performance of free TiO2 and ZnO, observing comparable results between conventional Degussa P25 TiO2 and TiO2 immobilized in glass-rings. On the other hand, the use of calcium alginate beads leads to lower degradation efficiency probably due to the significant area reduction observed in immobilized systems.

In this work, the efficiency of some homogeneous advanced oxidation processes (UVC/H2O2, Fe2+/H2O2, UVC/Fe2+/H2O2, UVA/Fe2+/H2O2, solar/Fe2+/H2O2) was investigated toward the degradation of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB). The effect of relevant experimental parameters (ie. pH, Fe2+ and H2O2 concentration) was first investigated by factorial design, using camphor as a model substrate. In the geosmin and 2-MIB degradation studies the Fenton processes assisted by solar and UVA radiation offered the most promising results, mainly on account of high degradation capacity (higher than 80% at a reaction time of 60 min), high operational simplicity and low cost.

The chemical and microbiological decomposition of the garbage deposited in landfills leads to the generation of a dark and malodorous liquid residue that shows a chemical composition of extreme variability and complexity. When matured, the leachates show low biodegradability, which makes it difficult to treat by conventional biological processes. In this work a new strategy for the treatment of landfill leachates is proposed, involving a preliminary treatment by heterogeneous photocatalysis followed by an activated sludge system. The results demonstrate that photochemical treatments of 60 and 90 min significantly enhance the leachates' biodegradability favoring subsequent biological treatment. The biodegradability rate (BOD/COD) was also greatly enhanced.