Abstract This study provides an in-depth analysis of the electrochemical industry in Mexico by examining the geographic distribution of the companies, the economic sectors they belong to, the products they manufacture, and the electrochemical processes they utilize. The data were collected from 805 Mexican manufacturing companies in the electrochemical industry and analyzed using data mining techniques, revealing that Mexico's electrochemical industry is concentrated in regions with high economic development, such as Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara, which are also traditional suppliers of the automotive industry. Furthermore, 91.2 % of the industry is focused on the electrodeposition process, with zinc coatings and nickel being the most commonly produced products. The metal-mechanical sector is the most dominant economic sector, accounting for 89 % of the companies. In addition, this study highlights the potential for collaboration between the industry and academia, as there are numerous research groups and institutions throughout the country dedicated to electrochemistry research and development. Despite this, the industry has yet to fully integrate academic knowledge and expertise to address industry problems. Overall, the manufacturing sector in Mexico is diverse, with the electrochemical industry continuing to provide employment opportunities for thousands of people but there is room for growth and development in advanced electrochemical technologies beyond traditional galvanization processes.

Resumen Este trabajo presenta un análisis detallado del sector electroquímico en México, proporcionando información sobre las regiones con mayor desarrollo en tecnologías electroquímicas, los sectores económicos en los que se desempeñan las empresas, los productos que comercializan y los procesos electroquímicos utilizados en su fabricación. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que, aunque la galvanización representa el 80 % de las empresas electroquímicas, existe una pequeña parte que utiliza tecnologías avanzadas. Asimismo, se ha identificado que la mayoría de las empresas se ubican en regiones con alto desarrollo económico, con una tradición en el uso de la electroquímica y donde las empresas son parte de los proveedores de la industria automotriz. Además, se ha identificado que la academia ha florecido en este campo, con numerosos grupos de investigación e instituciones dedicadas a la investigación y el desarrollo en electroquímica en todo el país. Este estudio resalta la importancia de la colaboración entre la industria y la academia para impulsar el desarrollo de la industria electroquímica en México.

Due that the use of common corrosion inhibitor agents usually causes pollution on effluents, because of their non-biodegradability character, in this work we synthesized two chiral compounds of Shiff type base S(-) and Hereafter labelled as Simina, Rimina, SiminaM and RiminaM, derived from the condensation reaction between the 2-pyridincarboxaldehyde and the S(-)-a-methylbenzylamine and the R(+)-a-methyl-benzylamine. These compounds were synthesized by mechanosynthesis and conventional chemical methods. In order to evaluate their biodegradable character, five Gram negative bacteria were previously isolated and identified from a waste water effluent in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico: Psychrobacter phenylpyruvicus, Alcaligenes faecalis, Aeromonas caviae, Citrobacter freundii and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes. The evaluation consisted in cultivating the bacteria in tubes and flasks in presence of the S(-)- and R(+)-imines, while the biodegradation was monitored by UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopies (by following the intensity decrease of the signals of both the imine and aromatic rings, which are indicative of the loss of the molecular structure). It was found that the inhibitor agents are either individually or in mixture degraded depending on their S(-)- or chirality, being the most susceptible to degradation those compounds synthesized by mechanochemistry. Actually, the Citrobacter freundii bacteria showed the highest ability to degrade all these imines, while the SiminaM compound was the must degraded agent, probably due to its affinity to the bacteria and to the S(-) intramolecular arrangement. On the basis of the results obtained and by applying the analysis in silico, a possible catabolic pathway was predicted.

Dado que el uso de inhibidores de corrosión provoca en muchos casos contaminación de efluentes debido las características no biodegradables de dichos compuestos, en este trabajo se sintetizaron dos compuestos quirales S(-) y R(+) del tipo base de Schiff denominados (Simina, Rimina, SiminaM, y RiminaM) derivados de la condensación del 2-piridincarboxaldehído con las dos respectivas aminas quirales S(-)-a-metilbencilamina y R(+)-a-metilbencilamina. Estos compuestos fueron sintetizados por mecanosíntesis y química convencional. Para evaluar su carácter biodegradable se aislaron e identificaron cinco bacterias Gram negativas de aguas residuales de la ciudad de Pachuca, Hidalgo, México: Psychrobacter phenylpyruvicus, Alcaligenes faecalis, Aeromonas caviae, Citrobacter freundii y Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligene. El procedimiento consistió en hacer crecer los cultivos con las S(-) y R(+)-iminas en tubos y en matraces. La biodegradación fue evaluada por espectroscopia UV-Vis y FTIR (siguiendo la desaparición de los grupos imino y anillos aromáticos, indicativos del rompimiento de la estructura molecular de los agentes). Se encontró que los inhibidores se biodegradan tanto de manera individual como en mezclas, pero el grado de descomposición depende de su quiralidad S(-) o R(+), la cual se ve favorecida por el método de mecanosíntesis. De hecho, la bacteria Citrobacter freundii demostró tener la más alta capacidad de biodegradación para todos los compuestos, siendo la base de Schiff (SiminaM) la que sufrió la mayor degradabilidad, probablemente por su mayor afinidad biológica con la bacteria y la posible diferencia en el arreglo S(-) estructural de la molécula. Del resultado obtenido y mediante el análisis in silico se planteó una posible vía catabólica.

An electrochemical study of Co electrodeposition onto polycrystalline Pt from an aqueous solution containing 10-2 M CoCl2 + 1 M NH4CI (pH = 9.3) was conducted at overpotential conditions. The current density transients showed two maxima that corresponded to two nucleation and growth processes. The entire transient behavior was adequately predicted considering the contribution to the total current of four different processes: a Langmuir-type adsorption process, a diffusion-controlled two-dimensional instantaneous nucleation, and two three-dimensional nucleation and growth processes.