Developing mesoporosity in HZSM-5 zeolites is an alternative for improving their catalytic performance on chemical reactions. In this work, alkaline and thermal treatments were used to produce mesoporosity. These treatments increased mesoporous area and volume. They also influenced the acid properties of the samples. Concerning catalytic performance, treatments modified reaction product distribution. Whereas alkaline treatment favored formation of olefins and increased propene ratio in the beginning of the reaction, thermal treatment resulted in formation of only ethylene due to the low acidity of the sample.

This paper presents experimental data of the biosorption of manganese onto Sargassum filipendula in both batch and fixed-bed column systems. Batch equilibrium data were used for nonlinear fittings of the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. A mathematical model based on mass balances in the fluid and in the sorbent was applied to represent the experimental fixed-bed column data. The utilization of isotherm parameters from the batch experiments in the breakthrough model implied a significant mismatch in relation to the laboratory data. Alternatively, additional fixed-bed column data provided new parameters for the isotherm evaluation, and the corresponding simulated profile of the breakthrough curve reached better agreement to the experimental results.

The catalytic performance of Mg,Al-mixed oxides (MO20, MO25 and MO33) derived from hydrotalcites was evaluated in the Knoevenagel reaction between benzaldehyde and phenylsulfonylacetonitrile at 373 and 383 K. The best results were obtained for the sample MO20 that presented the highest basic sites density and external area and the smallest crystallite sizes. The relative amount of basic sites with weak to intermediate strength also played an important role on catalytic performance. By increasing the catalyst content from 1 to 5 wt.% at 383 K, a complete conversion of the reactants is attained, producing α-phenylsulfonylcinnamonitrile with a selectivity of 100%.

Hydrotalcite-like compounds having Mg partially replaced by Cu or Mn were prepared and used as precursors for two mixed oxides (Cu-OM50 and Mn-OM50) that were evaluated for SOx removal in the presence of O2, NO and CO. Under SO2/O2 reaction system, SOx removal was slightly higher over Cu-OM50. The addition of CO and NO to the feed markedly hindered the SO2 oxidation over Cu-OM50 while no significant effect was observed for Mn-OM50. For the regeneration step, the use of propane instead of H2 reduces regeneration capacity, mainly for Cu-OM50. Mn-OM50 was less affected by the feed composition, suggesting that it was a promising additive for SOx removal.

The physico-chemical properties of a series of Ni,Mg,Al-HTLC with Al/(Al+Mg+Ni) = 0.25 and low Ni/Mg ratios were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TGA) and thermodifferential (DTA) analysis, N2 physissorption and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The as-synthesized materials were well-crystallized, with XRD patterns typical of the HTLCs in carbonate form. Upon calcination and dehydration the dehydroxilation of the layers with concurrent decomposition of carbonate anions produced mixed oxides with high surface area. XRD analysis indicated that the different nickel and aluminum oxides species are well-dispersed in a poor-crystallized MgO periclase-type phase. As observed by TPR, the different Ni species showed distinct interactions with Mg(Al)O phase, which were influenced by both nickel content and calcination temperature. Regardless of the the nickel content, the reduction of nickel species was not complete as indicated by the presence of metallic dispersions.