Jose Luis Díaz de Tuesta

• Chemical Engineering
• PostDoc Position at Rey Juan Carlos University

Water contamination with pharmaceuticals like acetaminophen (ACT), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and phenolic compounds such as gallic acid (GA), have become a global concern. These contaminants are persistent environmental pollutants that threaten aquatic life and human health. Adsorption is recognized as an efficient and low-cost solution to tackle wat...

The conversion of plastic solid waste into carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and the effectiveness of these CNTs as catalysts for oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of a simulated fuel were investigated. The primary focus is on the use of CNTs synthesized from various polymer sources, including polyolefins and polystyrene (PS...

The growing need for sustainable wastewater treatment solutions has led to exploring alternative materials to explore large-scale and reliable technologies. This study focuses on optimizing the synthesis of geopolymers based on fly ash using a Box-Behnken experimental design to enhance their adsorption efficiency for phenolic compounds, as gallic a...

Monitoring campaigns of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in surface waters is of utmost importance in evaluating the anthropogenic impact on riparian ecosystems. Beyond identifying pollutants and threats, treatment solutions are also needed to mitigate the adverse effects caused by polluted water discharged into the environment. For years, g...

Liquid/liquid biphasic oxidations are extensively employed in the chemical industry to manufacture a variety of chemicals and for environmental issues, such as the oxidative denitrogenated (ODN) and desulfurization of fuels. The ubiquitous presence of nitrogenated and sulfonated compounds in petroleum-derived fuels is associated with environmental...

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was used in this work to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) over catalysts based on Ni, Fe and Al, synthesized either by co-precipitation (C) or wet impregnation (I) methods, with CNT yields in the range of 16-33%. The morphology of the CNTs was directly influenced by the route used for t...

Monitoring campaigns of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in surface waters is of utmost importance in evaluating the anthropogenic impact on riparian ecosystems. Beyond identifying pollutants and threats, treatment solutions are also needed to mitigate the adverse effects caused by polluted water discharged into the environment. For years, g...

In this paper, we explore the application of powdered carbon and 3D-printed carbon monoliths prepared by carbonization of a tailored photopolymer. We demonstrate the efficiency of the developed carbonaceous samples in removing paracetamol (PCM) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX), used as model contaminants. Our results demonstrate that carbon samples are a...

Intense population growth has significantly impacted the quality and access to water, resulting in increased production and release of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), such as pharmaceutical compounds. Catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) is a promising technology for the removal of CECs that relies on the use of solid catalysts to accel...

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was used in this work to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) over catalysts based on Ni, Fe and Al, which were previously synthesized by co-precipitation or wet impregnation methods. The as-synthesized CNTs were tested as catalysts in the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) of paraceta...

Landfill facilities and organic waste treatment plants typically are known sources of odour pollution, such as gaseous NH3, among others. In this work, the removal of gaseous NH3 released from a composting line of a mechanical and biological treatment plant of undifferentiated municipal solid waste was assessed in a fixed-bed column loaded with car...

This study focuses on the analysis of emulsion pictures to understand important parameters. While droplet size is a key parameter in emulsion science, manual procedures have been the traditional approach for its determination. Here we introduced the application of YOLOv7, a recently launched deep-learning model, for classifying emulsion droplets. A...

This work aims to apply catalytic processes to promote the conversion of caffeine into valuable dimethylxanthines via N‐demethylation reaction. Thus, we seek to evaluate the products formed and propose the reactions involved and their mechanisms. Reaction conditions were evaluated including different concentrations of Fenton reagent and ascorbic ac...

Besides the magnetic properties, the type of synthesis created has several advantages over other types of synthesis already reported in literature. Among the advantages can be highlighted: Utilization of biomass, namely fruit peels; Extract production using only distilled water as a solvent and low temperatures; Incorporation of the niobium pentoxi...

Due to water scarcity and ready availability, treated wastewater in Central Asia is increasingly reused and seen as a valuable resource, requiring effective management with particular care for human health, environmental protection, and water security. Due to limited technical and economic support and poorly developed regulatory systems, many citie...

The nanoparticles designed for application in cancer treatment should have biocompatibility, colloidal stability and triggered release at tumor sites. Magnetic nanoparticles arise as an interesting option to be used as drug nanocarriers, considering the possibility of driving nanoparticles to the correct delivery site and exploring different trigge...

Quinoline (QN) is highly toxic and carcinogenic and has been detected in soil, groundwater, and biological tissues. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have shown promise to address its degradation in wastewater treatment, with catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) being highlighted due to its cost-effectiveness and mild operation. However, devel...

TiO2-based semiconductors are formidable photocatalysts for redox reaction applications. Although N-doped TiO2-Nb2O5 catalysts have already been explored in the literature, studies on their antioxidant activity are scarce, and systematic investigations on the effects of synthesis parameters over a wide range of %Nb and NH4OH concentrations are limi...

Clean water availability is becoming a matter of global concern in the last decades. The responsible entities for wastewater treatment do not have the proper facilities to deal with a wide range of pollutants. Special attention should be given to emerging contaminants, whose presence in water bodies may cause adverse effects on the aquatic ecosyste...

This study describes the synthesis of an innovative nanomaterial (patent application number BR 1020210000317) composed of cobalt ferrite functionalized in niobium pentoxide CoFe2O4@Nb5O2 (CFNb), synthesized via green synthesis using tangerine peel extract. The material emphasizes the combination of a magnetic material (which allows for easy recover...

The intense industrial development has resulted in several consequences for human and environmental health, including the increased discharge of oily products in water bodies. Oily products are widely used in industry, often bearing an associated high cost. Finding alternatives to treat oily wastewater aiming at recovering oily and water phases is...

This study aims to investigate the application of multi-core shell nanoparticles in heterogeneous Fenton processes for efficient removal of specific nitrophenols (2 and 4-nitrophenol) from contaminated wastewater. The synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite (Fe3O4) was achieved through solution combustion synthesis (SCS) using a citric acid and ir...

This work deals with developing feasible valorization technologies to prepare carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from plastic solid waste and demonstrate their application in catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO). CNTs were synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) at 850 ºC, considering low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethy...

Increasing population in cities combined with efforts to obtain more sustainable living spaces will require a smarter Solid Waste Management System (SWMS). A critical step in SWMS is the collection of wastes, generally associated with expensive costs faced by companies or municipalities in this sector. Some studies are being developed for the optim...

Population in cities is growing worldwide, which puts the systems that offer basic services to citizens under pressure. Among these systems, the Municipal Solid Waste Management System (MSWMS) is also affected. Waste collection and transportation is the first task in an MSWMS, carried out traditionally in most cases. This approach leads to ineffici...

Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems (MSWMS) worldwide are currently facing pressure due to the rapid growth of the population in cities. One of the biggest challenges in this system is the inefficient expenditure of time and fuel in waste collection. In this regard, cities/municipalities in charge of MSWMS could take advantage of information a...

Environmental pollution is rapidly increasing due to population growth, industrialization, urbanization, etc. Anthropogenic activities have increased pollution in all sections of the environment (i.e., soil, air, water, and wastewater). There is great importance attached to resolving this complicated situation, which could effectively reduce the ne...

Adsorption is a treatment process based on accumulation of the adsorbate (pollutant) on the adsorbent surface that has been successful used for the optimization of wastewater treatment plant effluents cleaning. This work will present the main experimental results for the removal of naproxen from water by adsorption using activated carbon obtained f...

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) considering low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as a carbon source and as an alternative to upcycle plastic solid waste. The CNTs were synthesized over bimetallic catalysts (Ni and Fe) supported on Al2O3 and purified with H2SO4 to dissolve the metal particles from the material. Bo...

This work aims at the valorization of compost from mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) units of municipal solid waste by their transformation into carbon-based catalysts for further application in the treatment of MBT leachate waters (chemical oxygen demand (COD) = 60.0 g L-1 , total organic carbon (TOC) = 26.7 g L-1 , five-day biochemical ox...

This work presents the development of magnetic carbon nanotubes (MCNTs) from plastic solid waste (PSW). For this purpose, diverse catalytic nanoparticles based on Fe, Ni and Al were prepared by impregnation of alumina or co-precipitation of Ni, Fe and Al nitrate salts with NH4OH, followed by calcination at 800 ºC. These magnetic nanoparticles were...

The performance of metal-free carbonaceous catalysts was evaluated in the removal of paracetamol, chosen as model pharmaceutical micropollutant, by catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO). The carbon materials were prepared from pentaerythritol tetraacrylate and divinylbenzene copolymer with bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate as porogen followed by subseq...

The poster was presented at the 2022 MIT Portugal conference, carrying some of the results obtained so far in the PhD project "Optimization of municipal solid waste management systems towards sustainability". So far, route optimization showed potential results for saving resources in waste collection task using the metaheuristic algorithms availabl...

This work focuses on the use of carbon-coated magnetic cobalt ferrite nanoparticles as catalysts for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) of the emerging concern pollutant paracetamol (PCM). The magnetic core of the catalyst is composed of CoFe 2 O 4 developed by a sol-gel method. The core is subsequently coated with a formaldehyde-resorcinol re...

The presence of heavy metals in the environment as a consequence of human activity is an issue that has caught the attention of researchers to find wastewater treatment solutions, such as adsorption. In this work, hydrochars and activated carbon microspheres are prepared from tangerine peels as carbon precursor and FeCl3 as activating and structure...

This study describes the application of Ag/Nb2O5 catalysts, suspension and spheres alginate immobilized for the degradation of 17α-Ethinylestradiol (EE2). The techniques used to characterize the photocatalysts were as follows: X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption analysis (BET), point charge zero charge (PZC), scanning electron microsc...

In the past decade, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been among the most attractive nanomaterials used in different fields, such as environmental and biomedical applications. The possibility of designing nanoparticles with different functionalities allows for advancing the biomedical applications of these materials. Additionally, the magnetic cha...

The applicability of 3D-printed activated carbons for their use to CO2 capture in post-combustion streams and the influence of activation conditions on CO2 uptake and CO2 to N2 selectivity were studied. For two monoliths with the same open cellular foam geometry but low and high burnoff during activation, a series of fixed-bed breakthrough adsorpti...

: Matured compost, derived from a mechanical and biological treatment (MBT) plant, was used as a precursor to produce catalysts through hydrothermal and thermal carbonization, HC and PC, respectively. HC and PC displayed suitable properties to act as catalysts in the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) treatment of the highly polluted leachate...

Plastic derived carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were tested as catalysts in persulfate activation for the first time. Four catalysts were prepared by wetness impregnation and co-precipitation (using Al2O3, Ni, Fe and/or Al) and implemented to grow CNTs by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) using low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as carbon feedstock. A catalyst...

Increasing complexity in municipal solid waste streams worldwide is pressing Solid Waste Management Systems (SWMS), which need solutions to manage the waste properly. Waste collection and transport is the first task, traditionally carried out by countries/municipalities responsible for waste management. In this approach, drivers are responsible for...

The work is devoted to the development of a new method for the synthesis of magnetic composites based on manganese ferrite on a natural clay, coupling with their physico-chemical characterization. In the study, a natural clay of Kazakhstan obtained from the Turkestan deposit was used for the preparation of magnetic composites. The formation of mate...

Contaminated oily wastewaters are a source of pollution generated by different industries. They consist of an aqueous and an oily phase, containing several other pollutants, whether they come from the production processes or are naturally associated with the constituent oils. These wastewaters have a high impact on the quality of water resources, a...

The special issue "Environmental Catalytic Applications of Waste Derived Materials" of which we are the guest editors, will be published in Catalysts (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/catalysts), and is now open to receive submissions of full research articles and comprehensive review papers for peer-review and possible publication: https://www.mdpi.co...

Sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) are elements naturally found in petroleum-based fuels. S- and N-based compounds in liquid fuels are associated with a series of health and environmental issues. Thus, legislation has become stricter worldwide regarding their content and related emissions. Traditional treatment systems (namely hydrodesulfurization and hyd...

The poster presents the core of the PhD project under MIT Portugal Program. The main goal of this project is the development of (i) data acquisition strategies for waste management system, and (ii) innovative technological solutions to valorise solid waste streams into carbon nanostructured materials (CNMs), with applicability in the treatment of l...

Nowadays, sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste is typically treated by anaerobic digestion processes, resulting therein a solid stream, further processed to obtain compost, whose production is higher than the existing demand as fertilizer. The current work proposes an alternative strategy for the recovering of compost through the produc...

Special issue open for submission: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/catalysts/special_issues/Catalysis_Carbon_Materials

Increasing the economic attractiveness of plastic waste reusing/recycling is expected to contribute towards reducing their input in the environment. The use of plastic wastes as feedstock for the synthesis of added-value carbon materials has been studied in this context. However, there is a lack of a systematic review of the published works on this...

This study describes the use Nb2O5 catalysts – calcined at different temperatures (373 - 873 K) – in the photocatalytic degradation reaction of four contaminants of emerging concern: acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), ibuprofen (IBP) and paracetamol (PAR). The photocatalysts were characterized by different techniques – N2 adsor...

In this work, the synthesis of yolk-shell magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications is presented. The procedure is considered a bottom-up approach and was discussed step by step through preliminary characterization results in each step.

Treatment of wastewater by adsorption is one of the most environmentally friendly methods, along with high efficiency. The main criteria when choosing materials for wastewater treatment by adsorption are its adsorption properties, porous structure and cost-effectiveness. Heavy metal ions are the main pollutants present in wastewater from machine-bu...

This research has been focused on the removal of two anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac (DCF) and ibuprofen (IBU), by a continuous catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) process using a lab-synthesized nanomagnetic catalyst (Fe3O4/MWCNTs). The central composite rotatable design (CCRD) method was used to study the effect of DCF and IBU concentrati...

Catalytic hydrochars were produced by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of compost derived from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The HTC process was studied through a Design of Experiments to assess the influence of the variables: (i) time (1 – 5 h), (ii) load of compost (1 – 4 g in 30 mL) and, (iii) temperature (150 – 230 ºC). Total organic carbon (TOC...

This work deals with the valorisation of bagasse of sugarcane – BC, bagasse of malt – BM and seed of chia – SC, through its transformation into pyrochars, hydrochars and activated carbons (ACs) by pyrolysis, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and sequential HTC and pyrolysis, respectively. The HTC process was carried out in the presence of H2O, FeCl3...

P, B and N-doped carbon blacks prepared with H3PO4, urea and H3BO3 were tested as catalysts in the wet peroxide oxidation of a concentrated 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) model solution (C4-NP = 5 g·L⁻¹). The highest catalytic activity was found for P-doped carbon black (complete removal of 4-NP after 4 h at 80 °C, Ccat = 2.5 g·L⁻¹, CH2O2=17.8g·L−1 and initi...

The current work proposes a strategy for the valorization of compost obtained from municipal solid waste, through its activation with H2SO4 and thermal treatment at 400–800 °C to produce low-cost catalysts for wet peroxide oxidation. All the developed materials were catalytically active for the aqueous solution oxidation of 2-nitrophenol (C2-NP,0 =...

Preparation of graphene-based magnetic yolk-shell nanoparticles functionalized with Pluronic F-127. The material is used as nanocarriers in drug delivery systems.

Up to nine kinetic and fourteen isotherm adsorption models are employed to model the adsorption of Sudan IV, a lipophilic model pollutant present in a biphasic mixture of cyclohexane-water system to simulate oily wastewater. Six different modified activated carbons were used as adsorbents. The highest amount adsorbed of Sudan IV was found in the ma...

This work aims to present an industrial perspective on Catalytic Wet Peroxide Oxidation (CWPO) technology. Herein, process simulation and experimental design have been coupled to study the optimal process conditions to ensure high-performance oxidation, minimum H2O2 consumption and maximum energetic efficiency in an industrial scale CWPO unit. The...

Increasing greenhouse gas emissions contributing to the global climate change are a major concern of environmental protection. Developing adsorbents from low‐cost and renewable resources is an attractive strategy. On the other hand, the high capacity of production rates of municipal solid waste, besides high methane emissions, is the origin of some...

Resumo Este trabalho tem como objetivo o tratamento de águas residuais contendo paracetamol, fármaco utilizado como poluente emergente, por oxidação com peróxido de hidrogénio usando argilas modificadas como catalisadores. Na preparação destes catalisadores foram utilizadas argilas naturais de quatro diferentes regiões do Cazaquistão: Akzhar, Asa,...

In recent years, many pharmaceutical compounds have been identified worldwide at trace levels (in the order from ng·L-1 to mg·L-1) in the aquatic environment [1]. The presence of pharmaceutical contaminants in water, even at low concentrations, could bring harmful toxicological consequences to human beings and animals that ingested the contaminated...

Many pharmaceuticals have been recently identified at trace levels worldwide in the aquatic environment. Among them, the highly consumed paracetamol (PCM), an analgesic and antipyretic drug, is largely being accumulated in the aquatic environment due to inefficient removal by conventional sewage treatment plants. This work deals with the treatment...

Janus-like amphiphilic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were tested as catalysts in the oxidation of 2-nitrophenol (2-NP) with hydrogen peroxide. A biphasic oil-water medium was used to simulate oily wastewater contaminated with the lipophilic model pollutant 2-NP. The CNTs were synthesized by sequentially feeding ethylene and/or acetonitrile, used as carbo...

The present work is aimed at the understanding of the condensation by-products role in wet peroxide oxidation processes. This study has been carried out in absence of catalyst to isolate the (positive or negative) effect of the condensation by-products on the kinetics of the process, and in presence of oxygen, to enhance the oxidation performance....

The deposition of condensation by-products onto the catalyst surface upon wet peroxide and wet air oxidation processes has usually been associated with catalyst deactivation. However, in Part I of this paper, it was demonstrated that these carbonaceous deposits actually act as catalytic promoters in the oxygen-assisted wet peroxide oxidation (WPO-O...

Pillared clays with Zr and Fe/Cu/Zr polycations have been prepared from natural clays found in large deposits of Kazakhstan and assessed as catalysts for the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO), using 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) as model compound. The performance of the catalysts was followed by measuring the concentration of 4-NP, H2O2 and the total...

The development of adsorption-based technologies for CO2 capture in the post-combustion processes requires finding materials with high capacity of adsorption and low cost of preparation. In this study, the modification of a commercial activated carbon (Norit ROX 0.8), considered as a solid adsorbent for CO2 capture, and the effects of different met...

Several chemically and thermally modified activated carbons were tested in the adsorption of a lipophilic pollutant (Sudan IV) contained in biphasic oil-water mixture mimicking petroleum refinery effluents. The effect of different parameters on the adsorption performance has been assessed, such as the absence of water, particle size of the carbon m...

One solution passes through the study of wastewater treatment by catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO).In this work, catalysts based on pillared clays with Zrcations have been prepared from nature clays of Kazakhstan, which were obtained from Zhambyl region of Karatau,Akzhardeposit, to be tested in catalytic oxidation of 4-nitrophenol, used as am...

Doped carbon blacks with P, B and N were prepared and tested as catalysts for the wet peroxide oxidation of phenol. N precursors allowed incorporating a higher amount of the doping element on the outermost surface. Phosphoric and boric acids as well as urea and pyridine yielded doped carbons with significantly high activity for the oxidation and mi...

A kinetic model has been developed describing the rate of hydrogen peroxide consumption and target pollutant (phenol) degradation in CWPO with a commercial carbon black as catalyst. The model allows following the evolution of the oxidation by-products (up to 12) through a detailed reaction pathway. The kinetic parameters were obtained by fitting th...

Background This work explores the application of intensified Fenton process to a sulfonation plant wastewater for its further discharge into an activated sludge plant. The application of high-temperature Fenton to this kind of wastewater has not been reported so far. Herein, it has been demonstrated to provide a better performance than other AOPs.R...