Rosa María Huertas Penela

National Distance Education University | UNED · Phyisico-Chemical Techniques Department

According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the main threats to global health. The excessive use of several antibiotics has led to the widespread distribution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in various environment matrices, including surface water. In this study, total coliforms, Esch...

According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the main threats to global health. The excessive use of several antibiotics has led to the widespread distribution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in various environment matrices, including surface water. In this study, total coliforms, Esch...

Increase water usage has led to its deterioration. Pollutants are easily found in the aquatic environment and treatment techniques must keep improving to meet the current needs and future demands. Membranes are attractive for water treatment, but limitations like fouling and the highly concentrate produced affect their performance. Combining membra...

This study covers the modification, (bio)fouling characterization, use, and cleaning of commercial heterogeneous anion exchange membranes (AEMs) to evaluate their feasibility for reverse electrodialysis (RED) applications. A surface modification with poly (acrylic) acid resulted in an improved monovalent perm-selectivity (decreased sulfate membrane...

The development of effective disinfection treatment processes is crucial to help the water industry cope with the inevitable challenges resulting from the increase in human population and climate change. Climate change leads to heavy rainfall, flooding and hot weather events that are associated with waterborne diseases. Developing effective treatme...

Natural disasters (such as earthquakes, floods, heatwaves and landslides), isolation and war affect the water access of millions of people worldwide. Developments in the areas of membrane filtration, photolysis and photocatalysis are important for safe water production and water re-use applications. This work aimed to test alternative ways to ensur...

Spent caustic effluents are very challenging due to their very hazardous nature in terms of toxicity as well as their extreme pH (approximately 12–14). Spent caustic has presented a challenge for wastewater treatment in refineries, due to its composition rich in mercaptans, sulfides and other aromatic compounds. To address such problems, membrane f...

The combination of photocatalysis and membrane filtration in a single reactor has been proposed, since the photocatalytic treatment may degrade the pollutants retained by the membrane and reduce fouling. However, polymeric membranes can be susceptible to degradation by UV radiation and free radicals. In the present study, five commercial polymeric...

Stringent regulations and growing industrial interests have ensued the development of sustainable processes. Membrane assisted-nanoemulsification based on microengineered membranes has been explored for the sustainable production of therapeutic hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based nanoemulsions for enhanced antimicrobial applications. Hydr...

This work tackles the quest for temperature-responsive greener solvents by synthesizing a hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (DES) comprising menthol and decanoic acid. The low solubility of hydrophobic solvents in polar media was addressed by dispersing DES as oil-in-water nanoemulsions allowing their use in biomedical applications. DES-in-water na...

To meet the exponentially rising demand for lithium, it becomes vital to develop environmentally friendly processes for its recovery from brines, salt lakes and/or seawater. In this work, novel composite lithium transport selective polymeric membranes were developed to separate lithium and magnesium ions. Hydrogen manganese oxide (HMO) (at weight p...

This work described a new sustainable method for the fabrication of ceramic membranes with high photocatalytic activity, through a simple sol-gel route. The photocatalytic surfaces, prepared at low temperature and under solvent-free conditions, exhibited a narrow pore size distribution and homogeneity without cracks. These surfaces have shown a hig...

Coupling UV photolysis, stable photoactive TiO2 layers and water filtration in a single photocatalytic membrane reactor can be beneficial to achieve high quality drinking water since the membrane retains microorganisms and chemical pollutants whereas the photocatalytic treatment decreases fouling components and treats the concentrated retentate. In...

Environment-friendly production of power and clean water is one of the major goals of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and can be achieved by emerging electromembrane processes, such as reverse electrodialysis (RED) and membrane capacitive deionisation (MCDI). RED generates electricity from salinity gradient energy sources, while MCDI desal...

A new hybrid photocatalytic membrane reactor that can easily be scaled-up was designed, assembled and used to test photocatalytic membranes developed using the sol–gel technique. Extremely high removals of total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, phenolic and volatile compounds were obtained when the hybrid photocatalyt...

In the present work, a more simple and expedite functionalization method was used envisaging the preparation of functionalized alumina monoliths for effective purification of immunoglobulins. Single stage sol-gel synthesis method was used for the silanization of alumina monoliths with (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) in an aqueous environment...

The purpose of this work is the development and characterisation of new hybrid polysaccharide (FucoPol) membranes. These membranes were prepared by incorporation of a SiO2 network homogeneously dispersed by using a sol-gel method with GPTMS as a crosslinker silica precursor. They were further crosslinked with CaCl2 for reinforcement of mechanical p...

Novel materials comprising titanium dioxide (TiO2), silicon dioxide (SiO2) and silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors, were deposited over silicon-carbide substrates to develop photocatalytic membranes. The synergistic effect between TiO2 obtained by sol–gel process, Degussa P25 and silicon carbide nanoparticles were tested in terms of photocatalytic...

Novel materials comprising titanium dioxide (TiO2), silicon dioxide (SiO2) and silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors, were deposited over silicon-carbide substrates to develop photocatalytic membranes. The synergistic effect between TiO2 obtained by sol–gel process, Degussa P25 and silicon carbide nanoparticles were tested in terms of photocatalytic...

Novel polyimide-organosilicate hybrid films were prepared by sol–gel process from a novel functionalized polyimide with alkoxysilanes as pendant groups that increase the affinity between inorganic and organic phases. The synthesis of this functionalized polyimide was carried out by an esterification reaction of a copolyimide containing carboxylic a...

By removing anhydride groups from crosslinked copolyimide membranes at 430 �C, partially pyrolysed membranes were obtained and gas separation properties were evaluated and related to the content of labile groups. The spaces occupied by the linking anhydride groups prevailed as micropores, which greatly improved the gas transport properties. The rel...

A new family of partially pyrolyzed membranes (PPMs) based on copolyimides containing poly(ethylene oxide) side chains (PI-PEOs) as precursors has been prepared. The synthesis of PI-PEOs was carried out by an esterification reaction of a copolyimide containing carboxylic acid groups and poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ethers of differing molecular...

A series of copolyimides containing carboxylic acid groups have been prepared from 2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA) and two diamines, 2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3-phenylenediamine and bis(4-amino-3-isopropyl-5-methylphenyl)methane. Carboxylic acid groups were introduced using 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid (DABA) as a comonomer in...

A series of copolyimides containing carboxylic acid groups have been prepared from 2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA) and two diamines, 2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3-phenylenediamine and bis(4-amino-3-isopropyl-5-methylphenyl)methane. Carboxylic acid groups were introduced using 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid (DABA) as a comonomer in...