Silica nanoparticles (SiO2NPs) from renewable sources can be used in very different materials, such as paints, membranes for fuel cells, Li-ion batteries, adsorbents, catalysts, and so on. Brazil is the world’s largest producer of sugarcane and generates huge amounts of sugarcane waste ash (SWA), which is a Si-rich source. This study investigates a method to produce highly pure SiO2NPs from SWA. The SiO2NPs were characterized by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction analyses, specific surface area and pore distribution, UV and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analyses and applied as an adsorbent material in the removal of acid orange 8 (AO8) dye from aqueous solution. The SiO2 content was 88.68 and 99.08 wt % for SWA and SiO2NPs, respectively. TEM images of SWA and SiO2NPs exhibit drastic alterations of the material size ranging from several micrometers to less than 20 nm. The SiO2NPs showed a specific surface area of 131 m2 g–1 and adsorption capacity of around 230 mg g–1 for acid orange 8 dye. Furthermore, the recycling of the SiO2NPs adsorbent after AO8 adsorption was very satisfactory, with reuse for up to five cycles being possible. The results indicate that it was possible to obtain highly pure silica in a nanosize from the waste material and produce an adsorbent with high adsorption capacity and the possibility of reuse.

A systematic and comprehensive study of the interaction of citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles with triruthenium cluster complexes of general formula [Ru 3 + [L = 4-cyanopyridine (4-CNpy), 4,4Ј-bipyridine (4,4Ј-bpy) or 4,4Ј-bis(pyridyl)ethylene (bpe)] has been carried out. The clusternanoparticle interaction in solution and the construction of thin films of the hybrid materials were investigated in detail by electronic and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles readily interacted with [Ru 3 O(CH 3 COO) 6 (L) 3 ] + complexes to generate functionalized nanoparticles that tend to aggregate according to rates and extents that depend on the bond

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The growing concern with the amount of plastic materials found in the oceans makes it necessary to develop biodegradable materials that have low toxicity to marine animals and humans, but at the same time are resistant to the actions of microorganisms such as fungi or bacteria. On the other hand, agricultural waste rich in inorganic materials (such as silica) is often discarded, while it could be reused as a source of raw material. Considering these points, sodium silicate solution extracted from sugarcane waste ash was utilized to prepare biodegradable bioplastics based on corn starch and potato starch. The starch-based bioplastics were produced by casting and characterized by several physical-chemical techniques evaluating tensile strength, elongation at break, color analyses, transparency, opacity, moisture, and biodegradation assay. Bioplastics prepared with corn starch presented better physical, mechanical, and thermal properties and optical quality than bioplastics based on potato starch. The samples called CS3 and PS3, with 5.0% glycerol, were the most resistant to tensile strengths of 0.73 and 0.36 MPa, respectively. On the other hand, the highest elongation at break values were found for the samples with 7.5% glycerol (CS9, 52.90% and PS9, 49.33%). Corn starch-based bioplastics were more thermally resistant (CS3, 152.86 °C and CS9, 135.20 °C) when compared to potato starch-based bioplastics (PS3, 140.39 °C and PS9, 127.57 °C). In general, the addition of sodium silicate solution improved the mechanical and thermal properties of both types of bioplastics. The potato starch-based bioplastics were biodegraded in 5 days, while those made from corn starch took almost 40 days. The inclusion of sodium silicate inhibited fungal growth for both corn starch and potato starch bioplastics. The results suggest that sodium silicate solution obtained from renewable sources can be incorporated into starch-based bioplastics for production of biodegradable packaging with antifungal activity.