In the present work, the inhibitive action of natural propolis on bronze corrosion in a weakly acidic solution containing Na2SO4 and NaHCO3 at pH 5 was evaluated using multiscale electrochemical techniques, namely potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning vibrating electrode technique measurements. The major constituents of propolis were identified by HPLC. Surface characterization was performed by SEM-EDX and AFM analysis. Experiments were performed as a function of the propolis concentration and immersion time in the corrosive electrolyte. The obtained results showed that propolis presents good anticorrosive properties on bronze, acting as a mixed-type inhibitor, but its protective effectiveness is time-dependent. The highest inhibiting efficiency of 98.9% was obtained in the presence of 100 ppm propolis, after about 12 h of exposure to inhibitor-containing electrolyte through the stabilization of Cu2O on the bronze surface. The inhibitive properties of propolis on bronze corrosion are likely due to the adsorption of its main constituents (flavonoids and phenolic compounds), through the oxygen atoms in their functional groups and aromatic rings, which have been evidenced by FT-IR spectra. The adsorption of propolis on bronze was found to follow Langmuir adsorption isotherm.

The water supply on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) comes mainly from aquifers of volcanic origin that are notable for the high content of fluorides that make it unviable for human consumption without prior conditioning treatment. The treatments that generate a high rejection of water are not viable, since water is a scarce natural resource of high value. An electrocoagulation process was investigated as a method to treat natural groundwater from volcanic soils containing a dangerously high fluoride content. The operating parameters of an electrocoagulation reactor model with parallel plate aluminum electrodes were optimized for batch and continuous flow operations. In the case of batch operation, it was found that acidification of the water improved fluoride elimination efficiency, with a maximum at pH 3. Yet, operation at the natural pH of the water achieved elimination efficiencies between 82 and 92% depending on the applied current density. An optimum current density of 5 mA/cm 2 was found in terms of the highest removal efficiency, and the kinetics of fluoride removal was adjusted to a pseudo-second-order kinetics. In the continuous-flow operation, with an optimal residence time of 10 min and a separation of 0.5 cm between the electrodes, it was observed that the current density that would be applied would depend on the initial concentration of fluoride in the raw water. Then, an initial fluoride concentration of 6.02 mg/L required a current density > 7.5 mA/cm 2 to comply with the legal guidelines in the product water, while for an initial concentration of 8.98 mg/L, the optimum current density was 10 mA/cm 2 . Under these operating conditions, the operating costs will vary between 0.20 and 0.26 €/m 3 of treated water.

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Keywords: corrosion protection steel metasilicate ions surface modification anodic treatment scanning vibrating electrode technique a b s t r a c t Anodic processing in metasilicate solution was investigated for the improvement of the corrosion resistance of various steels, namely F111 low alloy carbon and 304 stainless steels, as well as on galvanized steel cut edges. The efficiency of the prior electrochemical treatment for each material was tested during their exposure to naturally-aerated aqueous chloride solutions of different aggressiveness. Analysis was performed using the scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET) in order to detect local ionic current distributions over the samples under study associated to the corrosion reactions. The onset of corrosion processes was greatly inhibited after anodic processing with metasilicate on both the low alloy carbon steel and the galvanized steel cut edge. Conversely, SVET analysis of unbiased 304 steel samples tested in 0.1 M chloride-containing solution did not show differences between pristine and metasilicate-treated surfaces. Differences in the electrochemical reactivity between treated and non-treated 304 steel surfaces were only observed after partial removal of the corresponding passive layers under operator-controlled polarization.

This study investigates the operating conditions used in the soda-anthraquinone pulping of Eucalyptus globulus wood after autohydrolysis pretreatment on the yield, kappa number, and brightness of the resulting unbleached pulp. Moreover, strength-related properties of the resulting handsheets was examined to identify the best pulping conditions and compare the outcome with that of a conventional soda-anthraquinone pulping process. The paper strength properties of the pulp were similar to or better than papers made from soda-AQ delignified pulps conducted in a single step. Also, a liquid fraction with a substantial content in hemicellulosic extracts was recovered in the simplified process. Autohydrolysis of the raw material facilitates carrying out soda-AQ pulping under milder conditions. In addition, autohydrolysis improves other properties relative to paper from raw cellulose pulp. Yield, kappa number, and brightness for pulp from solid residues of autohydrolysed eucalyptus wood were similar to those for pulp from untreated eucalyptus wood.