Person: Balea Martín, Ana
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First Name
Ana
Last Name
Balea Martín
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Ciencias Químicas
Department
Ingeniería Química y de Materiales
Area
Ingeniería Química
Identifiers
17 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 17
Item Recycled Fibers for Sustainable Hybrid Fiber Cement Based Material: A Review(Materials, 2021) Balea Martín, Ana; Fuente González, Elena De La; Monte Lara, María Concepción; Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles; Negro Álvarez, Carlos ManuelReinforcing fibers have been widely used to improve physical and mechanical properties of cement-based materials. Most fiber reinforced composites (FRC) involve the use of a single type of fiber to improve cement properties, such as strength or ductility. To additionally improve other parameters, hybridization is required. Another key challenge, in the construction industry, is the implementation of green and sustainable strategies based on reducing raw materials consumption, designing novel structures with enhanced properties and low weight, and developing low environmental impact processes. Different recycled fibers have been used as raw materials to promote circular economy processes and new business opportunities in the cement-based sector. The valuable use of recycled fibers in hybrid FRC has already been proven and they improve both product quality and sustainability, but the generated knowledge is fragmented. This is the first review analyzing the use of recycled fibers in hybrid FRC and the hybridization effect on mechanical properties and workability of FRC. The paper compiles the best results and the optimal combinations of recycled fibers for hybrid FRC to identify key insights and gaps that may define future research to open new application fields for recycled hybrid FRC.Item Influence of pretreatment and mechanical nanofibrillation energy on properties of nanofibers from Aspen cellulose(Cellulose, 2021) Balea Martín, Ana; Fuente González, Elena De La; Tarrés, Quim; Pèlach, Maria Àngels; Mutjé, Pere; Delgado-Aguilar, Marc; Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles; Negro Álvarez, Carlos ManuelThe characteristics of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) depend on many factors such as the raw material, type and intensity of the pre-treatment, and type and severity of the mechanical defibrillation process. The relationship among factors is complex but crucial in determining the final, fit-for-use CNF properties. This study aims to find the relationship between the CNF properties morphology, aspect ratio, nanofibrillation yield, transmittance and cationic demand, and the production process using bleached Aspen thermomechanical pulp as the raw material. Five different types of pretreatments were carried out and five different defibrillation intensities of highpressure homogenization were evaluated. Pretreatments were: PFI refining at 20,000 revolutions, enzymatic hydrolysis with 80 and 240 g of enzyme per ton of dry pulp and TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl)–mediated oxidation with 5 and 15 mmol of NaClO per gram of dry pulp. From the twenty-five different procedures evaluated, results show that both the pretreatment and the severity of the high-pressure homogenization determined both the fibrillation yield and the CNF morphology. Moreover, the main properties of CNFs (cationic demand, yield, transmittance and aspect ratio) can be estimated from the carboxylic content of the pretreated pulp, which would facilitate the control of the CNF production and their tuning according to the production needs.Item Identification of recalcitrant stickies and their sources in newsprint production(Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2008) Miranda Carreño, Rubén; Balea Martín, Ana; Sánchez De La Blanca Camacho, Emilia; Carrillo Ramiro, Isabel; Blanco Suárez, María ÁngelesDeposits from different sections of a newsprint paper mill, using 100% recovered paper, were analyzed following an analytical procedure based on scaning electron microscopy-electron dispersive X-ray and consecutive solvent extraction steps with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses of the different fractions. Polyvinyl acetate, polyacrylates, styrene butadiene rubber, and derivatives of fatty acids/resin acids are the main stickies-related components identified in the deposits. The removal efficiency of these contaminants along the deinking line was studied by determining the composition of the dichloromethane extractives in the pulp by FTIR analyses. Although the total stickies content is reduced considerably during the process, some compounds, which are found in the deposits, are not removed selectively in the process, indicating their recalcitrant nature. FTIR analyses of unusable materials coming with the raw material (mainly board and mixed office waste) have demonstrated that these materials are one of the main sources of these types of recalcitrant stickies.- Project number: 120
Item CHEM-E-CAR: De la teoría a la práctica. Construcción de un prototipo(2017) Monte Lara, María Concepción; Balea Martín, Ana; López Expósito, Patricio; Campano Tiedra, Cristina; Cortijo Garrido, Luis; Plaza Rodriguez, Jesus; Barndok, Helen; Miranda Carreño, Rubén; Tijero Cruz, Antonio; Ladero Galán, Miguel; García-Ochoa Soria, Félix; Senit Velasco, Juan José; Velasco Conde, Daniel; Alcalá Penades, Germán; Mato Díaz, Sonia; Pérez Trujillo, Francisco Javier; Santos Barahona, Héctor; Lasanta Carrasco, María Isabel; de Miguel Gamo, María Teresa; García Martín, Gustavo; Illana Sánchez, Andrea; Alberola Sánchez, Raúl; Arsuaga Cao, Pablo; Ara Jimeno, Pablo; Avila Palomares, Alberto; Bolívar Tejedo, Pilar; Carlucci, Maurizio Antonio; del Amo Salgado, Pablo; Espinosa García, Lucía; Fernández Rodríguez, Gemma; Galán Galán, Alicia; Márquez Negro, Alejandro; Martín Jiménez, Diego; Morona Murillo, Lorena; Pedregal Sáez, Antonio; Resino Guirao, Jesús; Negro Álvarez, Carlos Manuel; Fuente González, Elena De La; Blanco Suárez, María ÁngelesEl proyecto consiste en construir un prototipo de coche “Chem-E-Car” y constituir a la UCM como una de las primeras universidades españolas que participa en dicha competición internacional. Item Modeling of Hexavalent Chromium Removal with Hydrophobically Modified Cellulose Nanofibers(Polymers, 2022) Ojembarrena Jiménez, Francisco De Borja; Sánchez Salvador, José Luis; Mateo, Sergio; Balea Martín, Ana; Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles; Merayo Cuevas, Noemí; Negro Álvarez, Carlos ManuelCellulose nanofibers (CNF) are sustainable nanomaterials, obtained by the mechanical disintegration of cellulose, whose properties make them an interesting adsorbent material due to their high specific area and active groups. CNF are easily functionalized to optimize the performance for different uses. The hypothesis of this work is that hydrophobization can be used to improve their ability as adsorbents. Therefore, hydrophobic CNF was applied to adsorb hexavalent chromium from wastewater. CNF was synthetized by TEMPO-mediated oxidation, followed by mechanical disintegration. Hydrophobization was performed using methyl trimetoxysilane (MTMS) as a hydrophobic coating agent. The adsorption treatment of hexavalent chromium with hydrophobic CNF was optimized by studying the influence of contact time, MTMS dosage (0–3 mmol·g −1 CNF), initial pH of the wastewater (3–9), initial chromium concentration (0.10–50 mg·L −1 ), and adsorbent dosage (250–1000 mg CNF·L −1 ). Furthermore, the corresponding adsorption mechanism was identified. Complete adsorption of hexavalent chromium was achieved with CNF hydrophobized with 1.5 mmol MTMS·g −1 CNF with the faster adsorption kinetic, which proved the initial hypothesis that hydrophobic CNF improves the adsorption capacity of hydrophilic CNF. The optimal adsorption conditions were pH 3 and the adsorbent dosage was over 500 mg·L −1 . The maximum removal was found for the initial concentrations of hexavalent chromium below 1 mg·L −1 and a maximum adsorption capacity of 70.38 mg·g −1 was achieved. The kinetic study revealed that pseudo-second order kinetics was the best fitting model at a low concentration while the intraparticle diffusion model fit better for higher concentrations, describing a multi-step mechanism of hexavalent chromium onto the adsorbent surface. The Freundlich isotherm was the best adjustment model.Item Cellulose nanofibers and chitosan to remove flexographic inks from wastewaters(Water research and technology, 2019) Balea Martín, Ana; Monte Lara, María Concepción; Fuente González, Elena De La; Negro Álvarez, Carlos Manuel; Sánchez Salvador, José Luis; Blanco Suárez, María ÁngelesFlexographic printing technology is an economical, productive, low maintenance and versatile technology. However, the removal of these inks by the traditional flotation process during paper recycling is not possible since they remain dissolved in the waters, making necessary the development of alternative methods. Recent studies have revealed the potential use of nanocellulose (NC) combined with a cationic polyacrylamide to remove flexographic inks from wastewater. The use of a natural polymer, such as chitosan, would be an important improvement of this treatment because NC and chitosan are the two most abundant natural polymers with interesting properties, such as non-toxicity and biodegradability. Therefore, in this study the decolorization of three flexographic inks (copper phthalocyanine blue, carbon black and diarylide yellow) by the sequential addition of cellulose nanofibers, produced from recycled paper, and chitosan has been evaluated. Results show that this eco-friendly approach has high potential for the removal of water-based inks with an almost 100% reduction of turbidity and ink from the wastewater. Moreover, the final sludge containing nanocellulose and inks could be used to reinforce the pulp of the middle layers of carton board, improving the mechanical properties of the product and reducing waste generation.Item Mechanical and chemical dispersion of nanocelluloses to improve their reinforcing effect on recycled paper(Cellulose, 2018) Campano, Cristina ; Merayo, Noemí ; Balea Martín, Ana; Tarrés, Quim ; Delgado-Aguilar, Marc ; Mutjé, Pere; Negro Álvarez, Carlos Manuel; Blanco Suárez, María ÁngelesThe use of nanocelluloses as strength-enhancing additives in papermaking is widely known since both cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and nanocrystals (CNC) present similar composition than paper but their exceptional properties in the nanometer scale confers a paper quality enhancement. However, some agglomeration problems in CNF and CNC through hydrogen bonding cause a lower improvement of mechanical properties of paper. Therefore, a better dispersion of both nanocelluloses can maximize their effect on paper properties, thus reducing the needed dose to get the same increment in tensile strength and then reducing material costs. To ease the implementation of these nanocelluloses in the production process of recycled paper, typically used operations of these industries have been used. Among them, those devoted to improve the homogeneous mixture of nanocellulose in the pulp suspension have been assessed. Firstly, pulping conditions were studied, including pulping time, temperature and need for soaking as variables. Secondly, some dispersing agents used in papermaking were considered, studying the effect of different types and doses. The highest tensile strength of paper was achieved by applying long pulping times (60 min), getting increments up to 30% with the use of soaking and polyacrylamide as retention system. However, with the use of a low dose of a dispersing agent (0.003%), tensile index can be still increased up to 20.6% avoiding these long times. This study can be of great interest of those researchers trying to implement the use of nanocelluloses as strength additive in papermaking.Item Valorization of Corn Stalk by the Production of Cellulose Nanofibers to Improve Recycled Paper Properties(Bioresources, 2016) Balea Martín, Ana; Fuente González, Elena De La; Merayo, Noemí ; Delgado-Aguilar, Marc; Mutje, Pere; Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles; Negro Álvarez, Carlos ManuelCorn stalk, an agricultural waste, was valorized by the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNF), which were tested for improving recycled paper properties. CNF from eucalyptus kraft pulp (E-CNF) was used as a reference. Addition of 0.5% wt. CNF produced from corn organosolv pulp (C-CNF) to recycled paper increased the tensile index by 20%, whereas the same improvement with E-CNF was achieved at 1.5% wt. Tensile index was further enhanced by increasing the E-CNF, whereas C-CNF achieved its maximum effect at this dose. Different recycled furnish compositions were studied to evaluate C-CNF as a product additive. C-CNF improved tensile strength in all the different recycled furnishes studied. The tensile index improvement caused by C-CNF did not depend on the proportions of old newspaper and old magazine paper used. Addition of C-CNF to recycled corrugated board fluting increased the tensile strength, but to a slightly lower extent than in the case of recycled newsprint paper.Item Combined effect of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, cellulose nanofibers and drainage aids in recycled paper production process(Carbohydrate Polymers, 2018) Tarrés, Quim; Oliver-Ortega, Helena; Alcalà, Manel; Merayo, Noemí ; Balea Martín, Ana; Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles; Mutjé, Pere; Delgado-Aguilar, MarcThe present work shows the suitability of using recovered cardboard boxes for the development of high-performance papers through the use of cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na). CNF were prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis using bleached kraft hardwood pulp, while a commercial grade of CMC-Na was used. Both were added in bulk together with polyethylenimine (PEI) as wet-end additive to improve pulp drainability. The combination of 3 wt% CNF and 7.5 wt% CMC-Na double the breaking length of paper. In addition, the use of 0.4 wt% of PEI significantly decreased the Schopper-Riegler degree, while mechanical properties remained almost at the same level. It was found that it is possible to recover and even increase the properties of recycled papers, with the added advantage that no structural damages were caused on the fibres, increasing the life span and recyclability of paper products.Item Assessing the influence of refining, bleaching and TEMPO-mediated oxidation on the production of more sustainable cellulose nanofibers and their application as paper additives(Industrial Crops and Products, 2017) Balea Martín, Ana; Merayo, Noemi; Fuente González, Elena De La; Negro Álvarez, Carlos Manuel; Blanco Suárez, María ÁngelesAgro-wastes valorization focusses on production of high value-added products, such as cellulose nanofibers (CNF), and contributes to reduce the environmental impact of these residues. CNF have been used successfully as papermaking additives and some previsions maintain that this sector will become the most important, demanding CNF at a reasonable cost. Furthermore, the optimization of the production process of CNF from agricultural residues would contribute to the goals of a circular economy, the development of rural areas and the costs reduction by producing CNF of the minimum quality fit-for-use in recycled paper. In this study, CNF was produced from two agricultural residues; corn (C-CNF) and rape (R-CNF) stalk pulps, pretreated with bleaching, refining and TEMPO-mediated oxidation. Coagulant and cationic polyacrylamide (dual system) and chitosan were the retention systems. Results show the difficulty of predicting the effect of CNF based on their properties, as fibrillation degree or anionic charge, on the improvement of mechanical properties of recycled paper. That is proved by the low differences in tensile index (TI) improvement (similar to 15% by adding 0.5% C-CNF combined with dual system), obtained with CNF with very different properties. The expensive TEMPO pretreatment could be avoid by applying bleaching pretreatment to the corn pulp, increasing the TI up to 15% without affecting drainage and decoupling the simultaneous deterioration of drainage with TI improvement (drainage time decreased nearly 50% and 20% adding bleached R-CNF and C-CNF, respectively, combined with chitosan). Similar improvements on TI can be achieved by replacing the dual retention system by chitosan without addition of CNF, but the combination of CNF and chitosan allows achieving the highest TI values.