Abstract An electrochemical sensor based on a modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with reduced graphene oxide and Ni-Au nanoparticles (Ni(OH)2/AuNp/rGO/GCE) was developed for the determination of ethylene glycol. The graphene oxide was reduced electrochemically at the electrode surface by chronoamperometry, the gold nanoparticles were deposited by chronopotentiometry while the nickel hydroxide nanoparticles were deposited by cyclic voltammetry. The characterization of graphene oxide was performed by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission-mode scanning electron microscopy (TSEM), while the modified electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The determination of ethylene glycol was performed by cyclic voltammetry due to the regeneration of the active sites, preventing loss of the sensor signal. The modified GCE with rGO and Ni(OH)2/AuNp showed a good performance obtaining a linear range of 0.24 to 1.4 mmol L-1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9903, limits of detection and quantification (49 and 162 µmol L-1, respectively) and high stability with 500 continuous analysis cycles.

Abstract The projections for the global energy demand have been one of our society’s greatest challenges, which has contributed significantly to the search for new sources of energy, among which biodiesel stands out and, consequently, the development of methods for quality assurance is essential to ensure its technological demand. In this context, a stable sensor based on graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles was developed for glycerol analysis. The electrochemically deposited gold nanoparticles presented the best results with a peak current (Ip) four times greater than the chemically produced gold nanoparticles. The combination of glassy carbon electrode with electrochemically reduced graphene and electrochemically deposited gold nanoparticles (GCE-ErGO-EAuNp) resulted in an efficient sensor to detect glycerol, promoting an Ip increase. The proposed non-enzymatic method showed a linear response in the concentration range of 1.0 x 10-3 to 1.0 x 10-2%(w/w) with a good determination coefficient (r2 = 0.9989), limits of detection and quantification at 1.2 x 10-4% and 4.0 x 10-4%(w/w), respectively, with a repeatability of (RSD% ranged from 0.36% to 2.78%), intermediate precision and recovery of (99.3% to 104.4%) and excellent stability of 700 continuous analysis cycles.

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of surface modification by femtosecond laser (with average fluence of 0.6 J/cm2 and scanning speed of 0.1 mm/s) on the fatigue resistance of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy. A significant reduction in the fatigue strength of the material modified by laser was observed. Residual tensile stresses generated during surface modification were negligible, presenting lower values than those found on the unmodified surface. Based on a recently developed and published prediction model, the reduction of the fatigue strength was ascribed to the surface roughness created during the laser treatment of the alloy. An evidence was that the fatigue crack nucleation occurred in the modified region, rather than at the edge of the rectangular specimens as in the untreated condition.

In this work, theoretical and experimental infrared spectra of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) contained in soybean biodiesel were analyzed seeking the assignments of the relevant vibrational modes to characterize crude soybean oil and soybean biodiesel. The results showed the usefulness of infrared spectra for monitoring saturated and unsaturated compounds as well as impurities (mainly glycerol) in raw samples. This is the first step toward proposing an efficient molecular spectroscopy routine to certify biodiesel fuel.