Portugaliae
Electrochimica Acta

Communication by Prof. Dr. João Evangelista Simão when receiving the SPE Award for his outstanding scientific career and for his contribution to the Portuguese Electrochemical Society at the XIX Meeting of the Portuguese Electrochemical Society and XVI Iberic Meeting of Electrochemistry. (In Portuguese)

Cobalt complex with flutamide was synthesized and physico-chemically characterized by amperometry, polarography, elemental analysis and IR spectrometry. After synthesizing the metal complex, it was evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities against various pathogenic microorganisms such as Streptococcus aureus, Prosteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumonia and Aspergillus niger, Nigrosporan sp Fungi. B16-F10 melanoma cell and C-57BL/6 mice have been used for anticancer screening of the metal complex for in vitro and in vivo study. The result of pharmacological studies with M:L revealed that the complex is more potent as compared to the pure drug as regards to its anticancer activity.

Pt nanoparticle-multi walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites supported on titanium substrate (Pt-MWCNTs/Ti) were prepared by co-electrodeposition method. This composite catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), and electrochemical methods. The SEM images reveal that nanostructures are distributed at the surface of the titanium plate. Electro-oxidation of methanol was investigated in acidic media on Pt-MWCNTs/Ti electrodes via cyclic voltammetric analysis in the mixed 0.1 M methanol and 0.1 M H2SO4 solutions. The Pt-MWCNTs/Ti catalyst has good electro-catalytic activity for methanol oxidation. This novel Pt-MWCNTs/Ti catalyst can be used repeatedly and exhibits stable electro-catalytic activity for the methanol oxidation.

The present work describes the preparation and characterization of polyvinyl chloride membrane doped with methyl-salin ionophore. This electrode was successfully used for selectivity and high sensibility of monohydroxiphosphate in aqueous solution. 1 µM detection limit of mono-hydrogen phosphate was obtained by using dibutyl phthalate and o-nitrophenyl octyl ether-poly vinyl chloride membrane in dynamic solution. The co-existence of a large excess of salts did not interfere with the detection in case of o-nitrophenyl octyl ether-poly vinyl chloride membrane that maked this selective electrode more adequate for the monohydrogen detection. Also, a highly selective and sensitive dihydrogen phosphate sensor was fabricated by autoassembly of polyvinyl chloride into silicium nitride gate of ISFET.

Susceptibility of mild steel to corrosion attack has restricted its industrial applications, despite its numerous advantageous characteristics. Comparison of the inhibitive tendency of a mixture of zinc gluconate (ZG) and ferrous gluconate (FG) on the corrosion behavior of mild steel in acid and saline media was investigated using electrochemical and weight loss techniques. The FG:ZG ratio was dosed from 0.5:0.5 to 2.0:2.0 g/v at an interval of 0.5:0.5. The surface morphology of the corroded mild steel samples was evaluated by high resolution scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (HR-SEM/EDS). Experimental results indicated that the combined inhibitor significantly reduced the corrosion rates of mild steel, with the maximum inhibition efficiency (IE) of 100% and 48% at 28 ºC in the presence of 1.5:1.5 g/v concentrations in 3.5 % NaCl and 0.5 M H2SO4 solutions, respectively. The SEM micrographs of the inhibited samples show a clearly reduced surface degradation as opposed to the surface morphology without inhibitor. Potentiodynamic polarization curves studies showed that the combined inhibitor is a mixed type inhibitor for mild steel corrosion in 3.5 % sodium chloride and 0.5 molar sulphuric acid solutions. From the set of experimental data it was found that the combined inhibitor reduced the corrosion rate through an adsorption process and obeyed Langmuir’s adsorption isotherm in chloride medium and Freundlich adsorption isotherm in sulphuric acid medium at all concentrations and temperature studied. Good synergism exists between FG and ZG. The results obtained from potentiodynamic polarization are consistent with the results of the weight loss method. Synergistic performance of inhibitors was perfect in saline medium. From the analysis of grey relational grade model, the significant concentration ratios were indentified. The results showed the influence of synergistic FG:ZG at a concentration of 1.5 g/v on the corrosion rate of mild steel. Predicted results were found to be in good agreement with experimental results.