The laboratory experiments described in this work present the CMC-determination of some surfactants by following three different methods, which require the use of the very common techniques in physical chemistry laboratories, such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, luminescence spectroscopy, and electrical conductivity.In performing these experiments, the CMC of a surfactant is determined by measuring a change (i) in the UV-Vis spectra of benzoylacetone, (ii) in the fluorescence emission spectra of pyrene monomers, and (iii) in the electrical conductivity of an ionic-surfactant solution, as the concentration of the surfactant increases.The CMC values corresponding to the surfactants sodium dodecyl sulfate, tetradecyl trimethylammonium bromide and polyoxyethylene,9-dodecyl ether determined in this work following the three indicated methods and in the absence and presence of electrolytes and non-electrolytes are reported.

Tanning process is a polluting activity due to the release of toxic agents into the environment. One of the most important of those toxic chemicals is chromium. Different alternatives have been proposed for the removal of this metal from tanning waste water which include the optimization of the productive processes, physicochemical and biochemical waste water treatment. In this study, the biological adsorption process of trivalent chromium was carried out in synthetic water and tannery waste water through two types of native green microalgae, called Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus acutus in Free State and immobilized in PVA state. This, considering that cellular wall of microalgae has functional groups like amines and carboxyl that might bind with trivalent chromium. Statistical significance of variables as pH temperature, chromium and algae concentrations was evaluated just like bio sorption capacity of different types of water and kind of bioadsorbent was calculated to determine if this process is a competitive solution comparing to other heavy metal removal processes.

In order to study the response to water deficit of the moss Racomitrium crispipilum (Taylor) A. Jaeger, a bryophyte typical of open sites and expose to water shortage, measurements of its soluble protein and proline contents, and enzymatic activity of catalase and peroxidase were made. Sampling was done in the Páramo de Chingaza, eastern mountain range of Colombia, in the zone of Lagunas de Buitrago during the dry season. We determined that R. crispipilum diminish its relative water content (RWC) from 50% to 4% of its dry mass (DM) (i.e. to <10% of its capacity), without losing the ability to synthesize proteins in the rehydration. Declining RWC was associated with declining soluble protein content and increased activities of catalase and peroxidase. Enzyme activities peacked in the hours at which R. crispipilum exhibited its minimum RWC (21.02 U mg protein-1 min-1 for catalase and 172.66 for peroxidase). Proline was found to be high during the hours of maximum RWC and the earliest hours of diminishing RWC, between 60 and 87.07 mg g dry mass-1 and declines to 18.98 during the afternoon. The results reported in this study give the first evidence that the activities of catalase and peroxidase increase in this species in response to conditions of water deficit. This is likely to be an important component in the mechanism by which this moss tolerates drought periods.

Growth rates of microalgae encapsulated in calcium alginate as a possible indicator of the trophic state of aquatic ecosystemsThere are many applications for encapsulated algae but the use as an indicator of the trophic state of aquatic environments has not been explored in-depth. In this paper, the effects of different nutrient concentrations in two encapsulated algae, Scenedesmus obtusus, and Parachlorella kessleri, were analyzed both in the laboratory (batch systems) and in field experiments; the latter were carried out in four wetlands in the city of Bogotá. Linear models with heterogeneous variance (LMHV) were used to assess differences in the algal growth rates under different nutrient concentrations, and multivariate general linear models (MGLM) were used to relate the influence of abiotic factors under field conditions. The laboratory results showed an increase in growth rates with higher nutrient concentrations, while the field results were less clear, but differences were observed in physical variables between the wetlands and the growth rates over time. The combined analysis revealed variability in the growth rates under field conditions, making it difficult to relate each wetland with a respective nutrient concentration. These results are preliminary, and more research is needed, but they suggest that encapsulated algae growth rates could be used to evaluate the trophic status of aquatic environments.