Abstract
Bees are one of the most versatile insects in the world. Known for their societal model, they provide rich natural foods to humans and contribute to the process of pollination of plants. This text will display one of their products, the propolis, which is no longer discarded by beekeepers and started to integrate the context of other apian products. Propolis has also been gaining interest from society in general as well as the scientific community.
Keywords
bees, ecology, environment, propolis, biological properties, physicochemical properties, methods of analysis, thin-layer chromatography
Authors
Maria Cristina Marcucci
NaturaLab – Análises e pesquisas aplicadas em produtos naturais e meio ambiente
Ângela Ramalho Custodio
NaturaLab – Análises e pesquisas aplicadas em produtos naturais e meio ambiente
Translated by
João C. de Andrade
Revised by
Carol H. Collins
Abstract
The silicates are pervasive in nature, from individual groups present in some natural gemstones to the three-dimensional techtosilicates in natural and synthetic zeolites. Zeolites have their most significant applications in gas purification and in the treatment of water for human use (removal of cations and NH4+). Some powder detergents now carry the inscription “contains a catalyst friendly to environment.” This material is a zeolite used to remove calcium and magnesium ions from water, so that the detergent’s foam can be formed. Besides these applications, one of the steps in refining petroleum, which is composed of heavy hydrocarbons, makes use of catalytic cracking zeolite properties to break these large molecules into gasoline, kerosene, etc.. This paper will address various aspects related to these materials, their occurrence in nature, structures and properties, their discovery and chemistry related to their preparation and their functions in various applications.
Keywords
silicates, zeolites, natural zeolites, synthetic zeolites, crystals, structures, preparation, implementation
Autor
Heloise O. Pastore
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química
Translated by
João C. de Andrade
Revised by
Carol. H. Collins
