The aim of this study was to obtain and evaluate the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of iron oxide-filled castor oil polyurethane (PU/Fe2O3). The iron oxide used in this study was a residue derived from the steel pickling process of a Brazilian steel rolling industry. Polymeric composites with different iron oxide volume fractions (2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 and 12.5%) were prepared through the casting process followed by compression molding at room temperature. The composites were analyzed by FTIR, XRD and densities, tensile strength, Young's modulus, electrical and thermal conductivities measurements. By increasing the iron oxide content, the apparent density, tensile strength, Young's modulus and electrical conductivity values of the composites were also increased. The iron oxide additions did not change significantly the value of thermal conductivity (from 0.191 W.mK-1 for PU up to 0.340 W.mK-1 for PU enriched with 12.5% v/v of iron oxide). Thus, even at the higher iron oxide concentration, the compounds as well as the pure polyurethane can be classified as thermal insulators.

Glass-ceramics foams prepared from glasses of the SiO2-Na2O-CaO-P2O5 by replication process were obtained and characterized in terms of their chemical and physical properties by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, laser diffraction, thermal analysis, density, mechanical strength, microstructural and cytotoxic analysis. The results showed that it is possible to produce glass-ceramic foams by the replication method with optimized properties but cytotoxic analysis indicates that the glass-ceramic foams are not bioactive materials. Mechanical strength values varying from 0.5 to 1.0 MPa and from 0.8 to 2.3 MPa were reached for mean particle sizes of 10 and 6 µm, respectively.