The objectives of this work were to investigate the microstructure, crystallinity and thermal stability of nanofibrillated cellulose obtained from oat hulls using bleaching and acid hydrolysis at a mild temperature (45 ºC) followed by ultrasonication. The oat hulls were bleached with peracetic acid, and after bleaching, the compact structure around the cellulosic fibers was removed, and the bundles became individualized. The extraction time (30 or 60 min) did not affect the properties of the nanofibrillated cellulose, which presented a higher crystallinity index and thermal stability than the raw material (oat hulls). The nanocellulose formed interconnected webs of tiny fibers with diameters of 70-100 nm and lengths of several micrometers, producing nanofibers with a relatively high aspect ratio, thus indicating that these materials are suitable for polymer reinforcement.

The thermal degradation of miscible and immiscible poly (3-hidroxy butyrate) PHB/ poly (ethylene terephthalate) sulphonated (PETs) blends was investigated using thermogravimetric analyses. Model-free kinetic analysis, Vyazovkin and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa's methods, were used to determine the apparent activation energy in the whole interval of degradation of the pure polymers, immiscible blends, and miscible blends. The thermal stability of both polymers in their blends is higher when compared to the pure polymers. The synergistic effect in the thermal stability in the blends is higher for the miscible blend where the formation of the specific interaction between PHB and PETs occurs. The apparent activation energy of the individual polymers is higher in PETs/PHB blends, and this effect is potentiated by the miscibility of the blend.

CO2 supercrítico foi utilizado para preparar compósitos poliméricos com prata, prata/poli álcool vinílico e prata/ poli álcool vinílico/ poli (tereftalato de etileno) sulfonado, pela impregnação de um precursor de prata nas matrizes poliméricas no estado sólido seguida da redução térmica do precursor. Difração de raio X, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, espectroscopia de energia dispersiva, microscopia de força atômica, análise termogravimétrica e espectroscopia no UV/vis dos compósitos indicaram que as condições de preparação e a composição da matriz polimérica influenciam o tamanho e a forma das partículas de prata formadas, assim como, a uniformidade e a distribuição das partículas nas matrizes poliméricas. As partículas de prata nos compósitos ricos em PVA são menores, possuem formas mais uniformes e apresentam distribuição de tamanho mais estreita do que nos compósitos ricos em PETs.

Supercritical CO2 has been used to prepare silver polymer composites, silver/poly(vinyl alcohol) and silver/poly(vinyl alcohol)/sulfonated poly(ethylene terephthalate) through impregnation of a silver precursor in solid-state polymeric matrices followed by thermal reduction of the silver precursor. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and UV/vis spectroscopy indicate that synthesis conditions and polymeric matrix composition affect silver particle size, shape and distribution in polymeric matrices. Silver particles are smaller, have a more uniform shape and present narrower size distribution in PVA-rich than in PETs-rich composites.

PET pós-consumo foi modificado quimicamente através de reação com ácido sulfúrico por diferentes tempos. O material modificado foi caracterizado por DSC e FTIR-PAS e XPS. Verificou-se que a intensidade relativa do isômero trans diminui enquanto do isômero gauche aumenta para tempos de reação entre 0 e 60 minutos. Após 60 minutos de reação observou-se a presença de endotermas múltiplas que podem ser relacionadas com o desenvolvimento de estruturas intermediárias porque as intensidades relativas dos isômeros trans e gauche não apresentam variação significativa. O valor determinado de capacidade de troca iônica do PET pós-consumo modificado (PETS-pc) é comparável com os valores de resinas ácidas comerciais e não é afetado no intervalo de tempo de reação utilizado. Os valores da capacidade máxima de adsorção, qm, e do parâmetro de afinidade entre o adsorvente e o adsorvato, K, (111,18 ppm e 531,91 mg de corante/100g de adsorvente, respectivamente) para a adsorção do corante Remazol vermelho na amostra quimicamente modificada por 30 minutos foram calculados a partir da isoterma de adsorção de Langmuir. Os resultados indicam que esse material possui características adsorventes, podendo vir a ser utilizado para tratamento de efluente de indústria de tingimento têxtil.

Chemical modification of post consumer PET was carried out by reaction with sulfuric acid. The modified material was characterized by DSC, XPS and FTIR-PAS measurements. The relative intensity of trans isomer increases while it decreases for gauche isomer for reaction times from 0 up to 60 min. After 60 minutes of reaction multiple endotherms were observed, which may be related to the development of an intermediated structure, since the relative intensities of the trans and gauche isomers do not change. The ionic exchange capacity of the modified post consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate), PETS-pc, is comparable to commercial acid resins and is not affected by the reaction time. The maximum adsorption capacity, qm, and the affinity parameter, K, (111.18 ppm and 531.91 mg dye/100g adsorvent, respectively) due to the adsorption of Remazol Red were calculated for PET samples chemically modified during 30 minutes from the Langmuir adsorption isotherms. The results indicate that PETS-pc has excellent adsorvent capacity, and can be applied to treatment of textile dye effluents.