Glycerol is a plasticizer widely used due to its good plasticization efficiency, great availability, biocompatibility and low exudation. It is a renewable raw material that, when introduced in biodegradable films, promotes significant changes in its properties and, thus, guarantees a wide spectrum of application. In this work, corn straw was used to produce cellulose triacetate films from mixtures with glycerol (10%, 20% and 30%). The films were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis, Water Vapor Transport Rate and Water Vapor Permeation. The cellulose triacetate films produced with 20% glycerol have high barrier properties, when compared to films with concentrations 0, 10 and 30%.

Hemicelluloses were extracted from corn husk and converted into cationic hemicelluloses using 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride. The degree of substitution was determined as 0.43 from results of elemental analysis. The cationic derivative was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Carbon-13 magnetic nuclear ressonance. The produced polymer was employed as coagulant aid in a sewage treatment station (STS) of the municipal department of water and sewer (Departamento Municipal de Água e Esgoto - DMAE) in Uberlândia-Minas Gerais, Brazil, using Jar test experiments. Its performance was compared to ACRIPOL C10, a commercial cationic polyacrylamide regularly used as a coagulant at the STS. The best result of the jar-test essays was obtained when using cationic hemicelluloses (10 mg L- 1) as coagulant aid and ferric chloride as coagulante (200 mg L- 1). The resultsof color and turbidity reduction, 37 and 39%, respectively, were better than when using only ferric chloride. These results were also higher than those of commercial polyacrylamide, on the order of 32.4 and 38.7%, respectively. The results showed that the cationic hemicelluloses presented similar or even superior performance when compared to ACRIPOL C10, demonstrating that the polyelectrolytes produced from recycled corn husks can replace commercial polymers in sewage treatment stations.

Cellulose acetate produced from mango seed fibers cellulose was used as a matrix for preparation of microparticles empty and load with acetaminophen (Paracetamol) in order to evaluate the incorporation of an active agent during the formation of microparticles. The microparticles are characterized by Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The incorporation of paracetamol can be confirmed by the change in value of glass transition temperature (Tg). The formation of microparticles spherical was observed by SEM and showed an average diameter of 1.010 and 0.950 mm for empty and load microparticles respectively.