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%.

ABSTRACT The chemical composition of ceramics has a deep impact on our understanding of their physical and chemical properties. This work performed a chemical and mineralogical characterization of clay mixtures with incorporation of a residue from the steel industry. The clay mixtures could be used in the brick production. Two types of clays were mixed with the proportion of 1:1 and the residue were incorporated with the proportions of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. Each material had their chemical composition analysed before the burning step. Five specimens were used to analyse their mineralogical composition after the burning step at the temperature of 800 °C. The tests performed to make the characterization were: X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The XFR analysis showed that the main components of the clays are the silicon oxide (SiO2) and the aluminium oxide (Al2O3), and for the residue, the main components are the iron oxides, represented by iron content (T-Fe). The XRD analysis showed the quartz as the most abundant mineral in clays, but that hematite, the most abundant mineral in the residue, appeared more as the amount of residue increased in the sample. Thermal Analysis confirmed the expected peaks in clays and identified an exothermic reaction in the sample with residue. The increase in the percentage of residue caused changes in the chemical composition of the samples, however, these variations were not remarkable, which suggests the red clay industry could add the residue in its production.

RESUMO A composição química das cerâmicas tem grande importância no entendimento das propriedades químicas e físicas desse material. Neste trabalho foram realizadas caracterizações química e mineralógica de misturas de argilas, incorporando um resíduo proveniente de uma indústria siderúrgica, para aplicar na produção de cerâmica. Dois tipos de argila foram misturados na proporção de 1:1 e o resíduo foi adicionado nas proporções de 5%, 10%, 15% e 20%. Avaliou-se a composição química de cada material puro e a composição mineralógica foi analisada após a etapa de queima, na qual 5 corpos de prova foram submetidos a uma temperatura de 800 °C. A caracterização foi realizada com os ensaios de Fluorescência de Raios X (FRX), Difração de Raios X (DRX), Termogravimetria (TG) e Calorimetria Exploratória Diferencial (DSC). A FRX mostrou os óxidos de silício (SiO2) e alumínio (Al2O3) como principais componentes das argilas e os óxidos de ferro (T-Fe, teor de ferro) como principais componentes do resíduo. A DRX mostrou o quartzo como o mineral mais abundante nas argilas, mas que à medida que a concentração de resíduo aumentava na amostra, aumentava também o teor de hematita, principal mineral encontrado no resíduo. A TG e a DSC confirmaram picos esperados nas argilas e identificou uma reação exotérmica nas amostras com resíduo. O aumento do percentual de resíduo provocou alterações na composição química das amostras, no entanto, não foram alterações significativas, o que indica a possibilidade do uso desse resíduo na produção de cerâmica vermelha.