ABSTRACT Films of Poly(?-caprolactone) (PCL) and PCL/Zinc Oxide (ZnO) were obtained by solution processing. Thermal behaviour and morphological structure were analysed by means of Thermogravimetry (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Optical Microscopy (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The addition of ZnO to PCL decreased the degradation temperature about 50-70°C; the films are thermally stable up to 200°C, making them suitable for packaging hot grilled chicken. ZnO did not promote significant alterations of the PCL fusion and melt crystallization, however the crystallinity increased; probably ZnO acts as nucleating agent during PCL crystallization as OM images showed greater amount of small spherulites on PCL/ZnO films. According to SEM, the methodology utilized is adequate for producing films in concentrations up to 5% ZnO.

This work evaluated the catalytic activity of TiO2 synthesized by the Pechini method. with varying molar ratios of 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1 of citric acid/metallic cations, in the photocatalytic degradation of methyl red dye in aqueous solution. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, phase quantification by Rietveld structure refinement, and textural analysis by nitrogen adsorption, and their photocatalytic performance was bench- tested. The results indicated that the 3:1 and 4:1 samples contained two phases, with 84.4 and 89% of anatase phase and 15.6 and 11% of rutile phase, respectively. The 2:1 sample contained only anatase phase. The total discoloration of methyl red dye in 24 hours confirmed the high photocatalytic efficiency of the 2:1 sample, which was ascribed to the formation of monophasic anatase.