ABSTRACT Biodegradable polymers, such as starch, cellulose, and derivatives thereof, are being studied to produce innovative packaging in the most diverse shapes (films, bags, trays, bottles, etc.) to attend this current market trend. The aim of this work was to produce foam trays from cassava starch for food packaging via extrusion followed by thermoforming process. Their formulations were based on unirradiated and γ-irradiated starches at diverse radiation absorbed doses (in kGy) in order to evaluate the influence of the irradiated starches on the physical properties of the trays. Water absorption results showed an irregular increase with the increase of the absorbed dose ( for example, 26.32% and 39.84% for the trays based on unirradiated starch 0 kGy and 1:1 (w/w) mixture of starches 0 kGy and 100.0 kGy, respectively). Other physicochemical properties were evaluated from the starches utilized and the trays obtained. Aerobic biodegradation of the foams by mass loss also was checked in soil burial test.

ABSTRACT In this work was studied the effect of nanoparticle incorporation in the dimensional stability of elastomer matrix. To avoid excessive swelling and consequently dimensional instability in the films, crosslinking has been shown to be an efficient and simple method for achieve the reducing membrane swelling and improving mechanical stability. The elastomer used was a fluorinated type, with 70% of fluor in its composition and commercial clay (Cloisite®) was the nanofiller used. The nancomposites with 0.5, 1 or 2% (wt%) of nanoclay were prepared in a open two roll mill. The fluoroelastomer was a type of Viton® (DuPont) which has low fuel permeation and suitable for use as sealant mainly for o-ring production. The incorporation of clay in the polymer matrix aimed to avoid excessive swelling and to maintain the material dimensional stability. The nanocomposites were characterized by stress-strain test to evaluated elongation and tension at break, by rheometry to analyzed maximum and minimum torques, and degree of swelling to follow dimensional size modification of nanocomposites films. There were a decreasing of the elongation at break and of degree of swelling values what can be correlated to an increase of crosslinking, and consequently formation of a networking in the nanocomposites matrix in the films evaluated

A avaliação in vitro da biocompatibilidade de diferentes tipos de biomateriais foi realizada pelo teste de citotoxicidade em cultivo de células de tecido conectivo de camundongos, NCTC Clone 929 da American Type Culture Collection. O estudo comparativo do ensaio de citotoxicidade foi realizado com duas metodologias: 1) ensaio de difusão em ágar e 2) ensaio de incorporação do vermelho neutro. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que ambas as metodologias podem ser utilizadas, de acordo com o tipo de amostra a ser analisada.