Abstract Starch is an important energy reserve polysaccharide for vegetables, found in large quantities in nature. From a renewable and low-cost source, it is considered an excellent raw material for the production of biopolymers. Biodegradable films can be obtained from different starch sources and can be an alternative to the damages caused by petroleum products, since they have the properties of conventional plastics and are easily degraded in the environment. However, starch-based films have limitations such as poor mechanical properties. To overcome this weakness, the addition of secondary additives is used to improve its resistance. This review highlights how different materials used in the production of biodegradable polymers, the importance of incorporating reinforcement content in the polymer matrix and as the main characterization techniques of bio composites.

Abstract Biodegradable films were prepared using regular and waxy starch and reinforced with cellulose nanofibers (CNF) from eucalyptus. Both films were characterized by their optical, structural, barrier, thermal and mechanical properties. The films presented a homogeneous, smooth surface without bubbles or cracks and good handling characteristics. Both films showed a mixture of B and V-type diffraction patterns. The water solubility of the samples decreased after the incorporation of nanocellulose. The water vapor permeability for both sources significantly reduced after incorporating nanocellulose at 0.5% and 1%. It is possible to observe that the addition of CNF increased the thermal stability of the starch films. On the other hand, the incorporation of nanocellulose improved either the mechanical resistance of the starch films.

Resumo Analisar o efeito do co-iniciador alternativo 4,4’bisdimetilaminobenzidrol (BZN) no grau de conversão (GC) e nas propriedades mecânicas e biológicas de resinas compostas experimentais. O co-iniciador BZN foi utilizado em três concentrações (0,2, 0,5 e 1,2), e o co-iniciador DMAEMA como controle, nas mesmas concentrações acima. A concentração molar entre canforoquinona (CQ) e os co-iniciadores foi mantida constante (1:1). As resinas compostas foram manipuladas e submetidas aos testes de microdureza (VHN), resistência à compressão e flexural (em MPa), módulo de elasticidade (em GPa), GC (em %, por meio de espectroscopia micro-Raman e FTIR com KBr), citotoxicidade in vitro (frente às células fibroblásticas 3T3) das resinas experimentais. Os resultados foram submetidos ao teste ANOVA 1 fator e pós-teste de Tukey (α=0,05). As resinas compostas experimentais com o BZN apresentaram GC e propriedades mecânicas satisfatórias, além de serem consideradas atóxicas a fibroblastos 3T3. A inclusão do co-iniciador BZN à resina composta foi considerada não tóxica frente a células fibroblásticas 3T3 e sem comprometer o grau de conversão e as propriedades mecânicas da mesma.

Abstract To examine the effect of the alternative coinitiator 4,4’bis dimethylamino benzydrol (BZN) in degree of conversion (DC), mechanical and biological properties of experimental composites. The coinitiator BZN was used in three concentrations (0.2, 0.5 and 1.2%), and the coinitiator DMAEMA was used as control at the same concentrations as above. The molar concentration of camphorquinone (CQ) and coinitiators was kept constant (1:1). The composites were manipulated and submitted to microhardness test (VHN), flexural and compressive strength (in MPa), elastic modulus (GPa), DC (FT-IR) and in vitro cytotoxicity (against 3T3 fibroblastic cells) of the experimental resins. Data were subjected to two-way ANOVA and Tukey post-test (α=0.05). The experimental composite resin with BZN showed higher DC values compared to control DMAEMA groups. For the mechanical properties, microhardness values were higher in BZN groups; flexural strength and elastic modulus were similar between all the groups. Compressive strength for groups BZN0.5 and DMAEMA0.5 were not statistically different, being the lowest values attributed to group BZN0.2. The experimental resins with BZN and DMAEMA were considered nontoxic against 3T3 fibroblasts. The inclusion of the coinitiator BZN in experimental composites was considered nontoxic against 3T3 fibroblast cells, without compromising DC and mechanical properties.

The purpose of the present paper was to test the validity of the nonlinear regression method for calculating the non-isothermal crystallization rate constant of the Nakamura's model of a rotational molding grade LLDPE directly from non-isothermal crystallization experiments carried out in a single cell DSC. Cooling rates of 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 and 5 oC/min were used with samples of 3.0 mg under nitrogen atmosphere. Here, good agreement was observed between the experimental relative crystallinity curves and the simulated ones using the calculated parameters by nonlinear regression. It shows that this method can be used to determine the Nakamura's non isothermal rate constant for using in simulation of the cooling phase of rotational molding. In this paper it was used 10-3, 10-4 and 10-14 as the initial crystallinity in the Nakamura's model. However the best average results for all cooling rates was obtained when 10-4 was used. Average spherulitic dimensions of LLDPE studied in this paper did not change significantly with different cooling conditions.

Scrap tires are considered a type of waste that litters landfills and the environment in general. Due to its chemically cross-linked structure, this material cannot be recycled by conventional processes because it does not melt. This work examined the production of polymeric composites using high density polyethylene (HDPE) filled with rubber tire powder (RTP). Ethylene-octene-1 copolymer (C2C8), an elastomeric material, was also added to improve the mechanical properties. Morphological analysis showed a good interfacial adhesion when C2C8 is added to the mixture. Raman spectroscopy coupled to optical microscopy revealed that the HDPE phase encapsulated the rubber tire particles. The mixtures containing C2C8 and RTP presented lower ultimate tensile strength and elastic modulus, but the impact strength of the binary and ternary mixtures was much higher than that of neat HDPE.

Pomace, the main by-product of apple juice processing, contains all the fruit's compounds such as minerals, sugars, fibers, enzymes and secondary metabolites after bioprocessing. Dried pomace from four apple varieties (Gala, Fuji, Catarina and Joaquina) was used to extract fructose, glucose, and sucrose, the main soluble sugars contained in apple pomace, to verify the possible use of the sugar fractions. The concentrated sugars were characterized by NMR and FTIR. The partial least squares method (PLS) applied to the NMR and FTIR spectra revealed large amounts of fructose, glucose, and sucrose, without the presence of others compounds. Principal component analysis (PCA) discriminated the studied apple varieties, with a 99% level of significance, as function of the amount of each sugar in the respective extracts.

In this work, ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H NMR) was employed to evaluate changes in apple juice in response to the addition of Panzym® Yieldmash and Ultrazym® AFP-L enzymatic complexes and compare it with premium apple juice. The juice was processed at different temperatures and concentrations of enzymatic complexes. The differences in the results were attributed mainly to the enzyme concentrations, since temperature did not cause any variation. A quantitative analysis indicated that the concentration of fructose increased while the concentrations of sucrose and glucose decreased in response to increasing concentrations of the enzymatic complexes.