Rosana Maria Nascimento de Assunção

Synthesis and Characterization of Methylcellulose Produced from Bacterial Cellulose under Heterogeneous Condition

In this work, methylcellulose (MC) was produced from bacterial cellulose (BC), using dimethyl sulfate in a 3 h (MC3h) or 5 h (MC5h) reaction under heterogeneous conditions, with reagent substitution at each hour. MC3h showed a degree of substitution (DS) of 2.26 ± 0.13 and MC5h showed a DS of 2.33 ± 0.05. The two samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), 13C nuclear magnetic ressonance (NMR) and 1H NMR techniques. The FTIR spectra of the BC and MC samples present significant differences in the regions from 3750 to 2750 cm−1 and from 1500 to 750 cm−1, which evidence the methylation of the samples. Solid state NMR spectroscopy of the MC samples was used to identify the 13C NMR signals of substitution at sites C-2, C-3 or C-6 in the glucopyranose units. The modification of bacterial cellulose produced a material with a high DS, determined by three different techniques (chemically and using the liquid 1H and solid 13C NMR spectra). These samples also demonstrate high crystallinity and thermal stability. With the MC samples synthesized in this work, transparent and resistant films were prepared and also a highly porous sponge like material.

Mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties of methylcellulose/cellulose nanocrystals nanocomposites

In this work, the effects of incorporating cellulose nanocrystals from soy hulls (WSH 30 ) on the mechanical, thermal, and barrier properties of methylcellulose (MC) nanocomposites were evaluated. MC/WSH 30 nanocomposite films with different filler levels (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%) were prepared by casting. Compared to neat MC film, improvements in the mechanical and barrier properties were observed, while thermal stability was retained. The improved mechanical properties of nanocomposites prepared may be attributed to mechanical percolation of WSH 30 , formation of a continuous network of WSH 30 linked by hydrogen interactions and a close association between filler and matrix.

Regenerated cellulose scaffolds: Preparation, characterization and toxicological evaluation.

Regenerated cellulose scaffolds (RCS) may be used as alloplastic materials for tissue repair. In this work, the RCS were obtained by viscose process and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetry analysis (TG). In vitro enzymatic degradation assay and toxicological assays were also evaluated. The physicochemical characterizations revealed the formation of a porous material with distinct thermal profile and crystallinity compared to pristine cellulose pulp. Enzymatic degradation assay revealed that lysozyme showed a mildest catalytic action when compared to cellulase, Tricoderma reesei (Tr). Nevertheless, both enzymes were efficient for degrading the RCS. RCS did not show cytotoxicity, mutagenic or genotoxic effects. The systematically characterization of this work suggests that RCS presented distinct features that make it a viable material for future studies related to the development of scaffolds for biological applications.

Utilização do acetato de celulose produzido a partir da celulose extraída do caroço de manga como matriz para produção de sistemas microparticulados

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.

Caracterização de membranas assimétricas de acetato de celulose produzidas a partir do aproveitamento do resíduo da palha de milho para uso em ultrafiltração

Cellulose acetates (CA) with different degrees of acetylation were synthesized from cellulose extracted from corn stover. Membranes were prepared for the ultrafiltration process with pure polymers and blend form of CA utilizing a dioxane/acetone system. The membranes were characterized according to their transport properties. The blend form materials presented the best results for application in ultrafiltration experiments. M-TAC/DAC (corn stover triacetate and diacetate) and M-TAC/DAC-Rho (corn stover triacetate and Rhodia diacetate) presented rejection to egg albumin protein of 87.39% and 80.50%, respectively. Thus, MWCO of 45 kDa was determined for these materials.

Síntese de poliestireno sulfonado para aplicações no tratamento de água produzido a partir de copos e bandejas descartadas de poliestireno

In the present paper, the use of poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS), produced from discarded polystyrene materials through heterogeneous and homogeneous processes, was investigated. The use of PSS for water treatment, using a kaolin suspension as wastewater model, reduced water turbidity for all the employed materials when compared to the blank analysis, without PSS. The most efficient polyelectrolyte was PSS cups obtained by homogeneous route. The same behavior was observed for real system. The homogeneous PSS cups showed a balance between a moderate molecular weight and high anionic character that improved flocks formation and water removal turbidity.

Efeito da aplicação do poliestireno sulfonado (PSSNa) como aditivo em argamassas e concretos de cimento Portland CPV32

In this work an investigation was made of the effects from adding PSSNa, obtained from disposable polystyrene (PS) cups, as admixture agent in mortars and concrete with varying ratios from 0.25 to 1.00%. The evaluation of PSSNa as additive was based on results of fluidity and mechanical strength to compression. In mortars with water/cement ratio of 0.48, an increase in flow was observed when the dosage of PSSNa varied from 0.25 to 1.00%. The dispersion of mortar components was improved due to the adsorption of PSSNa on cement particles, which increased the mechanical strength of mortars. Similar results were obtained with the application of PSSNa to concrete. The slump of the concrete taken as reference was 50 mm, while for the concrete with PSSNa it reached about 200 mm. Because of its plasticization of concrete, PSSNa can be used as additive to reduce the amount of water required. For instance, a concrete with the same slump of the reference concrete was produced using PSSNa and a reduction of 20.8% in the volume of water. The increase in mechanical strength was 21.5 and 26.3%, respectively, at 7 and 28 days of curing. These results showed that PSSNa solutions can act as superplasticizer or as admixture to reduce the amount water in mortars and concretes.

Preparation and Characterization of Cellulose Triacetate as Support for Lecitase Ultra Immobilization

The use of polymers as supports for enzyme immobilization is a strategy that enables to remove the enzymes from a chemical reaction and improve their efficiency in catalytic processes. In this work, cellulose triacetate (CTA) was used for physical adsorption of phospholipase Lecitase ultra (LU). CTA is more hydrophobic than cellulose, shows good performance in the lipases immobilization being a good candidate for immobilization of phospholipases. We investigated the immobilization of LU in CTA, the stability of the immobilized enzyme (CTA-LU) and the performance of CTA-LU using soybean oil as a substrate. LU was efficiently immobilized in CTA reaching 97.1% in 60 min of contact with an enzymatic activity of 975.8 U·g−1. The CTA-LU system presents good thermal stability, being superior of the free enzyme and increase of the catalytic activity in the whole range of pH values. The difference observed for immobilized enzyme compared to free one occurs because of the interaction between the enzyme and the polymer, which stabilizes the enzyme. The CTA-LU system was used in the transesterification of soybean oil with methanol, with the production of fatty acid methyl esters. The results showed that CTA-LU is a promising system for enzymatic reactions.

Square wave voltammetry enables fast quantification and evaluation of Bi3+ extraction from eyeshadow samples

In this study, a square wave anodic stripping voltammetric method was developed to quantify Bi3+ in eyeshadow samples. The best results were obtained in 1.0 mol L−1 NaOH as the supporting electrolyte and the limit of detection was 8 nmol L−1 (1.7 ppb). Different sample pretreatment procedures were evaluated and the results showed that a combination of concentrated HCl, 30% (v/v) H2O2 and ultrasound was the best procedure to quantitatively extract Bi3+ from eyeshadow samples. The voltammetry of immobilized particles using a carbon paste electrode (CPE) was a simple and fast way to evaluate the efficiency of Bi3+ extraction of each sample pretreatment studied. This technique also has great potential to contribute to the validation of new sample pretreatment procedures if it produces a solid residue which can be immobilized onto the CPE surface and the analyte is electroactive. Moreover, the voltammetry of immobilized particles can be used to screen cosmetic raw materials for the presence of heavy metals, which is important to protect consumers from the harmful effects of these metals. This study has also demonstrated that voltammetry has great and almost unexplored potential to contribute to the quality control of cosmetic products regarding their heavy metal contents.

Controlled release of drugs from cellulose acetate matrices produced from sugarcane bagasse: monitoring by square-wave voltammetry

Abstract In this paper, cellulose triacetate (CTA) was produced from sugarcane bagasse and used as matrices for controlled release of paracetamol. Symmetric and asymmetric membranes were obtained by formulations of CTA/dichloromethane/drug and CTA/dichloromethane/water/drug, respectively, and they were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Different morphologies of membranes were observed by SEM, and the incorporation of paracetamol was confirmed by lowering of the glass transition temperature (Tg) in the DSC curves. This indicates the existence of interactions between the matrix and the drug. The evaluation of drug release was based on the electrochemical monitoring of paracetamol through its oxidation at a glassy carbon electrode surface using square-wave voltammetry (SWV), which provides fast, precise and accurate in situ measurements. The studies showed a content release of 27% and 45% by the symmetric and asymmetric membranes, respectively, during 8 h.