Abstract The objective of this research was to develop a more sustainable composite and still keep its characteristics. Fibers treated with NaOH at 5% w/w for 2 hours were incorporated into natural rubber in different proportions (0 phr, 24 phr, 36 phr, 48 phr and 60 phr). The mechanical properties of the composites suffered changes, increasing the hardness, young’s modulus and decreasing its tensile strength. All the physical properties were not statistically different. The coloration became less dark in the WF60/CB0 treatment, and the electrical properties presented better resistivity with the increase in the concentration of fibers in the composite. This presents a possibility of using WF for the production of wood-rubber composites for the production of rubber artifacts which do not require high rolling resistance. Based on the results from this research, we recommended the WF24/CB36 mix to produce antistatic floors.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the alkalization with different concentrations and time combination in the modification of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose in pine fibers and determine the best combination aiming the incorporation in plant-based composites. The alkalization process was conducted with 5 concentrations (5, 10, 15, 20, and 30%) and 2 exposure times (2 and 24 hours). Chemical analysis was performed, and cellulose crystallinity, thermal stability, and surface modification were analyzed for the treated fibers. The results showed that there was a reduction in crystallinity with cellulose I – II transformation. Thereafter, the thermal stability and surface characteristics were increased with the increase of the NaOH concentration. Although all treatments altered the fiber properties, the condition that resulted in technical gain was the condition with 5% concentration and 2 hours of alkalization. Thus, we can conclude that this condition changes the macromolecular structure of the wood fibers, change the surface and the treat fiber could be used as filler to plant-base composite.

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), graphite analogous structure, has many interesting applications due to its excellent thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. In this study, different routes of liquid exfoliation using solvent and ultrasound were used to obtain two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets of h-BN. The efficiency of the exfoliative routes was evaluated by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Results demonstrated that the technique was effective in the exfoliation of h-BN bulk and that the solvent's choice, considering an optimum surface tension of the solvent-solute system, and the rotation of the centrifugation in the selection of the exfoliated nanosheets, are crucial for the performance of the technique. The most promising exfoliation route has been found to be the dispersion of h-BN in solvent mixture (20% IPA in water) for 3 h on ultrasound, followed by centrifugation at 1500 or 3000 rpm.

The thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) in a range of temperature from 84 to 373 K, has been applied to study the depolarization current of polyethylene and polyethylene composites in form of film and filled with commercial or oxidative surface treatment carbon black. The diagrams of TSDC obtained show that the composite in which the carbon black had received oxidative surface treatment reducing on an average depolarization current intensity in a magnitude order if compared to the composite with commercial carbon black. Therefore in the area between α and β transitions the difference is accentuated by reaching a peak 55 times in a temperature of 240 K. The difference in results is explained in terms of molecular interactions neighboring of carbon black particles.

O objetivo do trabalho é mostrar o uso da função de Dissado-Hill para o cálculo dos parâmetros desta função, estimar a susceptibilidade como função da freqüência e apresentar uma interpretação com relação à estrutura do material. A estimativa é feita usando-se o método dos mínimos quadrados para as medidas experimentais da corrente de reabsorção.

The work objective is to show the application of Dissado-Hill function of the parameters calculation and the susceptibility estimation as frequency function and show an interpretation with respect to the structure of the material. The estimate is made using the minimum squares method for the experimental measures of the reabsorption currents.