Abstract In this work, bottle-grade poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PETR), kraft lignin (KL), and chemically modified lignin (ML) were used to form blends to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of pure PET. The PET/KL and PETR/ML blends were produced with 0.5, 1, 3, and 5 wt.% of lignin via melt extrusion and injection molding. The produced blends and PETR were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetry (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and mechanical properties testing. The FTIR measurements confirmed the chemical modifications of the ML samples, while the TGA results showed KL to be thermally more stable than ML. The glass transition temperature of PETR changed as a function of the amount of lignin, as revealed by the DSC measurements. The PET/KL blends demonstrated their potential for use as an engineering material due to their improved thermal and mechanical properties compared to those of PETR.

Amaryllidaceae alkaloids are well-known isoquinolines which have demonstrated a wide range of biological activities such as antiviral, anticancer, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, antimalarial, among others. Mass spectrometry (MS) studies based on capillary gas chromatography (CGC), paper spray (PS), and leaf spray (LS) ionization were carried out for alkaloid investigation of the native Brazilian species Hippeastrum aulicum, along with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. Thirty-one alkaloids were identified including the new compound haemanthamine N-oxide. The results from PS- and LS-MS techniques were consistent with those observed in CGC-MS analysis. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first study combining NMR, CGC-MS and the ambient ionization-mass spectrometry (PS- and LS-MS) on Amaryllidaceae plants.

O mercado brasileiro de embalagens empregado ao armazenamento de petróleo e seus derivados vem crescendo a cada ano, sendo constituídas basicamente por polietileno de alta densidade (PEAD) e polipropileno (PP). Contudo durante o armazenamento, a matriz polimérica fica exposta ao óleo, comprometendo suas propriedades físicas e consequentemente a durabilidade do material. Portanto, estudos relacionados com a interação entre solventes orgânicos e a matriz polimérica tornam-se importantes. Neste trabalho, a interação do PEAD e PP com diferentes solventes apolares (tolueno, n-heptano, n-decano e n-tetradecano) foram estudadas em função da temperatura (25, 50 e 80 ºC). Os valores de ganho de massa, coeficientes de difusão, sorção, permeabilidade e parâmetros de mecanismo de transporte foram calculados. O ganho de massa observado para o PP foi maior do que para o PEAD, em todas as temperaturas, sendo que o tolueno foi o solvente responsável pelo maior ganho de massa, atingindo o equilíbrio em um menor intervalo de tempo. Esse resultado corrobora com os valores de coeficiente de difusão e de permeabilidade, que aumentaram na seguinte ordem: n-heptano > n-decano > n-tetradecano. Uma ordem inversa foi observada para os solventes alifáticos quando os valores de coeficiente de sorção foram calculados. O mecanismo de transporte foi também estudado através da regressão dos dados de sorção, sendo classificado como anômalo.

Recently, the brazilian packing market of polymeric materials applied to storage of petroleum and its devired is growing every year, being basically constituted from two polymers: high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP). However, during the storage process, the polymeric matrix can interact with the oil, thus compromising, its physical-chemical properties and durability. Therefore, it is necessary to study the migration mechanism existent between organic solvents and polymeric materials. In this work, the interaction of HDPE and PP with different organic solvents (toluene, n-heptane, n-decane and n-tetradecane) was studied as function of temperature (25, 50 and 80 ºC). Values of weight gain, coefficients of diffusion, sorption and permeability and mechanism of transport were calculated. The values of weight gain for PP were higher than PEAD in all temperatures studied. Among the solvents used, the toluene had the highest weight gain, reaching consequently, an equilibrium plateau in a lower time period. This result is good agreement with the diffusion and permeability coefficients, which the values increased in the following order: toluene > n-heptane > n-decane > n-tetradecane. An appositive behavior was observed for aliphatic solvents when the sorption coefficient values were analyzed. The mechanism of transport phenomenon was also studied, being classified as anomalous transport.

O potencial da técnica de espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier e acessório de reflexão total atenuada (FTIR-ATR) foi avaliado para o monitoramento da degradação da poliamida 11 (PA-11) usada em dutos flexíveis. As amostras foram submetidas a envelhecimento em reatores com pressão controlada e atmosfera inerte. Os corpos de prova foram imersos em água deionizada (pH 7), nas temperaturas de 110, 120 e 140 ºC por um período de até 50 dias. A técnica recomendada para monitoramento da degradação da PA-11 é a viscosimetria, através de medidas da viscosidade inerente corrigida (VIC) e a análise termogravimétrica (TGA). O comportamento observado para a VIC e TGA durante o envelhecimento possibilitou a construção de modelos que correlacionam com a técnica de FTIR-ATR. A partir dos resultados de FTIR-ATR, a variação na intensidade da banda atribuída à fase amorfa, 1161 cm-1, possibilitou o monitoramento do envelhecimento quando associamos a técnica a modelos quimiométricos como o de regressão dos mínimos quadrados parciais, PLS. Portanto, a técnica FTIR-ATR pode ser uma nova alternativa no monitoramento da degradação hidrolítica da PA-11, eliminando assim o uso de solventes orgânicos tóxicos e reduzindo, consequentemente, o tempo de análise.

The potential of the infrared spectroscopy with the attenuated total reflection technique (FTIR-ATR) was evaluated to monitor degradation of polyamide 11, PA-11, applied in flexible pipes. The samples were subjected to aging on reactors with controlled pressure and atmosphere. The samples were immersed in deionized water, pH 7, at temperatures of 110, 120 and 140 ºC over a period of up to 50 days. The typical technique recommended for monitoring PA-11 degradation is viscometry from inherent viscosity corrected (VIC) and thermogravimetric (TGA) measurements. TGA and VIC results allowed the use of chemometric models that can be related to FTIR-ATR spectra, with assignment of a band to the amorphous phase (1161 cm-1) of PA-11. The chemometric model generated from PLS data was satisfactory in predicting the aging of PA-11. Therefore, FTIR-ATR can be used as a new analytical methodology to monitor PA-11 degradation, thus eliminating the use of toxic organic solvents and reducing the time required for the analysis.