A tradicional produção de açúcar, associada à crescente produção de etanol, faz da indústria sucroalcooleira um dos principais segmentos da economia brasileira. As indústrias brasileiras de açúcar e álcool processaram cerca de 630 milhões de toneladas de cana em 2009, gerando, aproximadamente, 142 milhões de toneladas de bagaço. Este trabalho apresenta uma possibilidade de destinação para o bagaço da cana através da queima controlada associada à síntese de nanotubos de carbono (CNTs), materiais que possuem inúmeras possibilidades de aplicações tecnológicas devido as suas excepcionais propriedades. Foi utilizado o processo de pirólise a 1000ºC associado a um sistema catalisador, visando à recuperação dos gases gerados como matéria-prima para a síntese dos CNTs. As emissões gasosas foram analisadas por cromatografia e os materiais produzidos foram caracterizados com o emprego de MEV, MET, TGA e espectroscopia Raman. Os resultados mostraram que o uso do catalisador resultou na diminuição das emissões gasosas. Nanotubos de carbono com comprimentos de 10 a 40 µm e diâmetros entre 20 e 50 nm foram produzidos.

The traditional sugar production associated with the growing ethanol production makes the sugarcane industry one of the main segments of the Brazilian economy; together the Brazilian industries of sugar and ethanol processed about 630 million tons of sugarcane in 2009, which generated approximately 142 million tons of bagasse. This work presents an economically and environmentally viable solution for the bagasse disposal through the controlled burn associated with the synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), materials that have a wide range of potential technological applications due to its exceptional properties. The pyrolysis process at 1000°C associated with a catalyst system were used to recover the generated gases as raw material for the synthesis of CNTs. Gaseous emissions were analyzed by chromatography and the produced materials were characterized with the use of SEM, TEM, TGA and Raman spectroscopy. Results showed that the catalyst application resulted in the reduction of gaseous emissions. Carbon nanotubes with lengths of 10-40 µm and diameters in the range of 20-50 nm were produced.

The world's largest ethanol producer (USA) uses corn as feedstock. DDGS (distillers dried grains with solubles) is the main waste generated from this process (around 32 million t/year). DDGS samples were pyrolyzed at 1000 ºC in a furnace with controlled atmosphere. The effluent was channeled to a second furnace, in which catalyst substrates were placed. Chromatographic analysis was used to evaluate the gaseous effluents, showing that the catalyst reduced hydrocarbon emissions. The solid products formed were analyzed by SEM and TEM. Graphitic structures and carbon nanofibers, 50 µm in length and with diameters of 80-200 nm, were formed.

Styrene-Butadiene-Rubber (SBR) is a synthetic rubber copolymer used to fabricate several products. This study aims to demonstrate the use of SBR as feedstock for carbon nanomaterials (nanofibers and nanotubes) growth, and therefore to establish a novel process for destination of waste products containing SBR. A three stage electrically heated flow reactor was used. Small pellets of rubber were pyrolyzed at a temperature of 1000 ºC. The pyrolyzates were mixed with oxygen-containing gases and were burned. The products of combustion were used to synthesize the carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) at the presence of a catalyst. CNMs have a wide range of potential applications due to their extraordinary mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. Produced materials were characterized by SEM and TEM, whereas combustion products were assessed using GC. Results showed that CNMs with outer diameters of 30-100 nm and lengths of about 30 µm were formed. Therefore, it was demonstrated that waste products containing SBR can be used to generate CNMs which are value-added products of intense technological interest.