Resumo em Inglês:

Pechini method has been used to synthesize MN powders with stoichiometric control. By this method, K and Li-doped MN in the range from 0.1 to 5.0 mol% of dopants have been obtained at relatively lower temperatures than it is possible with the conventional mixture of oxides. The results from BET analysis indicated that the doped powders have lower surface area and the attrition milling promotes an increase in surface area values for all powders. Rietveld method was used to calculate the mean crystallite size and the microstrain in the crystal. With additions of up to 5.0 mol% of K or 2.0 mol% of Li, it is possible to obtain MN as a solid solution. Both dopants change the cell parameters of the columbite phase crystal, reduce the microstrain, and increase the main crystallite size. The analysis of results from SEM indicates that powders prepared with addition of dopants are more agglomerate than pure PMN powder.

Resumo em Inglês:

The effect of the filler content and size, as well as accelerated aging on the mechanical properties of polypropylene composites reinforced with woodflour (WF/PP) were evaluated. The composites were prepared by the extrusion of polypropylene with woodflour (Pinus elliotti) based on following ratios: 15, 25 and 40 wt% with two different granulometries. The specimens were injection molded according to ASTM standards. The composite properties did not show significant differences as a function of the filler granulometry. We also observed that by increasing the filler content, both the mechanical properties and the melt flow index (MFI) decreased, and the elasticity modulus, hardness and density increased. Concerning the accelerated aging, the composite presented a reduction in tensile properties. The results showed that the composite properties are extremely favorable when compared to other commercial systems reinforced by inorganic fillers.

Resumo em Inglês:

Carbon fibres and glass fibres are reinforcements for advanced composites and the fiber strength is the most influential factor on the strength of the composites. They are essentially brittle and fail with very little reduction in cross section. Composites made with these fibres are characterized by a high strength/density ratio and their properties are intrisically related to their microstructure, i.e., amount and orientation of the fibres, surface treatment, among other factors. Processing parameters have an important role in the fibre mechanical behaviour (strength and modulus). Cracks, voids and impurities in the case of glass fibres and fibrillar misalignments in the case of carbon fibres are created during processing. Such inhomogeneities give rise to an appreciable scatter in properties. The most used statistical tool that deals with this characteristic variability in properties is the Weibull distribution. The present work investigates the influence of the testing gage length on the strength, Young's modulus and Weibull modulus of carbon fibres and glass fibres. The Young's modulus is calculated by two methods: (i) ASTM D 3379M, and (ii) interaction between testing equipment/specimen The first method resulted in a Young modulus of 183 GPa for carbon fibre, and 76 GPa for glass fibre. The second method gave a Young modulus of 250 GPa for carbon fibre and 50 GPa for glass fibre. These differences revelead differences on how the interaction specimen/testing machine can interfere in the Young modulus calculations. Weibull modulus can be a tool to evaluate the fibre's homogeneity in terms of properties and it is a good quality control parameter during processing. In the range of specimen gage length tested the Weibull modulus for carbon fibre is ~ 3.30 and for glass fibres is ~ 5.65, which indicates that for the batch of fibres tested, the glass fibre is more uniform in properties.

Resumo em Inglês:

Layered alpha-zirconium hydrogenphosphate monohydrate was prepared by direct precipitation, exchanged with n-propylamine and then by chromium aquacomplexes. The solids were characterized by X-ray diffraction, mass spectrometry, infrared and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The results suggest that monomer complexes form extended, hydrogen bonded, sandwiched monolayers in the interlayer space.

Resumo em Inglês:

P+-type emitters were optimized keeping the base parameters constant. Updated internal parameters were considered. The surface recombination velocity was considered variable with the surface doping level. Passivated homogeneous emitters were found to have low emitter recombination density and high collection efficiency. A complete structure p+nn+ was analyzed, taking into account optimized shadowing and metal-contacted factors for laboratory cells as function of the surface doping level and the emitter thickness. The base parameters were kept constant to make the emitter characteristics evident. The most efficient P+-type passivated homogeneous emitters, provide efficiencies around 21% for a wide range of emitter sheet resistivity (50 -- 500 omega/<img src="/img/revistas/mr/v5n4/qd.gif">) with the surface doping levels Ns=1×10(19) cm-3 and 5×10(19) cm-3. The output electrical parameters were evaluated considering the recently proposed value n i=9.65×10(9) (cm-3). A non-significant increase of 0.1% in the efficiency was obtained, validating all the conclusions obtained in this work, considering n i=1×10(10) cm-3.

Resumo em Inglês:

This paper presents a research in which the performance of two different grinding wheels (a conventional and a CBN wheel) was evaluated in a transverse cylindrical grinding of a eutectic alloy. Three cutting conditions were tested: rough, semi-finishing and finishing. As evaluating parameters, the cutting force, the roughness and the wheel wear were measured. As a result, the best values of the cutting force and the roughness were obtained when grinding with the conventional wheel, due to the best dressing operation performed, for all the cutting conditions. The CBN presented the best G ratio values. Although, the G ratio values observed for the CBN wheel were lower than the expected one due to the non-effective dressing operation applied. In the conditions tested, in terms of cutting force and roughness, the conventional wheel is the best choice. In terms of G ratio, a cost analysis is crucial to determine if the differences observed among the wheels can justify the use of the CBN wheel. In a positive case, the dressing operation must be improved.

Resumo em Inglês:

This work refers to the application of a Voltammetric Anodic Dissolution (VAD) Technique in the analysis of coating discontinuities, focusing on pores and cracks that exposed the substrate. An evaluation was made of the influence of several parameters, such as the concentration of the passivation solution and sweep rate (SR), on the substrate passivation process and on the porosity indexes of tricationic phosphate coatings of Fe/Zn/Mn. The phosphatization process used was a commercial tricationic Fe/Zn/Mn phosphate bath applied on a galvanized steel (GS) substrate. Once the best experimental conditions for the use of the VAD technique had been defined, the grain size and layer weight were related to porosity indexes. The porosity was found to show a tendency to decrease with increasing grain size. The VAD technique consists of the anodic polarization of the substrate/coating system and measurement of the charge density involved in the substrate passivation process. A quantitative porosity index was obtained by comparing the passivation charge density of the substrate without coating (standard passivation charge density) and the passivation charge of the coated substrate.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work we studied the influence of microwaves in the pore structure of silica gels obtained via sol-gel polymerization process. We analised the feasibility of replacing conventional heating by microwave heating during drying. Structural parameters such as specific volume of pores (Vp), specific surface area (Sp), average pore size (r p) and the bulk and true densities were measured. X-ray diffraction confirmed the obtention of a completely amorphous structure for the gels. Some characteristics of silica gels were evaluated by thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), differential thermal analyses (DTA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). We observed that microwave drying is a feasible process to yield controlled pore nanostructures. The gels obtained via microwave heating presented average pore size of 1.2 nm, specific surface area of 112 m²/g and specific volume of pores of 0.06 cm³/g. The gels obtained via conventional heating presented average pore size of 1.3 nm, specific surface area of 748 m²/g and specific volume of pores of 0.49 cm³/g.

Resumo em Inglês:

In the present study the thermal decomposition of a freeze-dried copper(II) acetate monohydrate powder, (CH3COO)2Cu.H2O, (FDCuAcH2O), was analysed by a combination of high-temperature X-ray diffractometry; differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry, up to 700 °C. The structure and morphology of the calcined freeze-dried powders were analysed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The results showed that FDAcCuH2O decomposes during heating in two stages: I) (25-225 °C) FDCuAcH2O dehydrates giving rise to copper(II) acetate, (CH3COO)2Cu, (AcCu), and II) (225-525 °C) AcCu decomposes to CuO through complex oxidation reactions of Cu and Cu2O, simultaneously. SEM showed that FDCuAcH2O powder has a scale-like morphology, which is created in the freezing stage and retained after freeze-drying. After calcination at 125 and 225 °C, clusters of elongated tubes (or filaments) compose the resulting powder (AcCu). Subsequent calcination at temperatures above 325 °C resulted in hard clusters of spheroid-like CuO particles.

Resumo em Inglês:

The metals of the group IV B (Ti, Zr, Hf) present a series of carbides and oxicarbides with scientific and technological interest. Many of these compounds belong to the subsystem "MO - MC" of the pseudoternary "MO - MN - MC" system (where M = Ti, Zr or Hf). In this work carboreduction reactions of TiO2 and ZrO2 were performed in argon atmosphere, using temperatures from 1250° to 1650° and reaction times of 120 min. The oxicarbides obtained were in the range TiC0.16O0.84 to TiC0.73O0.27 and ZrC0.46O0.54 to ZrC0.90O0.10. respectively. The reaction products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), with the calculation of their cell constants by means of the Rietveld method. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used in the characterization of powdered materials. Additionally, the carborreduction reaction was followed by weight loss.

Resumo em Inglês:

Three new processes to obtain silica having high specific surface area from burned pre-treated rice hulls are presented and discussed. These procedures allow for the simultaneous recovery of biomass energy and the production of high quality silica at thermoelectric plants, without the risk of using corrosive substances in the burning process. The first method involves treatment of the hull with hot organic acid solutions before burning, the second with boiling water, both using an autoclave at temperatures close to150 °C, while the third method renders the hull fragile by treating it at 250 °C and reducing it to a fine powder before burning. The first two methods result in white amorphous silica that can show 500 m²/g of specific surface area. The third method, which does not remove the alkaline elements from the hull, produces an amorphous gray carbon-free powder whose specific surface area can be as high as 250 m²/g. An investigation of the specific surface area of the prepared silica indicates the alkaline elements are not mixed with silica in the hulls or combined as insoluble compounds. A comparison is made of these processes and the dissolution of silica by sodium hydroxide solutions is discussed.

Resumo em Inglês:

N2 and CO2 gases adsorption by tetramethylammonium(TMA)-montmorillonites and hexadecylpyridinium(HDP)-montmorillonites was carried out using volumetric equipment at 25 °C and 0.1 MPa. The addition of organic compounds to montmorillonites was 1 and 4 times the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the montmorillonites and the contact times between the TMA (or HDP) and the montmorillonites were 4 and 24 h. The adsorptions of CO2 by TMA-montmorillonites (0.383-0.477 mmol/g) were higher than those by HDP-montmorillonites (0.027-0.060 mmol/g). N2 gas retentions by organo-montmorillonites were small: in the range of 0.038-0.065 mmol/g TMA-montmorillonites and around 0.010 mmol/g HDP-montmorillonites. The interlamellar spacing of the organo-montmorillonites, the structure of the intercalated organic molecule, and the type of montmorillonites influenced the gas adsorption values.

Resumo em Inglês:

In artificial joints, the bone part is usually substituted by a metallic component with high corrosion and strength resistance while the articular cartilage is replaced by a polymer. Use of thin layer of a compliant material acting as a bearing surface in human replacement joints has recently generated considerable interest. This work analyses the coating of a solid porous substrate of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) with a poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) and two sIPN-type blends: pHEMA-cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) and pHEMA-poly (ethyl methacrylate) (PEM) using 5.0% (w/w) of the crosslinking agent and 11.0% (w/w) of the linear reinforcing polymer. The wear resistance of the coating materials was evaluated in a TRI PIN ON DISK type equipment and the damage extension was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Preliminary qualitative tests were performed with the goal to identifying the hydrogels show the minimal required properties concerning wear strength. The pHEMA coating was completely destroyed during the first wear cycles, characterizing its low shear strength. By the other hand, after the complete experiment, both pHEMA-CAB and pHEMA-PEM blends showed a slightly improvement of abrasive and adhesive wear. This result indicates that the studied blends are promising materials to be used as compliant surfaces in joint prosthesis.

Resumo em Inglês:

The aim of this in vitro study was to assess the effect of different fluoride-containing mouthrinses on the translucence of resin-modified glass ionomer cements, as a function of the restorative material used, the fluoride-containing solution employed and the time of immersion. Disks were prepared (10 mm × 2 mm) with the modified glass ionomer cements Vitremer (3M) and Fuji II LC (GC Co.), and immersed in three fluoride-containing solutions: Fluordent Reach (Johnson & Johnson), Fluorgard (Colgate-Palmolive) and Oral B (Gillette do Brasil Ltda). Translucence was measured with electrophoresis equipment (JOUAN) after different immersion times. The results obtained were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test, and a statistically significant decrease was observed in the translucence of the materials after immersion in the fluoride-containing solutions. Fuji II LC demonstrated the lowest alteration in translucence, independently of the solution employed. Fluorgard was the fluoride-containing mouthrinse that promoted the highest alteration. It can be concluded that the fluoride-containing mouthrinses influenced the translucence of the resin-modified glass ionomer cements.

Resumo em Inglês:

The 2.25Cr<FONT FACE=Symbol>¾</FONT>1.0Mo steel is widely used in petroleum refining units, for example, in pressure vessels, working under severe operational conditions. Due to the high temperatures of some processes, many phenomena such as precipitation of carbides and their coarsening occur during service, resulting in changes of material microstructure. Such changes may modify the mechanical properties, which are responsible for the performance of the pressure vessels. Using a software for thermodynamic calculations, the thermodynamically stable carbides over the temperature range of interest (700-1040 K) were evaluated, supposing ferrite as the original microstructure. The theoretical carbide nucleation sequence was also established. Moreover, the theoretical amount of thermodynamically stable carbides and the fraction of Fe, Cr and Mo in the metallic sublattice of M23C6 were determined as a function of temperature. These theoretical calculations were compared to some experimental results on carbide precipitation in the 2.25Cr<FONT FACE=Symbol>¾</FONT>1.0Mo steel and two approaches for evaluating the service degradation were proposed. The first one is based on the amount of precipitated M23C6 and the other on the Fe/Cr ratio in the M23C6 carbide.

Resumo em Inglês:

In this work TiO2-SiO2 glasses containing as much as 20 mol % of TiO2 were prepared via sol-gel process using titanium and silicon alkoxides, in the presence of chlorine, in the form of titanium tetrachloride or HCl. The gels were heat-treated until 800 °C. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to understand the structural properties of TiO2-SiO2 oxides calcined at different temperatures and to evaluate the homogeneity of these materials. The degree of the compactness of the silica network is inferred from the frequency of the asymmetric stretching vibrations of Si-O-Si bonds. Formation of Si-O-Ti bridges, as monitored by the intensity of characteristic 945 cm-1 <FONT FACE=Symbol>¾</FONT> 960 cm-1 vibration, is particularly prominent if the method of basic two-step prehydrolysis of silicon alkoxide, addition of titanium alkoxide and completion of hydrolysis was used.