Extração e caracterização de nanocristais de celulose a partir de sabugo de milho, e sua aplicação como agente de reforço em nanocompósitos poliméricos utilizando poli (álcool vinílico) como matriz

Abstract

Corncob (SM) is an agro-industrial waste available in large quantities in Brazil which deserves to be better and/or properly used. This work evaluates the use of SM as a source of cellulose to obtain cellulose nanocrystals (NC) by acid hydrolysis in order to obtain a material suitable to be a reinforcement agent in the manufacture of nanocomposites. The hydrolysis were performed at 45 °C for 30, 60 and 90 min, using 15 mL of H2SO4 (9.17 M) for each gram of fiber. The resulting NC of corncob (NCSM) were characterized by crystallinity index (ICr), morphology and thermal stability; and its ability to strengthen was evaluated as the maximum tensile strength (RTM), the initial degradation temperature (Tonset), transparency and optical transmittance (Tr) and the permeability to water (PH) using poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the polymeric matrix. The NCSM obtained with 60 min of hydrolysis (NCSM60) endowed the PVA/NCSM nanocomposites with a significantly improved tensile strength of 140.2% when only 9% (wt%) NCSM60 was incorporated. The addition of NCSM60 in the PVA matrix improved the Tonset of the nanocomposite tested, and the PVA film loaded with 6 wt% NCSM60 showed an Tonset around 242 °C. The results of (Tr) films in the region of ultraviolet-visible spectrum showed excellent Tr in the visible region maintaining the transparency of the nanocomposite films substantially equal to pure PVA film. The nanocomposite films with 3%, 6% and 9% filler showed increasing improvement in the reduction of PH of 6.93%, 19.97% and 28.73% respectively, and this may be an indication that the NCSM60 were well dispersed and adhered in the polymer matrix. The NCSM60 presented a needle-shaped nature, high crystallinity (83.7%), good thermal stability (236 °C), average length (L) of 210.8±44.2 nm, diameter (D) of 4.15±1.08 nm, and aspect ratio (L/D) of 53.4±15.8. The results show that the more suitable filler were NCSM60. Since NCSM60 has the highest crystallinity among the NCSM samples, but does not have the highest aspect ratio, these results suggest that the difference in the ICr has a greater influence on the tensile properties than the aspects ratio, in this case. Cellulose nanocrystals obtained from corncob have great potential as reinforcing agents for the manufacture of nanocomposites.