Submitted by Emanuel Varela Cardoso (emanuel.varela@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-06-28T22:08:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JEANE PAULINO DE ARAÚJO – DISSERTAÇÃO (UAEMa) 2015.pdf: 2128480 bytes, checksum: 70c9e8ae2b3e956c8dd6515d58ebc9d0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-28T22:08:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JEANE PAULINO DE ARAÚJO – DISSERTAÇÃO (UAEMa) 2015.pdf: 2128480 bytes, checksum: 70c9e8ae2b3e956c8dd6515d58ebc9d0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-28 / Capes / O poli(ácido lático) (PLA) tem despertado grande interesse tanto da academia como da indústria devido principalmente a sua biodegradabilidade, algumas propriedades mecânicas atraentes e por ser sintetizado a partir de matéria-prima de fontes renováveis. Entretanto, o PLA apresenta algumas desvantagens, como alta fragilidade, baixa taxa de cristalização, sensibilidade a umidade e a degradação em altas temperaturas, que limitam suas aplicações e comprometem seu processamento e desempenho final, sendo necessário muitas vezes modificar o PLA para que este possa atender as expectativas de mercado. Desse modo, foi realizada a modificação do PLA através de blendas com o polietileno enxertado com ácido acrílico (PEgAA), sendo avaliada a reatividade entre os grupos funcionais dos dois polímeros e o efeito de diferentes concentrações do copolímero PEgAA nas propriedades das blendas. As blendas PLA/PEgAA contendo 5, 10, 15 e 20% (em massa) do PEgAA foram preparados em uma extrusora dupla-rosca corrotacional, sendo caracterizadas por espectroscopia na região do infravermelho com transformada de Fourier (FTIR), calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC), análise térmica dinâmico-mecânica (DMTA), propriedades mecânicas, microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), difratometria de raios X (DRX) e ensaios reológicos. A análise por FTIR indicou a ocorrência de uma reação de poliesterificação entre os grupos hidroxila do PLA e os grupos carboxila do PEgAA. As análises DSC e DMTA indicaram que a adição do PEgAA levou à diminuição tanto da temperatura de transição vítrea (Tg) como da temperatura de cristalização a frio (Tcc) do PLA nas blendas. Com o aumento do teor de PEgAA nas blendas houve aumento do tamanho dos domínios de PEgAA. Com a incorporação do PEgAA houve ligeiro aumento da resistência ao impacto para as blendas com 5 e 10% do PEgAA em relação ao PLA puro. A blenda PLA/PEgAA contendo 15% do PEgAA apresentou maior viscosidade complexa e o módulo de armazenamento a baixas frequências. / The poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has attracted great interest from both academia and industry mainly due to its biodegradability, some attractive mechanical properties and because it is synthesized from raw materials from renewable sources. However, PLA has some drawbacks such as high brittleness, low crystallization rate, sensitivity to moisture, and deterioration at high temperatures, which limit its applications and compromise its processing and final performance, needing to be modified, so it can meet market expectations. Thus, the modification of PLA was carried by blending it with polyethylene grafted with acrylic acid (PEgAA), assessing the reactivity between the functional groups of the two polymers and the effect of different PEgAA copolymer content on the properties of PLA/PEgAA blend. PLA/PEgAA blends containing 5, 10, 15 and 20% (wt) of PEgAA were prepared in a co-rotational twinscrew extruder, and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), mechanical properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and rheological measurements. FTIR results indicated that a polyesterification reaction between the hydroxyl groups of PLA and the carboxyl groups of PEgAA has occurred. DSC and DMTA analyses indicated that the addition of PEgAA to PLA led to the decrease in both the glass transition (Tg) and the cold crystallization (Tcc) temperatures. The PEgAA domains size increased with the increase in the PEgAA content. With the addition of PEgAA there was a slight increase in the impact strength of the blends containing 5 and 10% of PEgAA, when compared to that of neat PLA. The PLA/PEgAA blend containing 15% (wt) of PEgAA presented the highest complex viscosity and storage modulus at low frequencies.

The uniform dispersion of the nano fillers without agglomeration in a polymeric matrix is widely adapted for the purpose of mechanical properties enhancement. In the context to biomedical applications, the type and amount of nanoparticles can potentially influence the biocompatibility. In order to address these issues, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) based composites reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) were prepared by melt mixing followed by compression moulding. In an attempt to tailor the dispersion and to improve the interfacial adhesion, polyethylene (PE) was immobilized onto GO sheets by nucleophilic addition-elimination reaction. A good combination of yield strength (ca. 20 MPa), elastic modulus (ca. 600 MPa) and an outstanding elongation at failure (ca. 70 %) were recorded with 3 wt % polyethylene grafted graphene oxide (PE-g-GO) reinforced HDPE composites. Considering the relevance of protein adsorption as a biophysical precursor to cell adhesion, the protein adsorption isotherms of bovine serum albumin (BSA) were determined to realize three times higher equilibrium constant (Keq) for PE-g-GO reinforced HDPE composites as compared to GO reinforced composites. In order to assess the cytocompatibility, osteoblast cells (MC3T3) were grown on HDPE/GO and HDPE/PE-g-GO composites, in vitro. The statistically significant increase in metabolically active cell was observed, irrespective of the substrate composition. Such observation indicated that HDPE with GO or PE-g-GO addition (upto 3 wt %) can be used as cell growth substrate. The extensive proliferation of cells with oriented growth pattern also supported the fact that tailored GO addition can support cellular functionality, in vitro. Taken together, the experimental results suggest that the PE-g-GO in HDPE can effectively be utilized to enhance both mechanical and cytocompatibility properties and can further be explored for potential biomedical applications.