Thirty million tons of coal fly ash are produced each year in South Africa of which approximately 5% is utilised beneficially. With the growing concern about pollution and increasing landfill costs, the study of the utilisation and application of coal fly ash has increased worldwide. The morphology and particle size of fly ash make it suitable for application as filler in polymers, but its application is hindered by the lack of compatibility between the inorganic surface of the ash and the organic matrix of the polymer. Another concern is the agglomeration between fly ash particles. For this reasons, surface treatment is usually performed on mineral fillers to enhance workability and compatibility between the polymer and filler. This study involved the surface modification of South African coal fly ash with an anionic surfactant, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), under different treatment conditions. Surface and physical properties of the untreated and treated fly ash were studied systematically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to determine the extent of interaction between the SLS and the fly ash surface. Other analytical techniques applied include Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-FTIR), Particle size distribution, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), Raman spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy FTIR). Although the overall chemical composition of the SLS modified coal fly ash investigated in this study was not altered extensively, significant changes could be observed in its physical properties. The hydrophilic surface of untreated fly ash was rendered hydrophobic after SLS treatment. SEM results indicated a decrease in agglomeration between fly ash spheres upon surfactant treatment, while results obtained from TEM have shown agglomerates on the surface of most of the fly ash spheres. There is a distinct difference between the morphology of agglomerates on the untreated and SLS modified fly ash, and also between samples treated under different conditions. Not all SLS modified fly ash particles were covered with agglomerates to the same degree. Results obtained from FTIR and TGA-FTIR studies were promising in the sense that hydrocarbon fractions could be observed in the TGA-FTIR decomposition products. The possibility of interactions between fly ash and SLS could be deduced from the FTIR results of the solid samples, due to a small shift in peak positions of the S-O stretch vibration, which may be indicative of electrostatic interactions rather than bonding interactions between SLS and fly ash. The presence of SLS could not be confirmed by Raman spectroscopy, but rendered information about the spatial distribution of the various phases in the fly ash. Feasibility tests were performed on the application of fly ash samples as filler in PVC. These results indicate that SLS treated fly ash can successfully replace CaCO3 as filler in PVC under conditions of low filler loadings / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Chemistry / unrestricted

Orientador: Carlos Raimundo Ferreira Grosso / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-05T16:31:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Davanco_Taciana_M.pdf: 2629355 bytes, checksum: cdbb1966776fdc55926071d8c776dbb4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Desenvolvimento de biofilmes tem crescido devido a possibilidade de substituição parcial de materiais plásticos não degradáveis. Proteínas e polissacarídeos têm sido utilizados para a produção de filmes com boas propriedades mecânicas. Porém filmes a partir desses materiais apresentam alta permeabilidade ao vapor de água. Uma alternativa usada para diminuir a permeabilidade ao vapor de água dos filmes é a incorporação de substancias hidrofóbicas na composição da solução filmogênica, porém a incorporação dessas substâncias na matriz filmogênica não ocorre de maneira homogênea. Com o objetivo de melhorar a incorporação das substâncias hidrofóbicas na matriz protéica do filme foram adicionados os surfactantes (SDS e Tween 80), que são compostos orgânicos constituídos por moléculas anfifílicas, contendo uma parte polar e outra apolar, com o intuito desta substância interagir na proteína e no ácido graxo, tornando a matriz filmogênica menos heterogênea. O efeito do pH também foi estudado, com a finalidade de observar se este exerce influência na homogeneidade da matriz filmogênica. Os ácidos graxos utilizados no trabalho foram o ácido capróico (6C), e o ácido esteárico (18C), com o objetivo de avaliar e comparar se o número de carbonos da cadeia do ácido graxo exerce influencia na incorporação da matriz protéica. Os filmes foram caracterizados quanto as propriedades de barreira ao vapor de água e propriedades mecânicas, solubilidade em água, opacidade, isotermas de sorção e calorimetria diferencial de varredura, podendo ser observado que a adição dos surfactantes melhorou a barreira ao vapor de água e diminuiu a resistência à tração dos filmes, não sendo observado diferenças na cor e opacidade dos filmes . Posteriormente foram analisadas as características morfológicas, através da microscopia ótica, microscopia eletrônica de varredura e microscopia confocal de varredura a laser, observando que o ajuste do pH e a adição do surfactante modificam a estrutura morfológica do filme / Abstract: Development of biofilms has grown considering the possibility of partial substitution of plastic materials not degradable. Proteins and polysaccharides have been used for the production of films with good mechanical properties. However films produced with these materials present high water vapor permeability to the water vapor. An used alternative to improve the water vapor barrier of the films is the incorporation of hydrophobic substances in the composition of the filmogenic solution, however the incorporation of these substances in the filmogenic matrix does not occur in homogeneous way. Thus with, the objective to improve the incorporation of hydrofhobic substances in the protein matrix of the film surfactants had been added (SDS and Tween 80). They are organic compounds constituted by anphiphilics molecules, incluing a polar part and other apolar, with the intention that is substances improve the interaction between the protein and the fats acids, producing a less heterogeneous filmogenic matrix. The effect of pH also was studied, with the purpose to observe if this produce influence in the homogeneity of the filmogenic matrix. The fats acids used in this work were the caproic acid (6C), and the stearic acid (18C), with the objective to evaluate and to compare if the carbon number of the fats acids exerts influences in the incorporation on the protein matrix. The films were characterized with respect to the properties of barrier to the water vapor, solubility in water, opacity, isotherms of sorption and thermal properties, being able to be observed that the addition of the surfactants improved the water vapor permeability and decreased the tensile strenght of the films, not being observed differences in the color and opacity of the films. Later the morphologic characteristics had been analyzed, through optics microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy, observing that the adjustment of pH and the addition of the surfactant modify the morphological structure of the films / Mestrado / Nutrição Experimental e Aplicada à Tecnologia de Alimentos / Mestre em Alimentos e Nutrição