Bionacomposites based on nanocellulose and natural rubber

• Grant number: 12/05184-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal researcher: Alessandro Gandini
• Grantee: Eliane Trovatti
• Home Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/04057-2 - Oxidized cellulose nanofibrils for anticancer drug delivery applications, BE.EP.PD 13/05265-2 - Bioinspired adhesive composites of microfibrillated cellulose and peptide, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Natural rubber (NR) is a material with remarkable properties and applications in a wide range of materials. However, its properties can be modified and tailored for the development of new functional polymers with specific properties, in order to contribute to the growing trend in renewable materials for the substitution of fossil-derived counterparts. The nanocomposites are interesting materials, which presents high improvements in thermomechanical performance with the addition of low amounts (3 a 5%) of a nano-reinforcing agent. The use of nanocelluloses for this purpose can lead to novel natural rubber films or membranes, without changing the intrinsic properties of the matrix. In this context, Bacterial Cellulose (BC), a special kind of nanocellulose produced by microorganisms, represents a very promising filler for NR, based on its unique structure and properties. Natural fibers, mostly as different forms of cellulose fibers, have been tested as fillers for NR, but their poor compatibility with the matrix, arising from their polar character contrasting with the non-polar structure of NR, tends to give rise to composites with a modest improvement in mechanical properties. The purpose of this project is to increase the compatibility between the two components, based on the polymerization of a thin layer of polymer, such as polystyrene or an acrylic polymer, around the nanocellulose fibers. The polymerization process will be carried out in an aqueous suspension of cellulose fibers, without organic solvents. It should be highlighted that the modification of BC by appending non-polar polymers to it in an aqueous environment, i.e. a green chemistry approach, associated with the use of renewable resources, is innovative, has high scientific and technologic potential and was never reported previously, all facts that give support to the development of the project. In short, the aim of this project is the study of the admicellar polymerization of vinyl monomers around the BC fibers and their use in nanocomposite materials based on a natural rubber matrix. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GANDINI, ALESSANDRO; LACERDA, TALITA M.; CARVALHO, ANTONIO J. F.; TROVATTI, ELIANE. Progress of Polymers from Renewable Resources: Furans, Vegetable Oils, and Polysaccharides. CHEMICAL REVIEWS, v. 116, n. 3, p. 1637-1669, FEB 10 2016. (12/00124-9, 12/05184-0)

TROVATTI, ELIANE; FELIX CARVALHO, ANTONIO JOSE; GANDINI, ALESSANDRO. A new approach to blending starch with natural rubber. Polymer International, v. 64, n. 5, SI, p. 605-610, MAY 2015. (07/08394-7, 12/05184-0)

TROVATTI, ELIANE; CUNHA, ANA GISELA; CARVALHO, ANTONIO J. F.; GANDINI, ALESSANDRO. Furan-modified natural rubber: A substrate for its reversible crosslinking and for clicking it onto nanocellulose. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, v. 95, p. 762-768, FEB 2017. (12/05184-0)

TROVATTI, ELIANE; LACERDA, TALITA M.; CARVALHO, ANTONIO J. F.; GANDINI, ALESSANDRO. Recycling Tires? Reversible Crosslinking of Poly(butadiene). Advanced Materials, v. 27, n. 13, p. 2242+, APR 1 2015. (12/00124-9, 12/05184-0)

TROVATTI, ELIANE; CARVALHO, ANTONIO J. F.; RIBEIRO, SIDNEY J. L.; GANDINI, ALESSANDRO. Simple Green Approach to Reinforce Natural Rubber with Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibers. Biomacromolecules, v. 14, n. 8, p. 2667-2674, AUG 2013. (12/05184-0)

FELIX CARVALHO, ANTONIO JOSE; TROVATTI, ELIANE; CASALE, CAYQUE ALVAREZ. Polystyrene/cellulose nanofibril composites: Fiber dispersion driven by nanoemulsion flocculation. JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR LIQUIDS, v. 272, p. 387-394, DEC 15 2018. (12/05184-0)

GRANDE, RAFAEL; TROVATTI, ELIANE; CARVALHO, ANTONIO J. F.; GANDINI, ALESSANDRO. Continuous microfiber drawing by interfacial charge complexation between anionic cellulose nanofibers and cationic chitosan. JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A, v. 5, n. 25, p. 13098-13103, JUL 7 2017. (15/07744-0, 12/05184-0)