Antonio J. F. Carvalho

Biography

Antonio José Felix Carvalho received his B.Sc. in Chemistry and M.Sc. Physical chemistry) degrees from the University of Sao Paulo. During his M.Sc. he moved to the Pirelli Corp. in Sao Paulo, where he worked for 10 years in research and development of polymer materials for wire and cable insulation among other polymeric materials. He then completed a Ph.D. in materials science at the University of Sao Paulo (Thermoplastic starch reinforced with wood pulp fiber), and after a postdoctoral at the Physics Institute of Sao Carlos when he did a research with ionomer copolymers and its application in organic light-emitting diodes, he moved to the Federal University of Sao Carlos and then to the University of Sao Paulo in his present position as Full Professor. His research interests include thermoplastic starch, nanocelluloses, blends, and composites of polymers from renewable resources, and surface and interface science engineering. He is Author and Co-Author of more than 100 scientific papers and 10 patents on polymers and materials from renewable resources. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8403-1135

Abstract

Knowing the nature of water-polysaccharides interactions is of great importance for understanding the properties of these materials and for improving its use in new applications, especially in advanced materials. One of these advanced materials are nanocelluloses [1-2] which present properties such as Young’s modulus and tensile strength dependent on the presence of water [2], even at low levels. The use of starch and cellulose as components of oxygen barriers [2] is also very relevant in several applications, from packaging to new organic electronic devices and biodegradable or biocompatible electronic systems. We will present here the results of studies using high-resolution thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for the characterization of non-freezing bound water in cellulose [3] and starch [4]. This bound water was subdivided into three types: weakly bound water, intermediate bound water and strongly bound water. The activation energy of this non-freezing water interaction was estimated, showing values of the order of cellulose thermal degradation [3-4]. This work was supported by CNPq, process # 303847/2019-0.

References

  1. M.S. Chiromito, E. Trovatti & A.J.F. Carvalho
    Thermoformable fiberboards of wood pulp and nanofibrillated cellulose Ind Crops Prod. 187 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.115433 , Part B1, 2022, 115433
  1. De Sousa, M.N. Belgacem, A. Gandini & A.J.F. Carvalho
    Synthesis and characterization of nanofibrilated cellulose films modified with blocked isocyanates in aqueous media and their barrier properties to water vapor and oxygen, Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, 4, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carpta.2022.100249, 2022, 100249
  1. K. Kramer & A.J.F. Carvalho
    Non-freezing water sorbed on microcrystalline cellulose studied by high-resolution thermogravimetric analysis Cellulose, 28, doi: /10.1007/s10570-021-04189-8, 2021, 10117-10125
  1. K. Kramer & A.J.F. Carvalho (to be submitted)