-The production and consumption of plastics in the last decade has recorded a remarkable increase in the scientific and industrial interest in environmentally degradable polymer (EDPs). Polymers wastes are deposited improperly, such as dumps, landfills, rivers and seas, causing a serious problem by the accumulation in the environment. The abiotic processes, like the photodegradation, are the most efficient occurring in the open environmental, where the polymers undergo degradation from the action of sunlight that result from direct exposure to solar radiation, however depend of the type of chemical ageing, which is the principal component of climatic ageing. The subject of this work is to study the influence of concentration of organic pro-degradant (1, 2 and 3 % w/w) in the polypropylene (PP) exposed in natural ageing. PP samples with and without the additive were processed in plates square form, obtained by thermal compression molding (TCM) using a press at 200°C under 2 tons for 5 min, and then were exposed at natural ageing during 120 days. The presence of organic additive influenced on PP degradability, this fact was assessed by changes in the thermal and morphology properties of the samples after 120 days of natural ageing. Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) results of the morphological surface of the modified PP samples showed greater degradation photochemical oxidative when compared to neat PP, due to increase of rugosity and formation of microvoids. PP samples with different pro-degradant concentration under natural ageing presented a degree of crystallinity, obtained by Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) increases in comparing the neat PP.

A way very interesting used in the reuse of waste cellulose derivatives such as wood flour is its incorporation into thermoplastics matrix. As the olefinic polymers have no interaction with cellulose derivatives, some chemical treatments have been used in the modification of vegetable fibers, to increase the interfacial adhesion between the cellulosic reinforcement and the polymeric matrix. In this sense, the objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the methodology of the incorporation of compatibilizer agent (CA) in polyolefin matrix and evaluate the mechanical and morphological properties of composites. HDPE, wood flour from Eucalyptus grandis species (EU) and graftized polyethylene with maleic anhydride (CA) were used in composites, being extruded and after injection molding. The mixtures were processed in a single screw extruder (L/D: 22), with the temperature profile from 170° to 190°C. In a first step, the materials were processed together in the extruder, and after the samples were injected a temperature of 185°C and pressure of 600 bar. In a second step, the HDPE with the compatibilizer agent were first processed in the extruder in order to functionalize the polyolefin, and added after the wood flour (EU) sieved (30% w/w). Results showed that composites with CA had a higher mechanical performance compared to nocompatibilized. Also showed that composites compatibilized previously in the extruder with CA had better performance in comparison to other where the polymer matrix was not previously compatibilized.

Summary In the search for new biodegradable materials is found the combination of natural fibers with conventional polymeric materials or biodegradable polymers. The incorporation of natural fibers to thermoplastic polymer matrix is associated with improvement of their properties due to advantages such as the fact that the natural fibers are biodegradable and less abrasive when compared to synthetic fibers. The materials produced with conventional synthetic polymers are considered inert to immediate attack of microorganisms, as thermoplastic polymers used in this research, PP (polypropylene) and EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate). Thus, this study aims to evaluate the potential for biodegradation of wood plastic composites (WPC) obtained through the use of post‐consumer bottle caps and wood flour. The monitoring was conducted through cultivation of different species of fungi (basidiomycetes) on different substrates, being made by gravimetric analysis and visual monitoring of the composites, in order to assess that species of fungus has increased growth kinetics and its relation with different kinds of wood and then have an estimate of the potential biotic degradation of these materials. Based on results presented here, it is concluded that the Trametes villosa (TV) fungi is that best interacted with the wood contained in the composite in both species of Eucalyptus grandis (Eu) as Pinus elliottii (Pi).