The concern about waste in the world is growing because of the significant environmental impact. Therefore, new alternatives are used, such as recycling, biodegradable polymer, agroindustry waste reuse, and many others. In this sense, this paper proposes a production of new bio-packing based on the waste production from agriculture (sugarcane bagasse) and the drinking industry (plastic bottles from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)) for agriculture products transportation. Then, this new material was characterized by thermal, chemical, morphological, mechanical, antifungal activity, and hydrophobic character to evaluate its characteristics to use as bio-packing. Following this purpose, all samples are characterized in nature and after production by scanning electron microscopy analysis (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), infrared spectroscopy analysis (FTIR), surface angle contact, mechanical properties, and antifungal activity. The results indicated that the sample with 15% of bagasse presents the best mechanical properties. In addition, the presence of porosity can provide the material with low thermal conductivity. Moreover, the antifungal activity indicates that inhibition of fungus micellar growth was proportional to the decrease of bagasse in bio-packing. Then, which offers an innovative strategy for the use of waste in the production of environmentally friendly packing.
Nowadays, the search to develop sustainable materials using materials from renewable sources to multifunctional applications is a great challenge. In this context, the present research evaluated producing new carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels with nano-graphene oxide incorporated into potential applications in biomedical and energy areas. Spectroscopies analysis (FTIR, Raman, UV Vis), X-ray diffraction, and morphological (SEM, TEM, BET) were used to characterize these hydrogels. In addition, quantum dots based on cobalt sulfide were made to evaluate the energy application. Moreover, biocompatibility was tested using an MTT assay. The results showed that the nGO changes the structure of hydrogels and their crystalline structure, mainly because of heat treatment and the donation of hydroxyl groups by CMC. In addition, the chemical groups of hydrogels suffer red and blue shifts by the nGO presence. Moreover, the nGO was homogeneously spread into the hydrogel matrix. Furthermore, the MTT assay was performed to analyze the cytotoxicity of hydrogels with nGO (over 90%). In addition, the cell solar production using hydrogels and cobalt quantum dots (size of 3 nm) provided a potential application of these materials to renewable energy sources.
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