Produção de Macromonômeros Vinílicos por Modificação Química do Amido com Acrilato de Metila

Resumo

The emergence of fossil-based plastic materials represented a major advance for society, as they made it possible to obtain diverse, highly durable, inexpensive and easily obtainable products. However, the unbridled consumption and improper disposal of these polymeric materials in the environment are increasingly being considered a global problem, as they affect the lives of all living beings. Thus, research aimed at replacing these products with materials with a higher biodegradability profile is becoming increasingly important. Among these materials is starch, a polysaccharide present in various foods, thus being an abundant and renewable source; by changing its structure, it is possible to obtain a biodegradable plastic. With this in mind, the present study investigated a method for modifying the structure of starch through a transesterification reaction with methyl acrylate, aiming to develop a material with enhanced biodegradability and reduced environmental impact. Characterizations by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and different nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR) techniques showed that there was a structural modification of the starch from the transesterification reaction with methyl acrylate, this being an unprecedented procedure in the literature.