Three methacrylic polymers bearing (phenylene)azobenzene moieties in the side-chain were synthesized via free-radical polymerization of monomer (E)-6-(4-((3’-cyano-4’-(hexyloxy) -[1,1’- biphenyl]-4-yl) diazenyl) phenoxy) hexyl methacrylate using 1, 5 and 10 mol% of 1,1’-azobis(cyclohexanecarbonitrile) (ABCN) as initiator. The chemical structures of monomer and polymers were confirmed by 1H NMR and FT-IR spectroscopies. Analysis by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) showed average molecular weights (Mw) of 1.0x105, 7.3x104, and 4.5x104 g/mol for polymers P1%, P5%, and P10%, respectively. These results indicate a clear dependence of the Mw on the amount of initiator used; the higher the amount of ABCN, the lowest the molecular mass. Thermotropic liquid-crystalline properties were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). All polymers showed a liquid-crystalline behavior over a wide range of temperatures (>100°C) displaying smectic type mesophases. A small shift (around 8°C) upwards in the clearing temperature was observed on increasing the molecular masses from P10% to P1%. The trans-cis photo-isomerization of polymers was studied in solution and in thin films by UV-Vis spectroscopy. High cis-isomer contents in solution (>90%) were reached in relative short irradiation times.

In this study a process analysis of the melting process of solid particles in a bath of same composition is performed using both experimental information and theoretical computations. An experimental setup was used to measure the thermal histories and to follow the evolution with time of the size of solid metallic spherical particles being melted in a metallic bath of same composition. For such a purpose, pure aluminum was used during the experiments for both solid particles and liquid bath. A mathematical model was also developed based on first principles of heat transfer to simulate the melting kinetics of a cold metallic spherical particle immersed in a hot liquid bath of same composition. The mathematical model was reasonably validated when compared against the experimental results obtained in this work. A process analysis of the melting process was performed to determine the effect of the initial temperature and size of the solid particle, the bath temperature and the convective heat transfer coefficient on the melting time and on the energy consumption.

The analysis showed that the variable presenting the most significant effect on both the melting time and the energy consumption is the convective heat transfer coefficient between the particle and the bath, since an increment in such a parameter accelerates the melting process and saves energy. Therefore, proper stirring of the bath is highly recommended to enhance the melting of metallic alloying additions in the metallic baths.

The research for new energy sources has promoted hydrocarbon production from biomass and solid wastes over ZSM-5 zeolites. The metal incorporation by different methods has led to a variety of chemical applications. In this way, the combination of the shape selectivity and acidity properties of the pentasil zeolites with the activity of metal oxide under different environments may influence the product distribution in diverse catalytic reactions. In this work, ZSM-5 zeolites were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis employing aluminum nitrate and AIP as aluminium sources and TPAOH as structure director agent at atmospheric pressure and low temperature (90 °C). In addition, these materials were modified with iron and titanium cations by direct synthesis at 170 °C and autogenous pressure to promote the crystallinity. The characterization of the samples was performed by XRD, XRF, SEM, TPD-NH3 and nitrogen adsorption. It was observed that the use of AIP and the metal incorporation decreases the crystallinity of the zeolites under synthesis conditions, which leads to increase the specific area value in the BET because of the presence of amorphous material. On the other hand, acidity of the modified zeolites was found to be lower than that of ZSM-5 zeolite.

Shape memory alloys are functional materials that can recover plastic strains between 2 and 6%. This property can be used to produce actuators for many areas as medicine, robotic, aeronautic and others. Recently, it has been observed the particular interest for shape memory alloys welding, especially to obtain Ni-Ti similar and dissimilar joints and fabricate simple or complex structures. In this sense, this work present an experimental study of tungsten inert gas pulsed welding applied to Ni-Ti shape memory alloy wires with 0.9 mm in diameter, previously heat treated at 450 °C for 20 minutes and air cooled. For that, it was carried out tensile tests at isothermal temperatures from 40 °C to 90 °C (steps of 10 °C) for welded and unwelded wires. The transformation temperatures obtained from differential scanning calorimetry were compared to verify the effect of welding process. It was also performed a stabilization process by mechanical cycling in some welded and unwelded Ni-Ti wires. The results showed a low strength and strain capacity of the weld joint at higher temperatures. Although, at lowest temperature, close to 40 °C, it was observed higher values of maximum stress and strain for welded Ni-Ti wires.