Desenvolvimento de filmes biodegradáveis a partir de cigarros apreendidos pela polícia rodoviária federal (prf) por contrabando

Abstract

In 2020, the Federal Highway Police (PRF) seized around 115 million packs of cigarettes. In 2021, around 307 million packs were destroyed by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB). For other seizures to occur, the material must be rendered useless quickly. One alternative is to produce fertilizer, another is to develop substitute biodegradable plastics of petrochemical origin, in this way collaborating with the UN 2030 agenda. The aim of the work is to develop biodegradable plastics as an alternative to destroying seized cigarettes. For this, the cigarettes were subjected to the following treatments: M (mechanical), MT (mechanical and thermal), MAT (mechanical, acid and thermal), S45 (mechanical, separation in average diameter of 112 µm), S (mechanical and separation average diameter 375 µm), STT (mechanical, separation at an average diameter of 375 µm, heat treatment), STAT (mechanical and separation at an average diameter of 375 µm with heat and acid treatment), casting technique was used for film production. The average Sauter diameter of the material obtained from cigarette crushing was 310 µm. The films do not present fracture, rupture, air bubbles and excellent handling. L*dos films vary between 37.9 and 46.4. The value of a* ranged from 4.1 to 11.2, tending towards red. The b* values ranged from -2.2 to 10.7. Tensile strength values ranged from 25.26 to 55.75, the highest for the F2 film. The elongation ranged from 18.75% to 33.78%. The application of heat and acid treatment increases this parameter. Thicknesses ranged from 0.157±0.013mm to 0.297±0.013mm, higher than commercial PVC. Water solubility ranged from 38.40±0.40 to 20.97±1.14. After 15 days of degradation testing, there was a loss of mass in the films, indicating biodegradability. In the SEM, films F3 and F4 present smooth surfaces without cracks, whereas F7 presented cracks, consistent with a lower RT. Cross-sectional images indicated that F2 is homogeneous. The peaks in the region close to the 2918 and 2852 cm-1 bands presented in the FTIR graph were not visualized in F3. The DSC analysis showed a higher temperature peak for F7 followed by F3. The XRD analysis allowed us to verify that the F7 and F3 films were less crystalline in relation to the others. Ecotoxicity tests indicate that films F3 and F7 have lower toxicity in aqueous media. Antimicrobial activity was observed in the films. It was possible to develop bioplastics from cigarettes seized for smuggling, the treatments applied to the material influenced the mechanical characteristics of the film.