Obtenção, caracterização e aplicação de aditivos antioxidantes derivados dos principais constituintes do líquido da casca da castanha de caju

Abstract

Organic substrates derived from petroleum such as gasoline, diesel, lubricants, polymers and natural organic products, such as biofuels are, in most cases, susceptible to oxidation process that occurs initially through formation of free radicals, which modifies the chemical characteristics and alters the properties of these materials. Aiming the inhibition or reduction of the oxidative process, many works have been directed to the development of additives that prevent the formation and the action of radical species, called antioxidant additives. From this perspective, the studies carried out in this work relates the application of phenolic compounds obtained from Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (cardanol and cardol), as well as their alkylated, nitrated and phosphorated derivatives in the inhibition of the oxidation processes of organic substrates and the investigation of the mechanism of action these compounds, providing useful information about the relationship between antioxidant activity and the structural composition of these substances. The evaluation of the antioxidant capacity of cardanol, cardol and tert-butylated cardanol was initially developed by electrochemical study and accelerated oxidation tests, which allowed, respectively, the determination of the anodic peak potential (Epa) and induction time (IT). In these experiments, special emphasis was given to cardol and tert-butylated derivative of cardanol, which had the lowest values of Epa (0,66 e 0,68 V, respectively) and provide higher IT values (7,87 e 7,02 h respectively), characterized as the best phenolic antioxidants tested. These tests also showed that unsaturated compounds exhibit antioxidant action superior to their saturated analogues (cardol, cardanol, and tert-butylated cardanol unsaturated had mean values of IT approximately 0.42 hours higher than its analogs saturated). The superiority of cardol and tert-butylated cardanol was also observed in comparison to nitro compounds derived from saturated cardanol, showing that groups donor of electrons has a positive effect on the action of these compounds as antioxidants. The performance of phosphorous compounds derived from cardanol was, in turn, confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis, obtained from biodiesel samples doped with these compounds in ratios ranging from 500 to 2000 ppm. In this study, it was observed that the phosphorous compounds promoted a maximum increase of 18,5 °C in the initial degradation temperature of the tested biodiesel sample. Thermogravimetric analysis of cardanol, cardol, tert-butylated cardanol and phosphorus compounds also showed that these compounds exhibited thermo-oxidative resistance larger than commercial antioxidants as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). In general, the results, presented in this work, demonstrated the antioxidant activity of compounds derived from the CNSL, presenting useful means of determining its performance and practical application as antioxidant additive for biodiesel.