31 resultados para biodegradable stents
Resumo:
Removing microcontaminants from effluents is a challenge today, because of its high cost and low efficiency, especially in the treatment of effluents containing heavy metals. An alternative that has emerged is the use of biodegradable nanocomposites, which exhibit good removal and recovery performances, in addition to its low cost. With this in mind, the present study aimed to develop and characterize a nanocomposite based on hydroxyapatite (HAP), polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for removing heavy metals. Thus, the research was conducted in several steps: i)- Physico-chemical and microbiological hospital effluent characterization; ii)- Production of hydroxyapatite by aqueous precipitation technique, and their characterization; iii)- Production of the nanocomposite in which the hydroxyapatite was added to the polyurethane prepolymers and then the polyvinyl alcohol/hydroxyapatite film was produced; iv)- Polyvinyl composite without film PU/HAp was also produced in the proportions of 20 and 40% HAp; v)- The composites was characterized by the techniques of XRD, FTIR, SEM / EDS, BET, Zeta Potential and TGA; vi)- The sisal and coconut fibres were washed and dried for comparative tests of adsorption; vii)- Adsorption tests for evaluating the removal of heavy metals (nickel and cadmium). Initial screening adsorption capacity (HAp; PU/HAp - 20 and 40%; PU / HAp / PVA), kinetic studies of adsorption of Cd (II) by HAp; multifactorial design analysis (factorial design) for identifying the most important variables in the adsorption of Cd (II) by composite PU/HAp. Also comparative analysis of adsorption of Cd and Ni by composite PU/HAp were conducted, as well as comparative tests of adsorption of Cd (coconut fibre) and Ni (sisal fibre). It was possible to verify that the composite PU/HAp 40% showed better effectiveness for the removal of Cd (II) and Ni (II), above 80%, equivalent to the lignocellulosic fibre used and HAp produced. As main conclusion, it can be referred that the composite PU/HAp 40% is an effective adsorvent to wastewater treatment for heavy metal removal, with low cost and high efficiency
Resumo:
With the objective to promote sustainable development, the fibres found in nature in abundance, which are biodegradable, of low cost in comparison to synthetic fibres are being used in the manufacture of composites. The mechanical behavior of the curauá and pineapple leaf fibre (PALF) composites in different proportions, 25% x 75% (P1), 50% x 50% (P2) e 75% x 25% (P3) were respectively studied, being initially treated with a 2% aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide. Mechanical analyses indicated that with respect to studies of traction, for the combination of P1 and P3, better results of 22.17 MPa and 16.98 MPa, were obtained respectively, which are higher than that of the combination P2. The results of the same pattern were obtained for analysis of bending resistance where P1 is 1.21% and P3 represents 0.96%. In the case of resistance to bending, best results were obtained for the combination P1 at 49.07 MPa. However, when Young's modulus values were calculated, the values were different to the pattern of the results of other tests, where the combination P2 with the value of 4.06 GPa is greater than the other combinations. This shows that the PALF had a greater influence in relation to curauá fibre. The analysis of the results generally shows that in combinations of two vegetable fibers of cellulosic origin, the fiber which shows higher percentage (75%) is the best option than to the composition of 50%/50%. In the meantime, according to the results obtained in this study, in the case where the application should withstand bending loads, the better composition would be 50%/50%
Resumo:
Concern for the environment and the exploitation of natural resources has motivated the development of research in lignocellulosic materials, mainly from plant fibers. The major attraction of these materials include the fact that the fibers are biodegradable, they are a renewable natural resource, low cost and they usually produce less wear on equipment manufacturing when compared with synthetic fibers. Its applications are focused on the areas of technology, including automotive, aerospace, marine, civil, among others, due to the advantageous use in economic and ecological terms. Therefore, this study aims to characterize and analyze the properties of plant fiber macambira (bromelia laciniosa), which were obtained in the municipality of Ielmo Marino, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in the region of the Wasteland Potiguar. The characterization of the fiber is given by SEM analysis, tensile test, TG, FTIR, chemical analysis, in addition to obtaining his title and density. The results showed that the extraction of the fibers, only 0.5% of the material is converted into fibers. The results for title and density were satisfactory when compared with other fibers of the same nature. Its structure is composed of microfibrils and its surface is roughened. The cross section has a non-uniform geometry, therefore, it is understood that its diameter is variable along the entire fiber. Values for tensile strength were lower than those of sisal fibers and curauá. The degradation temperature remained equivalent to the degradation temperatures of other vegetable fibers. In FTIR analysis showed that the heat treatment may be an alternative to making the fiber hydrophobic, since, at high temperature can remove the hemicellulose layer, responsible for moisture absorption. Its chemical constitution is endowed with elements of polar nature, so their moisture is around 8.5% which is equivalent to the percentage of moisture content of hydrophilic fibers. It can be concluded that the fiber macambira stands as an alternative materials from renewable sources and depending on the actual application and purpose, it may achieve satisfactory results
Resumo:
The lubricants found in the market are of mineral or synthetic origin and harm to humans and the environment, mainly due to their improper discard. Therefore industries are seeking to develop products that cause less environmental impact, so to decrease mainly, operator aggression the Cutting Fluids became an emulsion of oil / water or water / oil. However, the emulsion was not considered the most suitable solution for environmental question, therefore the search for biodegradable lubricants and which no are toxic continues and so vegetable oils are seen, again, as a basis for the production of lubricants. The biggest problem with these oils is their oxidative instability that is intensified when working at high temperatures. The process transesterification decreases the oxidation, however changes some physical and chemical properties. Therefore soybean oil after the transesterification process was subjected to tests of density, dynamic viscosity, kinematic viscosity which is calculated from two parameters mentioned, flash point and acidity. Besides the physico-chemical test the soybean oil was subjected to a dynamic test in a tribometer adapted from a table vise, whose induced wear was the adhesive and ultimately was used as cutting fluid in a process of turning in two different materials, steel 1045 and cast iron. This latter test presented results below the mineral cutting fluid which it was compared in all tests, already in other experiments the result was satisfactory and other experiments not, so that chemical additives can be added to the oil analyzed to try equate all parameters and so formulate a biolubrificante not toxic to apply in machining processes of metalworking industry
Resumo:
Lubricant is responsible for reducing the wear on the friction protect the metal against oxidation, corrosion and dissipates excess heat, making it essential for the balance of a mechanical system, consequently prolonging the useful life of such a system. The origin of lubricating oils is usually mineral being extracted from the petroleum. But the search for a new source of production of lubricants and fuels it is necessary to meet future demands and reduce the possible environmental damage. For this reason, looking alternative means to produce certain products derived from petroleum, such as biodiesel, for example. Returning to the realm of lubricants, also one realizes this need for new raw materials for their production. Vegetable oil is a renewable resource and biodegradable, and its use entails advantages in environmental, social and economic. The development of this project aims to characterize the carnauba oil as a lubricant plant, or biolubricant. To analyze the oil carnauba tests as checking density, flash point, fire point, viscosity, viscosity, acid number, pH, copper corrosion, thermal conductivity and thermal resistivity were developed. In addition, for conducting the wear on the friction and the gradient of the system temperature, the analysis equipment is designed for wear on the friction. Based on these results, it is observed that the oil carnauba show good correlation to its application as biolubricant
Resumo:
The constant search for biodegradable materials for applications in several fields shows that carnauba wax can be a viable alternative in the manufacturing of biolubricants. Carnauba wax is the unique among the natural waxes to have a combination of properties of great importance. In previous studies it was verified the presence of metals in wax composition that can harm the oxidative stability of lubricants. Considering these factors, it was decided to develop a research to evaluate iron removal from carnauba wax, using microemulsion systems (Me) and perform the optimization of parameters, such as: extraction pH, temperature, extraction time, among others. Iron concentration was determined by atomic absorption and, to perform this analysis, sample digestion in microwave oven was used, showing that this process was very efficient. It was performed some analysis in order to characterize the wax sample, such as: attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR), thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and melting point (FP). The microemulsion systems were composed by: coconut oil as surfactant, n-butanol as cosurfactant, kerosene and/or heptanes as oil phase, distilled water as water phase. The pH chosen for this study was 4.5 and the metal extraction was performed in finite experiments. To evaluate Me extraction it was performed a factorial design for systems with heptane and kerosene as oil phase, also investigating the influence of temperature time and wax/Me ratio, that showed an statistically significant answer for iron extraction at 95% confidence level. The best result was obtained at 60°C, 10 hours contact time and 1: 10 wax/Me ratio, in both systems with kerosene and heptanes as oil phase. The best extraction occurred with kerosene as oil phase, with 54% iron removal
Resumo:
Environmental sustainability has become one of the topics of greatest interest in industry, mainly due to effluent generation. Phenols are found in many industries effluents, these industries might be refineries, coal processing, pharmaceutical, plastics, paints and paper and pulp industries. Because phenolic compounds are toxic to humans and aquatic organisms, Federal Resolution CONAMA No. 430 of 13.05.2011 limits the maximum content of phenols, in 0.5 mg.L-1, for release in freshwater bodies. In the effluents treatment, the liquid-liquid extraction process is the most economical for the phenol recovery, because consumes little energy, but in most cases implements an organic solvent, and the use of it can cause some environmental problems due to the high toxicity of this compound. Because of this, exists a need for new methodologies, which aims to replace these solvents for biodegradable ones. Some literature studies demonstrate the feasibility of phenolic compounds removing from aqueous effluents, by biodegradable solvents. In this extraction kind called "Cloud Point Extraction" is used a nonionic surfactant as extracting agent of phenolic compounds. In order to optimize the phenol extraction process, this paper studies the mathematical modeling and optimization of extraction parameters and investigates the effect of the independent variables in the process. A 32 full factorial design has been done with operating temperature and surfactant concentration as independent variables and, parameters extraction: Volumetric fraction of coacervate phase, surfactant and residual concentration of phenol in dilute phase after separation phase and phenol extraction efficiency, as dependent variables. To achieve the objectives presented before, the work was carried out in five steps: (i) selection of some literature data, (ii) use of Box-Behnken model to find out mathematical models that describes the process of phenol extraction, (iii) Data analysis were performed using STATISTICA 7.0 and the analysis of variance was used to assess the model significance and prediction (iv) models optimization using the response surface method (v) Mathematical models validation using additional measures, from samples different from the ones used to construct the model. The results showed that the mathematical models found are able to calculate the effect of the surfactant concentration and the operating temperature in each extraction parameter studied, respecting the boundaries used. The models optimization allowed the achievement of consistent and applicable results in a simple and quick way leading to high efficiency in process operation.
Resumo:
Petroleum Refinery wastewaters (PRW) have hart-to-degrade compounds, such as: phenols, ammonia, cyanides, sulfides, oils and greases and the mono and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons: benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX), acenaphthene, nitrobenzene and naphtalene. It is known that the microrganisms activity can be reduced in the presence of certain substances, adversely affecting the biological process of wastewater treatment. This research was instigated due the small number of studies regarding to this specific topic in the avaiable literature. This body of work ims to evaluate the effect of toxic substances on the biodegradability of the organic material found in PRW. Glucose was chosen as the model substrate due to its biodegradable nature. This study was divided into three parts: i) a survey of recalcitants compounds and the removal of phenol by using both biological and photochemical-biological processes; ii) biomass aclimation and iii) evaluation of the inhibitory effect certain compounds have on glucose biodegradation. The phenol degradation experiments were carried out in an activity sludge system and in a photochemical reactor. The results showed the photochemical-biological process to be more effective on phenol degradation, suggesting the superioruty of a combined photochemical-biological treatment when compared with a simple biological process for phenol removal from industry wastewaters. For the acclimation step, was used an activated sludge from industrial wastewaters. A rapid biomass aclimation to a synthetic solution composed of the main inhibitory compouns fpund in a PRW was obtained using the following operation condition: (pH = 7,0; DO ≥ 2,0 mg/L; RS = 20 days e qH = 31,2 and 20,4 hours), The last part was consisted of using respirometry evaluation toxicity effects of selected compounds over oxygen uptake rate to adaptated and non adaptated biomass in the presence of inhibitory compounds. The adaptated sludge showed greater degration capacity, with lower sensibility to toxic effects. The respirometry has proved to be very practical, as the techiniques used were simple and rapid, such as: Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), and Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS). Using the latter it is possible to perform sludge selection to beggingthe process; thus allowing its use for aerobic treatment system`s behacior prediction
Resumo:
Waste stabilization ponds (WSP) have been widely used for sewage treatment in hot climate regions because they are economic and environmentally sustainable. In the present study a WSP complex comprising a primary facultative pond (PFP) followed by two maturation ponds (MP-1 and MP-2) was studied, in the city of Natal-RN. The main objective was to study the bio-degradability of organic matter through the determination of the kinetic constant k throughout the system. The work was carried out in two phases. In the first, the variability in BOD, COD and TOC concentrations and an analysis of the relations between these parameters, in the influent raw sewage, pond effluents and in specific areas inside the ponds was studied. In the second stage, the decay rate for organic matter (k) was determined throughout the system based on BOD tests on the influent sewage, pond effluents and water column samples taken from fixed locations within the ponds, using the mathematical methods of Least Squares and the Thomas equation. Subsequently k was estimated as a function of a hydrodynamic model determined from the dispersion number (d), using empirical methods and a Partial Hydrodynamic Evaluation (PHE), obtained from tracer studies in a section of the primary facultative pond corresponding to 10% of its total length. The concentrations of biodegradable organic matter, measured as BOD and COD, gradually reduced through the series of ponds, giving overall removal efficiencies of 71.95% for BOD and of 52.45% for COD. Determining the values for k, in the influent and effluent samples of the ponds using the mathematical method of Least Squares, gave the following values respectively: primary facultative pond (0,23 day-1 and 0,09 day-1), maturation 1 (0,04 day-1 and 0,03 day-1) and maturation 2 (0,03 day-1 and 0,08 day-1). When using the Thomas method, the values of k in the influents and effluents of the ponds were: primary facultative pond (0,17 day-1 and 0,07 day-1), maturation 1 (0,02 day-1 and 0,01 day-1) and maturation 2 (0,01 day-1 and 0,02 day-1). From the Partial Hydrodynamic Evaluation, in the first section of the facultative pond corresponding to 10% of its total length, it can be concluded from the dispersion number obtained of d = 0.04, that the hydraulic regime is one of dispersed flow with a kinetic constant value of 0.20 day-1
Resumo:
This work intends to develop an approach based through scientific criteria in the operational diagnosis of ponds of stabilization, starting from analyses accomplished in loco and in laboratory of 78 systems of sewer treatment through ponds of stabilization in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The objectives of the research are: to map, to evaluate and to diagnose the operational acting of the ponds of stabilization of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, through visits in loco and analyses laboratory; to build a SIG, through the map rain, locate the points of releases of sewages of the systems of existent ponds in Rio Grande do Norte, as well as operational data and his/her respective efficiency diagnosis in the removal of BOD and Coliforms Termotolerantes; to evaluate, in real scale, three systems of ponds of stabilization of RN in the operational efficiency for the parameters BOD5, COD, pH, Temperature, OD and Coliforms Termotolerantes. Of 78 ETEs of appraised RN just, 9% or 7 had maximum concepts in what concerns the removal of BOD and Coliforms Termotolerantes and 41% or 32, they had the worst concepts in term of operational efficiency. The flowing concentrations ETEs of RN of BOD and Coliforms were of 410mg/L and 2,50x107UFC/100ml, the predominant configuration is of the type F1+M1+M2, the relationship BOD/COD revealed for the sewer tributary characteristic biodegradable high. For the study of case of 3 ETEs, the best operational efficiencies in decreasing order were: Cidade (Municipal district), it Roça (State) and São Miguel (SAAE). The removals of final BOD were 51,6mg/L; 108,27mg/L and 62,6mg/L, tends efficiency of 82%; 74% and 81%. In term of coliforms removal in the final effluentes were 1,90x103UFC/100ml; 1,50x104UFC/100ml and 3,10x104UFC/100ml, tends efficiencies of 99,99%; 99,95% and 99,90%. In what it concerns the practice of agricultural reúso of cultures consumed raw, none of 3 ETEs assisted the parameters of the Resolution CONAMA 357/05, for other reúso practices, all assisted the categories B and C of OMS. For release in body receiving ETE Cidade just, they assist the demands of the resolution of CONAMA 357/05, by study of purification solemnity of the receiving body. The maintenance lack and operation; exclusive operator in ETEs and operation knowledge was the contributory factors for the operational fall in appraised ETEs of RN
Resumo:
In this work a biodegradable composite using the carnauba straw s powder as reinforcement on chitosan matrix polymeric were manufactured. Firstly, were carried out the chemistry characterization of the carnauba straw s powder before and after treatments with NaOH and hexane. Goering and Van Soest method (1970), flotation test, moisture absorption, FTIR, TG/DTG, DSC and SEM have also being carried out. Composites were developed with variations in granulometry and in powder concentrations. They were characterized by TG/DTG, SEM and mechanicals properties. The results of chemical composition showed that the carnauba straw s powder is composed of 41% of cellulose; 28,9% of hemicellulose and 14% of lignin.The flotation test have indicated that the chemical treatment with NaOH decreased the powder s hidrophilicity.The thermal analysis showed increased of thermal stability of material after treatments. The results of FTIR and SEM revealed the removal of soluble materials from the powder (hemicelluloses and lignin), the material became rougher and clean. The composites obtained showed that the mechanicals properties of the composites were decreased in respect at chitosan films, and the composites with the powder at 150 Mesh showed less variation in the modulus values. The speed test of 10 mm/min showed the better reproducibility of the results and is in agreement to the standard ASTM D638. The SEM analysis of fracture showed the low adhesion between the fiber/matrix. The increase of volume of powder in the composite caused a decrease in values of stress and strain for the samples with untreated powder and treated with hexane. The composite with 50% of the powder s treated in NaOH didn t have significant variation in the values of stress and strain as compared with the composites with 10% of the powder, showing that the increase in the volume of fiber didn t affect the stress and strain of the composite. Thereby, it is concluded that the manufacture of polymeric composites of chitosan using carnauba straw s powder can be done, without need for pre-treatment of reinforcement, become the couple of carnauba straw s powder-chitosan a good alternative for biodegradable composites
Resumo:
Nowadays, the use of chemicals that satisfactorily meet the needs of different sectors of the chemical industry is linked to the consumption of biodegradable materials. In this context, this work contemplated biotechnological aspects with the objective of developing a more environmentally-friendly corrosion inhibitor. In order to achieve this goal, nanoemulsion-type systems (NE) were obtained by varying the amount of Tween 80 (9 to 85 ppm) a sortitan surfactant named polyoxyethylene (20) monooleate. This NE-system was analyzed using phase diagrams in which the percentage of the oil phase (commercial soybean oil, codenamed as OS) was kept constant. By changing the amount of Tween 80, several polar NE-OS derived systems (O/W-type nanoemulsion) were obtained and characterized through light scattering, conductivity and pH, and further subjected to electrochemical studies. The interfacial behavior of these NE-OS derived systems (codenamed NE-OS1, S2, S3, S4 and S5) as corrosion inhibitors on carbon steel AISI 1020 in saline media (NaCl 3.5%) were evaluated by measurement of Open Circuit Potential (OCP), Polarization Curves (Tafel extrapolation method) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The analyzed NE-OS1 and NE-OS2 systems were found to be mixed inhibitors with quantitative efficacy (98.6% - 99.7%) for concentrations of Tween 80 ranging between 9 and 85 ppm. According to the EIS technique, maximum corrosion efficiency was observed for some tested NE-OS samples. Additionaly to the electrochemical studies, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used, characterization of the nanoemulsion tested systems and adsorption studies, respectively, which confirmed the results observed in the experimental analyses using diluted NE-OS samples in lower concentrations of Tween 80 (0.5 1.75 ppm)
Resumo:
The aim of this study was to generate an asymmetric biocompactible and biodegradable chitosan membrane modified by the contact with a poly(acrylic acid) solution at one of its sides at room temperature and 60◦C. The pure chitosan membrane, as well as the ones treated with poly(acrylic acid) were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIRATR) at angles of 39◦, 45◦ and 60◦ , swelling capacity in water, thermal analysis (TG/DTG), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and permeation experiments using metronidazole at 0,1% and 0,2% as a model drug. The results confirmed the presence of ionic interaction between chitosan and poly(acrylic acid) by means of a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) formation. They also showed that such interactions were more effective at 60◦C since this temperature is above the chitosan glass transition temperature wich makes the diffusion of poly(acrylic acid) easier, and that the two treated membranes were asymmetrics, more thermically stable and less permeable in relation to metronidazole than the pure chitosan membrane
Resumo:
Chitosan is a biopolymer derived from the shells of crustaceans, biodegradable, inexpensive and renewable with important physical and chemical properties. Moreover, the different modifications possible in its chemical structure generate new properties, making it an attractive polysaccharide owing to its range of potential applications. Polymers have been used in oil production operations. However, growing concern over environmental constraints has prompted oil industry to search for environmentally sustainable materials. As such, this study sought to obtain chitosan derivatives grafted with hydrophilic (poly(ethylene glycol), mPEG) and/or hydrophobic groups (n-dodecyl) via a simple (one-pot) method and evaluate their physicochemical properties as a function of varying pH using rheology, small-angle Xray scattering (SAXS), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential. The chitosan derivatives were prepared using reductive alkylation under mild reaction conditions and the chemical structure of the polymers was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and CHN elemental analysis. Considering a constant mPEG/Chitosan molar ratio on modification of chitosan, the solubility of the polymer across a wide pH range (acidic, neutral and basic) could only be improved when some of the amino groups were submitted to reacetylation using the one-pot method. Under these conditions, solubility is maintained even with the simultaneous insertion of n-dodecyl. On the other hand, the solubility of derivatives obtained only through mPEG incorporation using the traditional methodology, or with the ndodecyl group, was similar to that of its precursor. The hydrophilic group promoted decreased viscosity of the polymer solutions at 10 g/L in acid medium. However, at basic pH, both viscosity and thermal stability increased, as well as exhibited a pronounced pseudoplastic behavior, suggesting strong intermolecular associations in the alkaline medium. The SAXS results showed a polyelectrolyte behavior with the decrease in pH for the polymer systems. DLS analyses revealed that although the dilute polymer solutions at 1 g/L and pH 3 exhibited a high density of protonated amino groups along the polymer chain, the high degree of charge contributed significantly to aggregation, promoting increased particle size with the decrease in pH. Furthermore, the hydrophobic group also contributed to increasing the size of aggregates in solution at pH 3, whereas the hydrophilic group helped reduce their size across the entire pH range. Nevertheless, the nature of aggregation was dependent on the pH of the medium. Zeta potential results indicated that its values do not depend solely on the surface charge of the particle, but are also dependent on the net charge of the medium. In this study, water soluble associative polymers exhibit properties that can be of great interest in the petroleum industry
Resumo:
Sustainable development is a major challenge in the oil industry and has aroused growing interest in research to obtain materials from renewable sources. Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) is a polysaccharide derived from cellulose and becomes attractive because it is water-soluble, renewable, biodegradable and inexpensive, as well as may be chemically modified to gain new properties. Among the derivatives of carboxymethylcellulose, systems have been developed to induce stimuli-responsive properties and extend the applicability of multiple-responsive materials. Although these new materials have been the subject of study, understanding of their physicochemical properties, such as viscosity, solubility and particle size as a function of pH and temperature, is still very limited. This study describes systems of physical blends and copolymers based on carboxymethylcellulose and poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM), with different feed percentage compositions of the reaction (25CMC, 50CMC e 75CMC), in aqueous solution. The chemical structure of the polymers was investigated by infrared and CHN elementary analysis. The physical blends were analyzed by rheology and the copolymers by UV-visible spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential. CMC and copolymer were assessed as scale inhibitors of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) using dynamic tube blocking tests and chemical compatibility tests, as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermothickening behavior was observed for the 50 % CMC_50 % PNIPAM and 25 % CMC_75 % PNIPAM physical blends in aqueous solution at concentrations of 6 and 2 g/L, respectively, depending on polymer concentration and composition. For the copolymers, the increase in temperature and amount of PNIPAM favored polymer-polymer interactions through hydrophobic groups, resulting in increased turbidity of polymer solutions. Particle size decreased with the rise in copolymer PNIPAM content as a function of pH (3-12), at 25 °C. Larger amounts of CMC result in a stronger effect of pH on particle size, indicating pH-responsive behavior. Thus, 25CMC was not affected by the change in pH, exhibiting similar behavior to PNIPAM. In addition, the presence of acidic or basic additives influenced particle size, which was smaller in the presence of the additives than in distilled water. The results of zeta potential also showed greater variation for polymers in distilled water than in the presence of acids and bases. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAM determined by DLS corroborated the value obtained by UV-visible spectroscopy. SAXS data for PNIPAM and 50CMC indicated phase transition when the temperature increased from 32 to 34 °C. A reduction in or absence of electrostatic properties was observed as a function of increased PNIPAM in copolymer composition. Assessment of samples as scale inhibitors showed that CMC performed better than the copolymers. This was attributed to the higher charge density present in CMC. The SEM micrographs confirmed morphological changes in the CaCO3 crystals, demonstrating the scale inhibiting potential of these polymers