Materials science is a growing research area in Uruguay. In order to obtain a brief overview of the research done we collected information about research in this field. As a starting point, we searched in the Scopus database for the keywords: affiliation country: “Uruguay” and subject: “Materials Science” (using the “Timbó” platform). We inspected the records and we analyzed them to construct a timeline. The data show that we are in a steady state regime of number of publications that we expect to increase together with the number of students in the area, with the generation of long term policies (grants, funding opportunities), and, if we get involved in a community that promotes this area of interest.

A raw clay from Uruguay was modified with aluminium to obtain an aluminium pillared clay (Al-PILC). The solids were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The Al-PILC retained the typical laminar structure of montmorillonite. The specific surface area and the microporous volume of the Al-PILC, 235 m2 g-1 and 0.096 cm3 g-1, respectively, were much higher than those of the clay. The phosphate adsorption capacity of the Al-PILC was higher than those of the clay. The phosphate adsorption kinetic followed the pseudo-first-order model for both, the clay and the Al-PILC, and the phosphate adsorption isotherm for the Al-PILC fit the Freundlich model.

Zinc borate has long been used as a protector for wood products due to its fungicide, insecticide and flame retardant properties. In this initial study, its capacity as a flame retardant when applied to Eucalyptus grandis wood is evaluated; micronized zinc borate, synthesized from zinc oxide and boric acid in our laboratory was used. The methodology used in the study is the use of the Vandersall tunnel, which allowed analyzing parameters such as the flame spread, the carbonization index, the carbonization area and the wood weight loss. The results show a remarkable improvement in these parameters after the application of micronized zinc borate. For the longest fire exposure time, the percentage decrease of each evaluated parameter is, for tangential and radial plane respectively: 31.27-43.00% for flame spread, 36.66-40.86% for carbonization area, 33.01-52.49% for carbonization index and 19.86-57.80% for mass loss.

DSSC assembled with purified R-phycoerythrin show acceptable efficiency conversion values, especially when extracted from Palmaria decipiens. They showed up to 0.12 % conversion efficiency values. Adsorption of the protein onto the electrode surface plays a relevant role in DSSC performance impacting on the performance. The use of dyes easily obtained in a place as Antarctica is an alternative to explore to solve the energy issue.

SnS2 has adequate properties for photovoltaic applications in solar cells. For this purpose, we studied the influence of the capping agents pyridine and aniline in the nanoparticles hydrothermal syntheses. These capping agents are suitable for use in hybrid organic- inorganic solar cells. Different ratios of these agents with respect to the metal precursor were tested. Hexagonal and disc-type nanoparticles were obtained. Lower concentrations of capping agent increased the proportion of hexagons, while diminishing their size. The obtained products are adequate in size, dispersion of size, and stabile in suspension in chloroform to use them in hybrid solar cells. Moreover, the use ofpyridine allowed for more stable suspensions, and therefore better results for this application.

Biogenic minerals are widely studied materials for their particular properties derived from their hierarchical structure, using building blocks with sizes spanning several orders of magnitude. These special features can be assessed with different analytical tools, and it is important to know their capabilities and limitations. In order to determine the hierarchical structure of the shells, the nacre and prismatic layers of two marine animals were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. Based on these assessments, we found that the combination of these three techniques is useful to describe each structure level, and to explain some of the unique properties observed in these natural materials.

The food processing industry highlights the daily generation of large amounts of eggshell solid residue. In this way, this residue becomes a non renewable raw material to be reused as an additive in red ceramics, in order to reduce the volume of disposal to the environment and improve the physical properties of the product. The objective of this work was to evaluate the forming moisture, linear shrinkage of drying and shrinkage of drying burning of ceramic test pieces (CS’s) with formulations with 2% and 3% of white eggshell residue (ER) incorporated in clay. The clay and ER were collected in the city of Pelotas-RS. The ER sample was analyzed by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). After pressing, natural and artificial drying was carried out and the CS’s were burned. These were evaluated through normative parameters C-020/95, C-021/95 and C-026/95. The values obtained for the forming moisture were between 5.82 and 8.78%, for the linear shrinkage of drying between 0.10 and 0.43% and, for the linear contraction burning between -0.29 and 0.08%. The results showed that the addition of ER to the ceramic mass helped in the reduction of the forming moisture and the linear shrinkage of the ceramic test pieces.

The use of nanostructured materials for enzyme immobilization is an active field of research due to its large surface area and the new emergent properties derived from its size. The present work is focused on the synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles for the adsorption of cysteine-proteolytic enzymes extracted from Bromelia antiacantha Bertol (Bromeliaceae) fruit. The results show that enzyme adsorption is highly dependent on the temperature and pH. The biocatalyst activity increased up to 40 %, once immobilized onto the magnetic nanoparticles. In addition, they can be recovered using a magnet allowing them to be reused up to 5 cycles with a marginal loss (5 %) of the initial activity.

Carbon fibers and activated carbon fibers are materials of high industrial interest. When presented as a felt, its use becomes easier and more practical. This work aims to study the conditions for obtaining and characterizing an activated carbon felt, using sheep wool as a precursor. The wool felt was oxidized, carbonized in nitrogen atmosphere and activated in water vapor. The working temperatures were selected through thermogravimetric analysis. The products and intermediates were characterized through thermogravimetric analysis, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The products were assessed as potential sorbents for methane-carbon dioxide separation by adsorption kinetics measurements at different pressures. Results revealed a high influence of the carbonization temperature on the physicochemical and textural properties of the products. The adsorption kinetics and capacities of the gases showed that selectivities in separation were related to both felt carbonization temperature and gas pressure. This work revealed that activated carbon wool felts are a good alternative to synthetic fibers felt and they can be used for methane/carbon dioxide separation.

This work presents the study of the isolation of chitin from residues of the Patagonian shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri), and its subsequent conversion to chitosan under different reaction conditions. The obtained products were characterized by evaluating their molecular weight (Mw) and degree of deacetylation (DD). In addition, chitosan- glycerol films were prepared (5, 10 and 20% w/w of plasticizer content), using a neutralization process during the unmolding step. The films were characterized by infrared (FTIR) and UV-Visible spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, its behavior against water (contact angle and water sorption) and mechanical properties were also studied. It was observed that 72 hours of reaction time at 120 °C were necessary to obtain a chitosan sample with the desirable solubility properties from the chitin extracted from Pleoticus muelleri shells. The chitosan-glycerol films turned out to be systems of high transparency and their properties depended on the plasticizer content, obtaining homogeneous systems for concentrations up to 10% w/w. In addition, the films were found to be more hydrophilic than the reference material, with smaller contact angle and greater water absorption values, obtaining more flexible films in view of their mechanical properties.