摘要或動機

The present research has as main objective to degrade the post-cured photopolymer of the stereolithography 3D printer resin using Galleria mellonella larvae. It is necessary to consider that the use of materials from 3D printers tends to increase considerably and in approximately seven years about 10% of everything that will be produced in the world will come from this type of printing. Considering also that the increase in population growth and technological development are directly linked to the increase of solid waste on the planet, in particular to polymeric materials, there is a need to degrade and give an adequate end to waste, avoiding a notorious accumulation along the time. For this purpose, Galleria mellonella larvae will be used because of it's comprovated capacity to degrade polyethylene, to find out if it is capable of biodegrading the post-cured resin of the printer. To carry out the research, compositional tests were done in partnership with the SENAI Institute for Innovation in Polymer Engineering, located in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, and the creation of the larvae and degradation of the photopolymer will be carried out in partnership with the University Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA). The data analysis will be based on the crystallinity determination tests by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (ATR) that will also be applied in the larvae feces after contact with the polymer to assess for degradation. As a result of the compositional tests, the ATR showed predominantly characteristic absorptions of acrylic resin; in the TGA test, the loss of mass described in the test is related to the loss of mass of organic material, mainly polymer. Finally, in the DSC test a thermal event was observed in the heating of the sample, with peaks at 125 ° C (Tpm), characteristic of fusion, and a thermal event in the cooling of the sample, in 112 ° C (Tpc), characteristic of crystallization. Based on the analysis of the results obtained, it is possible to infer that most of the composition of the photopolymer is acrylic resin, widely used in stereolithography 3D printers. The research has the future objective of isolating the substance into the larvae responsible for degradation so that it can be degraded on industrial scales. The research started in March 2020 and is still under development due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which compromised the planned tests.