Search results for "Plastics"

Dynamic characterization for the dielectric electroactive polymer fundamental sheet

2012

Published version of an article published in the journal: International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00170-012-4423-6 A study into the appropriateness of characterizing the dynamics of the dielectric electroactive polymer (DEAP) fundamental sheet has been performed. Whereby a model describing the dynamics of the DEAP fundamental sheet is developed, parameters of the models are determined using experimental/simulation results, and verification has been conducted to determine the precision of the dynamic model. The precision for the DEAP sheet-obtained dynamic model could not be verified unless some parameters c…

Macromolecules in Microfluidics: A Synergy for Systems Engineering

2017

Material characteristics in the analysis of heated steel beams

1989

Beam fire tests are expensive and complicated. They may be replaced by calculations of the heated beam deflection by means of the method presented in this paper. The following material characteristics in the analysis of the deflection of beams during fire may be taken as fundamental: the steel creep characteristic at elevated temperatures, the modulus of elasticity and the coefficient of thermal expansion. According to the yield hinge theory, the yield stress is the criterion of failure of steel beams in fire. On the other hand, in the analysis of the deflection of the heated steel beams the influence of the yield stress is very small. The influence of the respective material characteristic…

Solving underwater crimes: development of latent prints made on submerged objects.

2013

Underwater crime scenes always present a challenge for forensic researchers, as the destructive effect of water considerably complicates the chances of recovering material of evidential value. The aim of this study is to tackle the problem of developing marks that have been left on submerged objects. Fingermark deposition was randomly made on two surfaces - glass and plastic whilst the material was submerged under tap water and then left for one to fifteen days before drying and development. For their later development, various reagents - Black Powder, Silver Metallic Powder, Fluorescent Powder, Sudan Black (powder and solution) and Small Particle Reagent - were used and the effectiveness o…

Resistance of Conifer Needle Polyolefin Composites (CNPCs) Against Biodecomposition Caused by Fungi

2017

This study describes the resistance of composites filled with conifer needles to biodecomposition processes caused by a single strain of Aspergillus niger as well as by a consortium of microorganisms present in the compost substrates (forest or spent mushroom composts). The impact of various types of conifer needles on the growth of A. niger was studied to determine whether the filler can show the fungistatic effect. The changes in chemical composition of the composites surfaces were examined using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR/ATR). The results showed that the fungistatic effects of conifer needles polyolefin composites (CNPCs) were associated w…

Processing and Properties of Biopolymer/Polyhydroxyalkanoates Blends

2011

In this paper, the processability and the performance of a biodegradable polymer, Mater-Bi, and of its blends with either a sample of poly (hydroxy alkanoates) (PHA) or with bacterial biomass containing PHAs were compared. Adding PHA or directly the biomass containing it allows improving the processability of the matrix. Moreover, the mechanical behaviour of the systems was compared considering two different preparation methods, namely compression and injection moulding. The injection moulded samples show poorer mechanical performances than those of the compression moulded systems. The impact strength significantly improves when PHA is added while it reduces when bacterial biomass is used i…

Degradation of Plasticised Poly(lactide) Composites with Nanofibrillated Cellulose in Different Hydrothermal Environments

2022

AbstractIn this study, bionanocomposite films based on poly(lactide) (PLA) plasticised with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (7.5 wt%) and reinforced with various contents of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) (1, 3, 5 wt%) were prepared. The hydrothermal degradation was investigated through immersion in several aqueous environments at temperatures of 8, 23, 58, and 70 °C as a function of time (7, 15, 30, 60, 90 days). The effect of water immersion on the physicochemical properties of the materials was assessed by monitoring the changes in the morphology, thermo-oxidative stability, thermal properties, and molar mass through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), thermogravimetric an…

Strawberry fields forever: That is, how many grams of plastics are used to grow a strawberry?

2020

Abstract In important areas of the agricultural sector, plastic is one of the most important tools for improving the managerial and economic performance of companies. Horticultural production under protected cultivation, in particular, makes abundant use of plastic polymers—polymers that mostly turn into waste. This study aims to identify similar organisational models among farmers operating in the strawberry production sector in relation to their intention to recycle plastic material and which factors characterize these models (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and socio-demographic characteristics) and to quantify the plastic used in relation to the different typ…

On the equation of state for thermal polymer solutions and melts with attractive interaction

1996

We perform Monte Carlo simulations of a lattice model for polymer melts, i. e., the bond fluctuation model in three dimensions. By using an energy parameter that prefers relatively long bonds, the model exhibits a glass transition at low temperatures, in close qualitative similarity to experiment. We modify this model by adding an attractive interaction of variable strength. We demonstrate that a small interaction strength has only a very small effect on the static properties of the melt. For a fixed strength of the potential, the chemical potential is measured by a modified particle-insertion method over a large range of temperatures and densities. The osmotic pressure is obtained by therm…

Ligand-Binding Cooperativity Effects in Polymer-Protein Conjugation.

2019

We present an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic characterization of structural and dynamic effects that stem from post-translational modifications of bovine serum albumin (BSA), an established model system for polymer-protein conjugation. Beyond the typical drug delivery and biocompatibility aspect of such systems, we illustrate the causes that alter internal dynamics and therefore functionality in terms of ligand-binding to the BSA protein core. Uptake of the paramagnetic fatty acid derivative 16-doxyl stearic acid by several BSA-based squaric acid macroinitiators and polymer-protein conjugates was studied by EPR spectroscopy, aided by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and z…