Morphology development in polyethylene/polystyrene blends: the influence of processing conditions and interfacial modification

The influence of processing conditions and interfacial modification on the morphology evolution and the composition range within which fully co‐continuous high density polyethylene/polystyrene blend structures can exist during blending in a single screw extruder was studied. Blends ranging from pure A to pure B component, with and without compatibilizer, were prepared under two different shear rates. It was found that high shear rates displaced the breakdown–coalescence balance of the dispersed nodules to the side of coalescence, narrowing the percolation domain and the critical composition for full co‐continuity decreased with increasing shear rates. The addition of a tri‐block compatibilizer induced the percolation threshold of the polystyrene phase to begin at lower percentages of polyethylene but the phase inversion point did not change. The experimental results are discussed in the light of various theoretical models. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Eco‐plastics: Morphological and mechanical properties of recycled poly(carbonate)‐crushed rubber (rPC‐CR) blends

Crushed tire rubber particles (CR) have been dispersed into a recycled poly(carbonate) matrix (rPC) to obtain an eco‐friendly plastic (EFP). A positive synergy was expected from the association of an elastomeric phase to a tough thermoplastic matrix, helping on the other hand to develop a plastic with low impact on the environment. Mechanical melt‐mixing alone cannot provide a suitable interface, and led to blends with poor mechanical properties. Consequently, we have investigated different strategies to improve the EFP properties: First, the rubber surface has been treated by flaming or washing with dichloromethane and second, two copolymers, poly(ethylene‐co‐ethyl acrylate‐tert‐hydroxyl methacrylate) (E‐EA‐MAH) and poly(ethylene‐co‐methyl acrylate‐ter‐glycidyl methacrylate) (E‐MA‐GMA), were used to compatibilize CR particles with rPC matrix by reactive melt‐mixing in an internal mixer. The resulting blends mechanical properties were studied through static tension experiments and interpreted to the light of electronic microscopy fractography analysis and nanoindentation experiments. Significant gain of mechanical properties can be obtained by decreasing CR size under 140 μm (especially for CR contents between 5 and 20% m/m). To reach similar properties with rubber particles of diameter over 140 μm (but under 350 μm), it is necessary to activate their surface by either dichloromethane washing or flaming. Additional use of a compatibilizer extends the plastic behaviour domain of the EFP. rPC‐20% w/w CR is the best alternative material of our study. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:1768–1776, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A C5 parallel robot identification and control

The paper proposes a controller scheme based on a priori identification for a C5 parallel robot. First we realize the identification of dynamic parameters of the robot using the Least Squares technique. Different data are used for this step of identification. The cross validation permitted to select and confirm the identified parameters. After, a control scheme (computed torque) is applied to control the C5 parallel robot. The functions of this control scheme are based on precedent identified parameters. In order to reduce the effect of the identification error, we have added a robustness term based on sliding mode technique. The stability of the system in closed loop is presented using the Lyapunov principle. Experimental results of identification and control are presented and show the effectiveness of our methodology.     

A review on renewable energy conceptual perspectives in North Africa using a polynomial optimization scheme

In this review, general features of the renewable energy sources in the North African upper zone have been studied. The primal renewable sources of energy have been identified in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Taking into account concordances and divergences of the different actors in the region, a polynomial optimization scheme has been performed in order to predict future potentials and perspectives.     

Thermal Analysis of Non-linear Convective–Radiative Hyperbolic Lumped Systems with Simultaneous Variation of Temperature-Dependent Specific Heat and Surface Emissivity by MsDTM and BPES

With the advent of temperatures near absolute zero, it is often claimed that at very low temperatures the effect of thermal wave propagation must be included by the hyperbolic heat conduction equation (HHCE). In this paper the non-linear convective–radiative HHCE is investigated. Opposite to common numerical analyses, analytical expressions are obtained for the temperature variations by the multi-step differential transformation method. Some conclusions about alteration of the specific heat of the material, temperature steeping, and Vernotte number have been formulated.     

Electrophoretic impregnation of porous anodizing layer by synthesized TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles

This paper deals with the elaboration of a stable suspension of TiO₂ nanoparticles and their incorporation by electrophoretic deposition into pores of an anodized 5754 aluminum alloy. The as-synthesized TiO₂ nanopowder was characterized by the X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and IR spectroscopy. During this work, both the transmission electron microscopy and particle analysis showed that the resulting particles had a narrow size distribution with a crystallite size of about 15 nm. The zeta potential and stability of TiO₂ nanoparticles dispersed with poly(acrylic acid) in an aqueous solution were also measured. A porous anodic film was synthesized in the phosphoric acid-base electrolyte and then filled by 15 nm TiO₂ particles via electrophoresis. In addition, the effect of poly(acrylic acid) and pH on the suspension stability has been investigated. It was also demonstrated that by adding glycine in buffered suspension gelating phenomenon can be avoided that inhibits the insertion of nanoparticles inside the pores of an anodic film. It was also noted that an applied electric field greatly influences the electrophoretic deposition process. The field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy observations showed that larger (125 nm in diameter) and linear (6 μm in length) pores are successfully filled in 5 min.     

Biosorption potential of the mediterranean plant (Posidonia oceanica) for the removal of Cu2+ ions from aqueous media : Equilibrium,kinetic, thermodynamic and mechanism analysis

The biosorption characteristics of copper(II) ions using Posidonia oceanica biomass were investigated. Experimental parameters affecting the biosorption process such as pH level, contact time, biosorbent dosage and temperature were studied. The equilibrium data were applied to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm models. The Langmuir model fitted very well the equilibrium data, and the maximum uptake of Cu(II) by Posidonia oceanica was found to be 76.92 mg/g. The mean free energy E (10.78 kJ/mol) from the D-R isotherm indicated a chemical ion-exchange mechanism. Kinetic results showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was well fitted to the experimental data. Thermodynamic parameters depicted the exothermic nature of biosorption and the process was feasible and spontaneous. The results of FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) revealed that carboxyl, amine, and hydroxyl groups on the biomass surface were involved in the biosorption of Cu(II) ions.     

Dispersed phase morphology and fractionated crystallization of high-density polyethylene in PET/HDPE blends

The fractionated crystallization of high density polyethylene dispersed in a poly(ethylene terephthalate) matrix at composition of 15 wt-% was studied. The effect of the molecular weight of polyethylene with and without compatibilization was particularly addressed regarding its influence on the morphology of the blends. For non-compatibilized blends, the dramatic influence of the molecular weight of the polyethylene on the viscosity ratio and therefore on the dispersion is reflected on the relative intensities of the twin crystallization peaks of polyethylene that are developed upon cooling. These peaks reflect two sets of particles that are nucleated by more or less active heterogeneities. The influence of the addition of an ethylene-glycidyl methacrylate copolymer on the morphology and on the crystallization of the blends was also investigated. For a high molecular weight polyethylene, the compatibilizer shows less efficiency as far as dispersion is concerned.     

Boubaker polynomials expansion scheme (BPES) solution to Boltzmann diffusion equation in the case of strongly anisotropic neutral particles forward–backward scattering

A polynomial expansion scheme is used to solve Boltzmann neutron transport equation in the case of strongly anisotropic neutral particles forward–backward scattering.     

Estimating the Long-Memory Parameter in Nonstationary Processes Using Wavelets

In this article, we propose two new semiparametric estimators in the wavelet domain in order to estimate the parameter of nonstationary long memory models. Compared to the Fourier transform, the advantage of the wavelet approach to analyze the behavior of nonstationary time series is that it can localize a process simultaneously in time and scale. We thus develop a Wavelet Exact Local Whittle estimator and a Wavelet Feasible Exact Local Whittle estimator, which extend the estimators of Phillips and Shimotsu (Ann Stat 32(2):656–692, 2004), Shimotsu and Phillips (Ann Stat 33(4):1890–1933, 2005; J Econom 130:209–233, 2006) and Shimotsu (Econom Theory 26(2):501–540, 2010) into the wavelet domain. Simulation experiments show that the new estimators perform better under most situations in the stationary and nonstationary cases. We also applied these two new semiparametric estimators to some financial series (daily stock market indices and exchange rates).