Lignin‐based polycondensation resins for wood adhesives

Lignin‐based wood adhesives are obtained that satisfy the requirements of relevant international standards for the manufacture of exterior‐grade wood particleboard. Formulations based on low molecular mass lignin and presenting an increase in the relative proportion of reactive points yield better results than the higher molecular mass lignin used in the past. These lignins allow a higher proportion of hydroxymethylation during preparation of methylolated lignins. These lignin‐based adhesives also yield acceptable results at particleboard pressing times that are sufficiently low to be of industrial significance. Lignin‐based wood adhesives, in which a nonvolatile nontoxic aldehyde (glyoxal) is substituted for formaldehyde in their preparation, are prepared and tested for application to wood panels such as particleboard. The adhesives yield good internal bond strength results for the panels, which are good enough to comfortably pass relevant international standard specifications for exterior‐grade panels. The adhesives also show sufficient reactivity to yield panels in press times comparable to that of formaldehyde‐based commercial adhesives. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1690–1699, 2007     

Recycling of pharmaceutical waste gelatin for controlled‐release applications. I. A 2,4‐dicholorphenoxy acetic acid based system

Gelatin is a natural macromolecular protein. It contains a wide variety of amino acids in its polymer structure, and it is colorless to yellowish, water‐soluble, and tasteless. It is used as a dispersing agent, sizing medium, and coating for photographic films and in pharmaceutical formulations. In this study, biodegradable mulching, based on waste gelatin from pharmaceutical gelatin scraps (derived from pharmaceutical soft gelatin capsule production), was formulated via the casting of water solutions or suspensions into flexible and consistent films. Gelatin was blended with synthetic materials such as poly(vinyl alcohol) and other natural wastes such as sugar cane bagasse and sawdust. To all formulations, 2,4‐dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4‐D) was added as a herbicide. The morphology and mechanical properties of the samples were investigated with scanning electron microscopy and tensile testing, respectively. The results showed that the produced films had controlled‐release properties. The effects of various additives and crosslinking on the films and the release of the herbicide 2,4‐D from the films were also investigated. The introduction of synthetic and natural additives reduced the release rate of 2,4‐D. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 2313–2319, 2004     

Protective properties of organic phosphate-pigmented coatings on phosphated steel substrates

Investigations have been carried out on properties of coatings, differing by their pigmentation and binder, and applied on different chemical pre-treatments of the steel surface. Paints based on alkyd and alkyd-melamine binders, pigmented with zinc phosphate and modified basic zinc phosphate were applied on amorphous and crystalline phosphated steel surface and, for the comparison purpose, on degreased steel surface. The effect of the binder, the pigment and the pre-treatment of the steel surface on the protective properties of the coatings were determined by measurements of adhesion, water absorption and water permeability and by results obtained in salt spray and Prohesion tests. Coatings based on alkyd binder show a lower damage degree and good retention of adhesion in corrosion conditions, in spite of a higher water absorption and water permeability and a lower initial adhesive strength. Protective properties of coatings have been found to be highly dependent upon the substrate pre-treatment. Chemical pre-treatment of the steel substrate increases the protective properties of the system, which is particularly evident in the case of crystalline phosphating and the coating pigmented with modified basic zinc phosphate. This phenomenon can be explained by the synergism between this phosphate pigment with crystalline phosphate layer.     

In vitro effects of urease inhibitors on rate of urea hydrolysis in soils

We studied the effect of urease inhibitors on the urea hydrolysis in some Sundanese soils belonging to the orders of Vertisol and Entisol. The hydrolysis showed a lag period of about 3 days and its rate (Y) per unit time (t) could be described by a two constants exponential equation of the general form Y = K₁t^K ₂. Statistical analysis showed that the intercept K₁ (rate of urea hydrolysis) was significantly affected by soil type rather than treatment. It seems that K₁ is associated with the soils' initial urease activity as it closely correlates with the Michaelis constant (km).The gradient, K₂, being significantly affected by soil type as well as treatment is probably associated with the induced urease activity with time and it, therefore, varied with variations in soils and treatments. Of the so-called urease inhibitors used in this study Ca(OH)₂, p-benzoquinone (PBQ) and orthophosphoric acid (OP) only PBQ reduced urea hydrolysis while the other chemicals have effects possibly related to modifying the soil pH. Inhibitor treated soils had substantial amounts of unacounted for N which was believed to be present, presumably, in the form of carbamate.Contribution from the Department of Biochemistry and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shambat, Sudan.     

Modification of sandy soil using water‐borne polymer

A new polymeric system has been applied for structural modification of (noncompactable) sandy soils. The system is based on a water‐borne styrene acrylic polymeric formulation (emulsion) containing varying amounts of solid polymer. The present work deals with system optimization and measurements designed to examine the effects of polymer content on hydraulic conductivity and compressive strength. Samples were prepared from prescribed amounts of polymer, water, and sand by using two different preparations methods (mixing and spraying). Measurements of hydraulic conductivity for both sets of samples were conducted in a flexible membrane test apparatus. For the first set of samples, the permeability coefficient of the sand was noted to be reduced 10‐fold (from 10^?5 to 10^?6 m s^?1) upon the incorporation of about 2% polymer. In the second set (samples prepared with the spraying method), the hydraulic conductivity was further reduced to 7.2 × 10^?7 at a polymer concentration of about 2%. Stress–strain measurements made on dry cylindrical specimens disclosed remarkable enhancement in the mechanical behavior of the system. For both types of preparation methods, the compressive strength and modulus of elasticity increased linearly with the polymer concentration in the sample. Scanning electron microscopic examination revealed that the dramatic reduction in the permeability and the improved mechanical properties are attributed to the polymer coverage of the sand particles and the development of interconnecting ties between them. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 2484–2491, 2003     

Dielectric properties of SBR vulcanizates loaded with HAF carbon black and BaTiO3 ceramics

The influence of HAF carbon black and BaTiO₃ ceramic powder contents in SBR vulcanizates on the dielectric constant (ε′) at different frequencies and at fixed temperature of 303 K is studied well in this article. The temperature dependence of the ac conductivity (σ_ac) was also studied. ε′ appreciably decreases as frequency increased for both filled and unfilled SBR vulcanizates. At each frequency, ε′ gradually decreased with BaTiO₃ loading, but its change at any fixed frequency with BaTiO₃ filler loading is not uniform. For HAF group ε′ (at loading ≥ 40 phr), drops rapidly with frequency. Meanwhile, it increased appreciably beyond a certain HAF filler loading (≈ 20 phr). Experimental values of the dielectric constant of both BaTiO₃ and HAF contents were compared with those calculated by using Tsangaris, Clausius and Bruggman models. Tsangaris model with simple modifications was applied and a fairly good agreement was obtained. The HAF particles or aggregates was found to take the shape of oblate ellipsoids with the minor axes parallel to the applied frequency as detected from the decreasing behavior of the depolarizing factor (Y) with HAF contents. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 2227–2234, 2007     

The Complexity of Compressed Membership Problems for Finite Automata

In this paper, a compressed membership problem for finite automata, both deterministic (DFAs) and non-deterministic (NFAs), with compressed transition labels is studied. The compression is represented by straight-line programs (SLPs), i.e. context-free grammars generating exactly one string. A novel technique of dealing with SLPs is employed: the SLPs are recompressed, so that substrings of the input word are encoded in SLPs labelling the transitions of the NFA (DFA) in the same way, as in the SLP representing the input text. To this end, the SLPs are locally decompressed and then recompressed in a uniform way. Furthermore, in order to reflect the recompression in the NFA, we need to modify it only a little, in particular its size stays polynomial in the input size. Using this technique it is shown that the compressed membership for NFA with compressed labels is in NP, thus confirming the conjecture of Plandowski and Rytter (Jewels Are Forever, pp. 262–272, Springer, Berlin, 1999) and extending the partial result of Lohrey and Mathissen (in CSR, LNCS, vol. 6651, pp. 275–288, Springer, Berlin, 2011); as this problem is known to be NP-hard (in Plandowski and Rytter, Jewels Are Forever, pp. 262–272, Springer, Berlin, 1999), we settle its exact computational complexity. Moreover, the same technique applied to the compressed membership for DFA with compressed labels yields that this problem is in P, and this problem is known to be P-hard (in Markey and Schnoebelen, Inf. Process. Lett. 90(1):3–6, 2004; Beaudry et al., SIAM J. Comput. 26(1):138–152, 1997).     

Electrochemical Behaviour of Al, Al—In and Al–Ga–In Alloys in Chloride Solutions Containing Zinc Ions

The electrochemical behaviour of Al, Al—In and Al–Ga–In alloys in 0.6 m NaCl solutions with and without Zn²⁺ was investigated. The study was performed by means of open circuit potential, potentiodynamic polarization, potentiostatic current-time and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements as well as by SEM-EDAX examination. It was found that the Al—In alloy exhibits the highest negative open circuit potential in 0.6 m NaCl and the corrosion resistance of the tested electrodes decreases in the following order: Al > Al–Ga–In > Al—In. The greater activity of the Al—In alloy was interpreted on the basis of the autocatalytic attack by indium. The potentiostatic current–time measurements in Zn²⁺ containing electrolyte at potentials above the pitting potential revealed that Zn²⁺ has an insignificant influence on the Al electrode, while it enhances the corrosion of the Al–Ga–In alloy and improves the attack morphology of the Al—In alloy. Furthermore, the impedance spectra recorded under open circuit conditions showed a decrease in the polarization resistance of Al—In and Al–Ga–In alloys in presence of Zn²⁺ indicating the activating effect of Zn²⁺ ions.     

Evaluation of Polyester Resin as a New Compatibilizer for SBR/PVC Blends

A polyester (PE) based on the glycolyzed products of PET was prepared and added in different concentrations to a series of SBR/PVC blends. The addition of the polyester showed that all properties of SBR/PVC blends were improved by incorporation of PE. Highest mechanical strength values were obtained at a polyester concentration of 7.5 phr. Thermal analysis as well as dynamic mechanical properties of SBR/PVC blends after the addition of 7.5 and 10 phr polyester indicated one single glass transition temperature. The dielectric losses (?") were analyzed in the frequency domains in the two terms of Fröhlich related to the Maxwell Wagner effect and the orientation of the aggregates caused by the movement of the main chain. The permittivity (?') values were found to increase by increasing the polyester content. This increase was followed by a decrease in the ?" up to a 7.5 phr polyester content after which no pronounced change was noticed.     

On the ‘curiosity’ of electrical self‐heating,static charge and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness from carbon black/aluminium flakes reinforced epoxy‐resin composites

This paper shows the wide application range (such as electrical self‐heating and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness) of composites consisting of conductive carbon black/aluminum flakes (CBA) filler and epoxy insulative matrix. The effect of CBA content on the network structure of epoxy matrix was investigated in detail. Static electrical conductivity increases linearly with the increase of filler concentration at the interface in epoxy composites. The large decrease of the conductivity as a function of the temperature is analyzed in terms of the negative temperature coefficient of conductivity (NTCC) effect. The influence of viscosity, surface energy and barrier highest energy on the NTCC behaviour in the composite is also considered. Based on these results, a new interpretation is proposed to explain the NTCC phenomena by computing the swelling force among conductive phases. The correlations of conductivity during the temperature cycling and activation energy were analyzed. The effects of dynamic ageing at various temperatures on the resistivity are reported. Current–voltage–temperature characteristics for epoxy with different contents of CBA were examined in detail. A model based on the law of energy conservation is proposed to calculate the specific heat and amount of heat dissipation. The static charge of the epoxy–CBA composites was estimated. The correlation between electromagnetic wave‐shielding effectiveness (EMS), conductivity and frequency of epoxy composites with different filler contents is also discussed. Furthermore, the effect of annealing on EMS of epoxy composites was examined. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry