Measuring the environmental benefits of hydrogen transportation fuel cycles under uncertainty about external costs

In this paper, we attempt to measure the environmental benefits of hydrogen deployment in the transportation sector. We compare the hydrogen pathways to the conventional transportation fuel cycles in terms of external costs, estimated using the results of the most accurate methodologies available in this field. The central values of performed analysis bring us ambiguous results. The external cost of the best conventional solution (“oil to diesel hybrid internal-combustion engine”) in some cases is just higher and in others just lower than that of the best fossil fuel to hydrogen solution (“natural gas to hydrogen fuel cell”). Nevertheless, by accounting for the uncertainty about external costs, we are able to remove this ambiguity highlighting that the hydrogen pathway provides significant environmental benefits ,especially in densely populated areas, assuming 100% city driving.     

Compatibilization of blends of polyethylene with a semirigid liquid crystalline polymer by PE-g-LCP copolymers

The blends of thermoplastics with liquid crystalline polymers show, in general, poor properties because of the lack of adherence between the two phases. The use of ad hoc synthesized copolymers containing the monomer units of the two polymers has been recently considered by some of us for blend compatibilization, and the results appear promising. In this work, new PE-g-LCP copolymers, prepared either by the synthesis of the LCP in the presence of a functionalized PE, or by reactive blending of the latter polymer with preformed LCP, have been employed as compatibilizing additives for blends of PE with a semirigid LCP. The morphology and the rheological and mechanical properties of the ternary blends, compared with those of samples without compatibilizers, or containing conventional maleic anhydride grafted PE, indicate that the PE-g-LCP copolymers do in fact lead to an improvement of interfacial adhesion, both in the melt and in the solid state, as well as to a modest enhancement of the mechanical properties. The results may be rationalized considering that the PE-g-LCP copolymers used by us consist of fairly short PE backbones with LCP grafts of various length. The molecules with longer LCP branches are thought to become mixed at the surface of the LCP particles and to give rise to fairly weak interaction with the PE matrix. It is argued that new PE-g-LCP copolymers synthesized from higher molar mass functionalized PE samples might show much better compatibilizing performance.     

Chemical depolymerization of oil shale

The chemical structure of the organic matter from Krassava oil shale has been investigated by means of chemical degradation with metallic sodium in liquid ammonia and with phenol in the presence p-toluenesulphonic acid. The former reaction yielded 20 wt% of pyridine-soluble material and the latter ≈ 65 wt%. Extensive depolymerization of the oil shale was achieved by a combination of both methods in which case the solubility of the organic matter was increased to 85–95 wt%. The characterization of soluble and insoluble products by pyrolysis g.c. and elemental analysis indicated that aliphatic chains were prevalent in the organic matter of the Krassava oil shale.     

Effects of Oleic Acid and Phospholipids on the Formation of Lecithin Organogel and Microemulsion

The formation of organogels and microemulsions of lecithin in the presence of a biocompatible cosurfactant, oleic acid, was studied. Low content of oleic acid ([oleic acid]/[lecithin] < 0.1) in the lecithin–oleic acid–dodecane–water system leads to an expansion of the region of existence and to a decrease in the viscosity of lecithin organogels. At high contents of oleic acid ([oleic acid]/[lecithin] > 0.6), low‐viscosity microemulsion exists in the system. Phosphatidylethanolamine, lysophosphatidylcholine, and other phospholipids that are present as impurities in the commercial samples of soybean lecithin can act as cosurfactants. For the first time, the formation of lecithin organogels in the systems containing commercial samples of soybean lecithin with phosphatidylcholine concentrations of 69.3 wt% (Lipoid S75) and 52.9 wt% (Lipoid S45) and saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons is demonstrated. The gelation is observed at T =25 °C in octane, decane, dodecane, and hexadecane for Lipoid S75 and in dodecane and hexadecane for Lipoid S45. A decrease in the degree of purification of lecithin leads to an expansion of the regions of existence of the organogels and to a reduction of their viscosity.     

Morphology,microhardness, and flammability of compatibilized polyethylene/clay nanocomposites

Morphology, thermal properties, and microhardness of ethylene‐glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (EGMA)/clay and ethylene‐acrylic ester‐glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer (EAGMA)/clay nanocomposites with different clay concentrations have been studied. The results have shown that EGMA and EAGMA are highly compatible with the organoclays Cloisite®20A (Cl20A) and Cloisite®30B (Cl30B). Intercalated structures are formed in the whole range of Cl20A loadings investigated, whereas partial degradation of the Cl30B organoclay was observed. The thermal characteristics and microhardness of EGMA/clay nanocomposites suggest that the filler dispersion deteriorates at high concentration. The concentrated EGMA/Cl20A nanocomposites have been used as masterbatches to prepare ternary high density polyethylene (HDPE)/Cl20A and low density polyethylene (LDPE)/Cl20A nanocomposites. Diffractometric characterization and scanning electron microscopy observations of these materials have shown that the intercalated structure of the starting EGMA/Cl20A masterbatches is preserved after dilution with the polyolefins. The results suggest that the silicate platelets remain localized within the EGMA droplets in the diluted nanocomposites. The latter display improved microhardness, whereas the mechanical properties, including elongation at break, are comparable with those of the neat polyolefins. Considerable enhancement of the flame retardant properties has been observed for the ternary nanocomposites. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Noble metals Pt,Au, and Ag as nucleating agents in BaO/SrO/ZnO/SiO2 glasses: formation of alloys and core–shell structures

Journal of Materials Science - Noble metals such as Ag can be used as nucleation agents in glass ceramics. In glasses, it is incorporated predominantly as AgI. At temperatures slightly above the...     

Ultrafast Microwave Hydrothermal Synthesis of BiFeO3 Nanoplates

We report the synthesis of {100}_c facets exposed single‐crystalline BiFeO₃ (BFO) nanoplates, with thickness ranging from 20 to 160 nm and lateral size of submicrometers, via a simple and very rapid (1–2 min) microwave‐assisted hydrothermal approach. We show that the microwave treatment gives comparable improvement in crystallinity of BFO nanocrystals with respect to traditional hydrothermal processes while requiring significantly less time and energy. In addition, we show that microwave radiation power, reaction time, and alkali concentration play important roles in the crystallinity and morphology of the products. We discuss a possible formation mechanism of the nanoplates based on our experimental results. Additionally, the BFO nanoplates exhibit weak ferromagnetic properties at room temperature, which we attribute to the size‐confinement effect on magnetic ordering. The present microwave hydrothermal method has great potential in large‐scale fabrication of BFO nanomaterials as well as other composite functional materials due to significantly reduced time and energy.     

Effect of the components' molar mass and of the mixing conditions on the compatibilization of PE–LCP blends by PE‐g‐LCP copolymers

The rheology, morphology, and mechanical properties of blends of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) with a semiflexible liquid crystalline copolyester (SBH) were studied in order to assess the compatibilizing ability of added PE‐g‐SBH copolymers, and its dependence on the molar mass of the PE matrix, and on the technique used for blend preparation. The PE‐g‐SBH copolymers were synthesized as described in previous articles, either by the polycondensation of the SBH monomers in the presence of a functionalized PE sample containing free carboxyl groups, or by reactive blending of the latter polymer with preformed SBH. Two samples of HDPE having different molar masses, and two samples of SBH with different melt viscosity and different microstructure, were used for preparing the blends. The two components and the compatibilizer were either blended in a single batch or used to prepare binary master blends to which the third component was added at a later stage. The results indicate that the PE‐g‐SBH copolymers do, in fact, compatibilize the PE–SBH blends and that the effect is more pronounced with the lower molar mass PE matrix and with the SBH sample having lower viscosity. The experiments carried out on blends prepared with different techniques show that the compatibilizing ability of the graft copolymer is improved if the latter is first blended with either of the two main components. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 71: 603–613, 1999     

Synthesis of PP–LCP graft copolymers and their compatibilizing activity for PP/LCP blends

The aim of this work was the synthesis of new graft copolymers consisting of polypropylene (PP) backbones and liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) branches, to be used as compatibilizing agents for PP/LCP blends. The PP-g-LCP copolymers have been prepared by polycondensation of the monomers of a semiflexible liquid crystalline polyester (SBH 1 : 1 : 2), that is, sebacic acid (S), 4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl (B), and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (H) in the mole ratio of 1 : 1 : 2, carried out in the presence of appropriate amounts of a commercial acrylic-acid-functionalized polypropylene (PPAA). The polycondensation products, referred to as COPP50 and COPP70, having a calculated PPAA concentration of 50 and 70 wt %, respectively, have been fractionated with boiling toluene and xylene, and the soluble and insoluble fractions have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction. All analytical characterizations have concordantly shown that the products are formed by intricate mixtures of unreacted PPAA and SBH together with PP-g-SBH copolymers of different composition. Exploratory experiments carried out by adding small amounts of COPP50 or COPP70 into binary mixtures of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and SBH while blending have demonstrated that this practice leads to an appreciable improvement of the dispersion of the minor LCP phase, as well as to an increase of the crystallization rate of iPP. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 391–403, 1998     

Interfacial tension of compatibilized blends of LDPE and PA6: the breaking thread method

The interfacial tension of the uncompatibilized and compatibilized blends of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyamide 6 (PA6) has been measured by the breaking thread method. Different types of compatibilizer precursors have been used: poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (Escor 5001, by Exxon) having 6 wt% concentration of acrylic acid; an ethylene-acrylic acid zinc ionomer (Iotek 4200); a triblock copolymer with polystyrene end blocks and a rubbery poly(ethylene–butylene mid block (SEBS) (Kraton G 1652); and SEBS-g-MA (Kraton FG 1901X) with 2 wt% maleic anhydride. The compatibilizing efficiency of the different types of the compatibilizer precursors towards the blends has been evaluated quantitatively by the values of the interfacial tension obtained. It has been shown that Iotek and SEBS-g-MA posses the highest compatibilizing efficiency, demonstrated by the strongest decrease of the interfacial tension and the dimension of the droplets of the dispersed phase. Contrary, SEBS almost does not influence the interfacial tension and the size of the particles. Hence, it possesses the lowest compatibilizing activity towards the blends. The compatibilizer Escor displays an activity lower than that of Iotek and SEBS-g-MA, but it is higher than that of SEBS.