Talc reinforcement of polylactide and biodegradable polyester blends via injection-molding and pilot-scale film extrusion

As a renewable and biodegradable polymer, polylactide (PLA) has taken a foothold in the packaging industry. However, the thermomechanical and barrier properties of PLA-based films need to be improved to facilitate a wider adoption. To address this challenge, we examined the effect of talc reinforcement in composites based on PLA and a biodegradable polyester. Masterbatches of the polymers and talc were produced by melt compounding and processed by either injection-molding or film extrusion in a pilot-scale unit operating at 60–80 m/min. The effect of talc was investigated in relation to the morphological, thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of the composites. Based on SEM-imaging, talc was found to increase the miscibility of PLA and the polyester while acting as a nucleating agent that improved PLA crystallinity. While this effect did not track with an increased mechanical strength, the composites with 3–4 wt% talc displayed a significantly higher barrier to water vapor. Compared to the neat polymer films, a reduction of water vapor transmission rate, by ~34–37%, was observed at 23°C/50% RH. Meanwhile, the systems loaded with 1 wt% talc showed a reduction in oxygen transmission rates, by up to 34%. Our results highlight the challenges and prospects of commercial PLA-based blends filled with talc from films extruded in pilot-scale units.     

Ambient‐Dried Cellulose Nanofibril Aerogel Membranes with High Tensile Strength and Their Use for Aerosol Collection and Templates for Transparent,Flexible Devices

The application potential of cellulose nanofibril (CNF) aerogels has been hindered by the slow and costly freeze‐ or supercritical drying methods. Here, CNF aerogel membranes with attractive mechanical, optical, and gas transport properties are prepared in ambient conditions with a facile and scalable process. Aqueous CNF dispersions are vacuum‐filtered and solvent exchanged to 2‐propanol and further to octane, followed by ambient drying. The resulting CNF aerogel membranes are characterized by high transparency (>90% transmittance), stiffness (6 GPa Young's modulus, 10 GPa cm³ g^?1 specific modulus), strength (97 MPa tensile strength, 161 MPa m³ kg^?1 specific strength), mesoporosity (pore diameter 10–30 nm, 208 m² g^?1 specific surface area), and low density (≈0.6 g cm^?3). They are gas permeable thus enabling collection of nanoparticles (for example, single‐walled carbon nanotubes, SWNT) from aerosols under pressure gradients. The membranes with deposited SWNT can be further compacted to transparent, conductive, and flexible conducting films (90% specular transmittance at 550 nm and 300 Ω ?^{? 1} sheet resistance with AuCl₃‐salt doping). Overall, the developed aerogel membranes pave way toward use in gas filtration and transparent, flexible devices.     

The effects of non-condensable gases in domestic appliances

It is well known that the presence of non-condensable gases inside a compression vapour refrigerating circuit introduces an additional thermal resistance at the condenser, which can significantly decrease the energy efficiency of the system. However, this problem so far has been investigated mainly for shell and tube condensers of large capacity and limited information is available on small systems, as is the case for household appliances where the internal volumes are extremely reduced and therefore a very small amount of non-condensable gas has large effect. Moreover, non-condensable gas behaves differently when condensation takes place outside tubes (shell and tube condensers) or inside tubes (condensers of small appliances); in the first case all heat transfer area is wrapped by a gas layer, whereas in the second case non-condensable gas is collected at the end of the tube. The effect of non-condensable gas in this work is experimentally investigated by injecting controlled amounts of air into a refrigerating circuit and by recording the thermal and electric variables during different modes of operation (steady state and cyclic running). The tested refrigerating circuits are part of two appliances on the market, a household refrigerator and a vertical freezer. The presence of non-condensable gas was found to spoil energy efficiency, since it brings about an increase in condensing pressure and a concomitant decrease in evaporating temperature, although larger liquid subcooling partially compensates for the first negative effects: the reason for this behaviour is the clogging action of bubbles of gaseous mixture (air and refrigerant vapour) that enter the capillary tube.     

Inhibition of fungal growth on bread by volatile components from spices and herbs, and the possible application in active packaging, with special emphasis on mustard essential oil

The effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the most important spoilage fungi of bread was investigated. Penicillium commune, P. roqueforti, Aspergillus flavus and Endomyces fibuliger were able to grow at oxygen levels down to 0.03%, while the chalk mould E. fibuliger was capable of growing even in the presence of an oxygen absorber. High levels of carbon dioxide retarded growth but not completely. As an alternative to MAP active packaging (AP) using volatile essential oils (EO) and oleoresins (OL) from spices and herbs were tested against a range of fungi commonly found on bread. Concentrations of 1, 10 or 100 μl EO or OL were added to a filter paper placed in the lid of a Petri dish inoculated with one of the test fungi. The Petri dish was sealed hermetically to avoid the exchange of gases. Mustard essential oil showed the strongest effect. Cinnamon, garlic and clove also had high activity, while oregano oleoresin only inhibited growth weakly. Vanilla showed no inhibitory effect towards the tested microorganisms at the applied concentrations. A. flavus was more resistant than the other microorganisms while P. roqueforti was the most sensitive. Mustard essential oil was investigated in greater detail. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the active component, allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), was determined for the same species and an additional three moulds and one yeast. MIC values ranged from 1.8 to 3.5 μg/ml gas phase. Results showed that whether AITC was fungistatic or fungicidal depended on its concentration, and the concentration of spores. When the gas phase contained at least 3.5 μg/ml, AITC was fungicidal to all tested fungi. Results of sensory evaluation showed, that hot-dog bread was more sensitive to AITC than rye bread. The minimal recognisable concentration of AITC was 2.4 μg/ml gas phase for rye bread and between 1.8 and 3.5 μg/ml gas phase for hot-dog bread. These findings showed that the required shelf-life of rye bread could be achieved by active packaging with AITC. Active packaging of hot-dog bread, may nevertheless require the additional effect of other preserving factors to avoid off-flavour formation     

Effect of Lactate on the Growth and Production of Diacetyl and Acetoin by Lactobacilli

Diacetyl and acetoin production and cell growth in Lactobacillus acidophilus CNRZ 232, Lactobacillus casei ssp. rhamnosus ATCC 7469, Lactobacillus brevis ATCC 14869, and Lactobacillus fermentum ATCC 9338 were studied. The first three species produced large amounts of diacetyl and acetoin when pyruvate was included in a medium with yeast extract, peptone, tryptone, and glucose. Lactobacillus fermentum failed to produce the compounds under consideration.Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus brevis utilized lactate as a carbon source. When lactate was added to the medium containing pyruvate, the diacetyl, acetoin, and biomass decreased in Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus brevis. In Lactobacillus acidophilus both compounds decreased somewhat, and bacterial growth increased, although it decreased again at high lactate concentrations. There was no production of diacetyl and acetoin at pH lower then 4.25 and only little at 4.25.     

Body Sensor Network Mobile Solutions for Biofeedback Monitoring

Body sensor networks (BSN) appeared as an application of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) to medicine and biofeedback. Such networks feature smart sensors (biosensors) that capture bio-physiological parameters from people and can offer an easy way for data collection. BSNs also need suitable interfaces for data processing, presentation, and storage for latter retrieval. As a result, Bluetooth technology can be used to communicate with several more powerful and graphical user interface (GUI)-enabled devices such as mobile phones or regular computers. Taking into account that people currently use mobile and smart phones, it offers a good opportunity to propose a suitable mobile system for BSN networks. This paper presents a BSN mobile solution for biofeedback monitoring using the four major smart phone platforms: Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, and iPhone. As case study, a sensing health with intelligence modularity, mobility and experimental reusability (SHIMMER) platform with a core-body temperature sensor enabled to construct the BSN was used. The four mobile applications were evaluated and validated, and are ready for use.     

Two Mixed Superconducting Phases in (Hg,Re)-1223 Ceramics

We investigate Hg _0.82Re _0.18Ba ₂Ca ₂Cu ₃O _8.76 polycrystalline samples with an optimum oxygen content aimed to analyze both their granular composition and to measure their magnetic response. We find out that the sample corresponds to a solid solution of two intrinsic structural superconductor phases. The AC magnetic susceptibility of a powder sample with a particle size of 20 μm have a critical temperature at 133 K. To make mesoscopic-scale particles of 600 nm in size, a sample of the powder was crushed and sieved. Now, the AC magnetic sample susceptibility shows two critical temperatures at 133 and 98 K. They have been described adopting a particular parametrization of the complex scalar field associated with the order parameter in a new framework of the Ginzburg–Landau theory. Thus, we propose a microscopic model to describe the dynamical interaction between these two types of grains.     

Thermal Behavior of Polyester Composites Reinforced with Green Sugarcane Bagasse Fiber

Natural fibers such as those from sugarcane bagasse may be obtained as industrial waste products. These fibers have recently been investigated as low-cost reinforcements in composites for engineering applications, some of which may require exposure to temperatures above ambient. In the present work, fibers extracted from sugarcane bagasse were used at up to 30 vol.% as reinforcement in polyester-matrix composites. The thermal behavior of these composites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) as well as dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). TGA/DTG results indicated similar limits of thermal stability at about 200°C for the neat polyester and the bagasse fiber composites. The thermal degradation peak at around 370°C was also similar, being attributed mainly to polyester. DSC analysis revealed that bagasse fiber incorporation caused only a minor change in the glass-transition temperature. On the contrary, DMA parameters revealed notable changes attributed to effect of the bagasse fibers on the viscous stiffness and damping capacity of the polyester.     

CO2 laser emission modes to control enamel erosion

Considering the importance and prevalence of dental erosion, the aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the influence of different modes of pulse emission of CO₂ laser associated or not to acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) 1.23% gel, in controlling enamel erosion by profilometry. Ninety‐six fragments of bovine enamel were flattened and polished, and the specimens were subjected to initial erosive challenge with hydrochloric acid (pH = 2). Specimens were randomly assigned according to surface treatment: APF 1.23% gel and gel without fluoride (control), and subdivided according to the modes of pulse CO₂ laser irradiation: no irradiation (control), continuous, ultrapulse, and repeated pulse (n = 12). After surface treatment, further erosive challenges were performed for 5 days, 4 × 2 min/day. Enamel structure loss was quantitatively determined by a profilometer, after surface treatment and after 5 days of erosive challenges. Two‐away ANOVA revealed a significant difference between the pulse emission mode of the CO₂ laser and the presence of fluoride (P ≤ 0.05). The Duncan's test showed that CO₂ laser irradiation in continuous mode and the specimens only received fluoride, promoted lower enamel loss than that other treatments. A lower dissolution of the enamel prisms was observed when it was irradiated with CO₂ laser in continuous mode compared other groups. It can be concluded that CO₂ laser irradiation in continuous mode was the most effective to control the enamel structure loss submitted to erosive challenges with hydrochloric acid. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:654–659, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Rapid Prototyping Scenario for Power Factor Control in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Drives: Control Solutions for Interleaved Boost Converters

Rapid prototyping of control is one of the most important technologies for designers and researchers to shorten design and testing of control algorithms. This article presents power electronics opportunities provided by PSIM software and a high performance digital signal processing. The field of application examined is motor control and switching mode power supplies. In particular, more emphasis to the theoretical treatment of linear and non-linear power factor controllers has been given, and the performances of examined algorithms in both the simulated and real world have been verified. Finally, good matching between the results of these two configurations has been documented.