Evaluation of fire performance of organic fire retardant free acrylic based coatings applied on various building materials by cone calorimetric method

Fire performance of water‐based plaster systems containing acrylic copolymer binder and non‐flammable mineral and ceramic fillers intended for decorative coating application was determined by cone calorimetric method. The coatings were applied on common building substrate materials used in construction sector, namely, Medium Density Fibre (MDF) boards, Gypsum Boards (GIB) and Stainless Steel (SS), and the different plaster finishes attempted on these substrates were Tierrafino, Suave and Bone China respectively. Group numbers of the different test samples were also evaluated following the Kokkala method. Based on various measurements, especially heat release, smoke evolution, mass loss data and the Group number estimates, it is evident that these organic fire retardant free coatings can offer good fire safety if applied on appropriate substrates like GIB or SS. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation and thermomechanical properties of nanocrystalline cellulose reinforced poly(lactic acid) nanocomposites

A two‐step process was developed to prepare nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a compatibilizer. It was composed of solvent mixing and melt blending. The NCC was well dispersed in the PLA matrix. A network was formed at high NCC‐to‐PEG ratio at which the amount of the PEG was not enough to cover all the surfaces of the NCC. The formation of the network was confirmed by the occurrence of a plateau for the storage modulus at low frequency. The incorporation of the PEG and NCC could improve the crystallinity of the PLA. The elongation at break increased from 11.0% for the neat PLA to 106.0% for the composites including 6 wt % NCC, impact strength was improved from 0.864 to 2.64 kJ m^?2 and tensile strength did not change significantly for the same 6 wt % NCC composites. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44683.     

A New Formulation Based on Ozonated Sunflower Seed Oil: In Vitro Antibacterial and Safety Evaluation

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential in vitro biological properties of Oz.Or.Oil 30, a new formulation composed of 30% ozonated sunflower seed oil, which is believed to keep skin smooth and moisturized, supporting repair processes, tissue regeneration and re-epithelialization of wounds. The antibacterial activity, the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the cytotoxic effect of the formulation on cultures of Vero cells and 3T3 fibroblasts showed that Oz.Or.Oil 30 merits further in vivo study using clinical-laboratory correlations, because it could be suggested as an alternative therapy against bacterial and fungal diseases.     

Long term ageing of polyamide 6 and polyamide 6 reinforced with 30% of glass fibers: physicochemical,mechanical and morphological characterization

Hygrothermal ageing of polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyamide 6 reinforced with 30 wt% of glass fibers (PA6GF30) was undertaken. Immersion was conducted in distilled water at 90 °C and 100% relative humidity (RH) for up to 80 days (1920 h). Results revealed a noteworthy decrease either in glass transition temperature T_g or in tensile properties, at early stage of ageing, for both studied materials. This decline was mainly caused by the plasticization effect of water and the weakness of the interfacial interactions leading as a consequence to a loss of adhesion between fiber and matrix. Afterwards, physical and mechanical properties decrease monotonically testifying the occurrence of exhaustive damages and chemical reaction phenomena. Such phenomena were yellowing and crazing formation which were observed for both materials after 1920 h of conditioning. The former is caused by the thermo- oxidation whereas the latter results from the release of internal stresses induced by water sorption. These chemical reactions were monitored by infrared spectroscopy. Thus, an increase of the free N-H stretch and the carbonyl groups (imides) was noted. Accordingly, it seems that long term immersion in distilled water at high temperature induces chemical reactions which indicate the severity of the damage.     

有机颜料对天然橡胶薄制品力学性能的影响

本文主要通过测量不同颜色的天然橡胶薄制品在老化前后的拉伸力学性能的差异,研究有机颜料对天然橡胶力学性能的影响;并用核磁共振(NMR)法测定了不同颜色的天然橡胶制品内部交联密度的差异,验证了不同颜料在硫化过程中对天然橡胶拉伸力学性能的影响。添加了不同颜料的天然橡胶薄制品,其力学性能是不同的。在经历热空气老化后,黄色橡胶产品最为稳定,添加了联苯胺黄的产品具有很好的不褪色特性,且分散在NR中更为均匀,力学性能最佳;添加了红色颜料的橡胶制品褪色最明显,可能是由于颜料红2耐热稳定性最差所致。老化前后,各样品的力学性能大小顺序是:原色黄色绿色红色。结果表明,在天然橡胶力学性能的劣化上,不同颜料的影响是不同的:颜料红2酞菁绿联苯胺黄G原色。     

A Box–Behnken Design-Based Model for Predicting Power Performance in Microbial Fuel Cells Using Wastewater

Although modeling is regarded as a useful tool to understand the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), the number of MFC models remains very low compared with the number of experimental works available in the literature. Moreover, there are very few MFC modeling attempts dealing with the use of wastewater as fuel in these devices, which is essential for the practical implementation of MFCs since the potential of this technology lies in the two-fold benefit of wastewater treatment and bioenergy generation. In this work, a four-factor three-level Box–Behnken design was developed to model the electrochemical power generation in two-chamber MFCs using wastewater as fuel. The optimum values of temperature, external resistance, feed concentration and anodic pH that maximized power output were investigated. Optimum conditions were found at T = 35°C and R = 1 kΩ, corresponding to a maximum power density of 0.88 W·m^?3, while feed concentration and pH did not show statistical significance in the ranges studied. Thus, a Box–Behnken design-based model as empirical approach could provide an effective tool for the optimization study of MFC systems.     

CFX模拟分解炉内CaCO3分解反应的研究

运用CFX模拟分解炉模型内的流动、煤粉燃烧、CaCO3的分解过程,对系统进行气体组分质量平衡和热量平衡计算,结果表明：O2的相对误差<3%,CO2的相对误差<9%,热量的相对误差<9%,表明用CFX模拟分解炉时的可靠性达90%以上;当计算参数如CaCO3量或煤粉量变化0.01%时,炉内温度分布、出口温度、CaCO3分解率等变量几乎没有变化,而当计算参数的变化量大于0.01%时,计算结果就看出变化,即CFX的模拟计算结果响应这两个计算参数变化的灵敏度可达到近万分之一。     

Preparation and characterization of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-polytetrafluoroethylene (PDMS-PTFE) composite membrane for pervaporation of chloroform from aqueous solution

Hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane — polytetrafluoroethylene (PDMS-PTFE) flat-sheet membranes for pervaporation (PV) of chloroform from aqueous solution were successfully fabricated by solution casting method. The structures and the performance of the membranes was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDXS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and the tests of contact angle and mechanical properties. The adding of PTFE particles (<4 μm) in the PDMS matrix enhanced the crystallinity, hydrophobicity, mechanical strength and thermal stability of the membranes. The examinations showed that the PTFE filled PDMS membranes exhibited striking advantages in flux and separation factor as compared with unfilled PDMS membranes. All the filled PDMS membranes with different PTFE content showed excellent PV properties for the separation of chloroform from water. When the content of the PTFE additive in PDMS composite membrane was 30 wt%, membrane performance was the best at feed temperature 50 °C and permeate-side vacuum 0.101MPa. For the 30% PTFE-PDMS membrane, with the increase of the feed temperature from 30 to 60 °C, the total, water and chloroform fluxes as well as the separation factor increased, the apparent activation energy (ΔEa) of total, chloroform and water were 21.08, 66.65 and 11.49 KJ/mol, respectively, with an increase of chloroform concentration in the feed from 50 to 950 ppm, total, water and chloroform fluxes increased but the separation factor decreased.