Newspaper-reinforced plastic composite laminates: Mechanical and water uptake characteristics

Several useful composite materials have been developed with natural fiber and plastic matrices, and their commercial viability has been established in terms of adding value to abundant and cheap natural resources. The Macromolecular Research Centre, Jabalpur, India, has recently developed composite from waste newspaper reinforced with plastic material using a prepreg technique wherein the matrix resin consists of resol type phenolic resin (PR) and bifunctional epoxy resin (EP) condensate. Laminates of newspaper and PR-EP condensate were prepared by hot press molding, and the newspaper weight fraction in these composites was varied from 0.30 to 0.65. The mechanical properties of five selected newspaper (PR-EP) condensate composites are reported for parameters such as ultimate tensile strength, elongation, tensile modulus, flexural strength and modulus, and heat deflection temperature (HDT). The water uptake behavior of these composites was examined by constructing water absorption isotherms, and the water diffusion coefficient and water absorption (24 h soak test) were determined. The specific tensile and flexural strengths and modulus properties of newspaper-(PR-EP) condensate composites are found comparable with one prepared elsewhere from recyclable newspaper-reinforced polypropylene thermoplastics.     

Blends of cardanol-based epoxidized novolac resin and CTBN for application in surface coating: a study on thermal,mechanical, chemical,and morphological characteristics

Blend samples of cardanol-based epoxidized novolac resin and different weight percentages of carboxyl-terminated butadiene acrylonitrile (CTBN) were developed and cured with stoichiometric amounts of aliphatic amine. The formation of various products during the curing of blend samples has been studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The dynamic differential scanning calorimeter scans showed that the pure epoxies and their blend samples with CTBN cured in the temperature range of 100–150°C. The blend sample containing 15 wt% CTBN showed the least cure time (at 120°C) among all other blend samples. Upon evaluation, it was found that blend samples exhibit better properties compared to pure epoxy resin in terms of increase in impact strength and elongation-at-break of the casting and gloss, scratch hardness, adhesion, and flexibility of the film. The improvement in these properties indicates that the rubber modified resin would be more durable than the epoxy based on cardanol. Chemical and morphological properties of the formulated resins were also determined. The thermal stability of the blend samples containing 15 wt% CTBN in epoxy resin was the highest among all other prepared systems. The blend morphology, studied by scanning electron microscope, showed the presence of precipitated discrete rubber particles, which dispersed throughout the epoxy matrix—i.e., they revealed the presence of two-phase morphological features.     

A Newly Developed Synbiotic Yogurt Prevents Diabetes by Improving the Microbiome–Intestine–Pancreas Axis

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is increasing worldwide, and there are no long-term preventive strategies to stop this growth. Emerging research shows that perturbations in the gut microbiome significantly contribute to the development of T2D, while microbiome modulators may be beneficial for T2D prevention. However, microbiome modulators that are effective, safe, affordable, and able to be administered daily are not yet available. Based on our previous pro- and prebiotic studies, we developed a novel synbiotic yogurt comprised of human-origin probiotics and plant-based prebiotics and investigated its impact on diet- and streptozotocin-induced T2D in mice. We compared the effects of our synbiotic yogurt to those of a commercially available yogurt (control yogurt). Interestingly, we found that the feeding of the synbiotic yogurt significantly reduced the development of hyperglycemia (diabetes) in response to high-fat diet feeding and streptozotocin compared to milk-fed controls. Surprisingly, the control yogurt exacerbated diabetes progression. Synbiotic yogurt beneficially modulated the gut microbiota composition compared to milk, while the control yogurt negatively modulated it by significantly increasing the abundance of detrimental bacteria such as Proteobacteria and Enterobacteriaceae. In addition, the synbiotic yogurt protected pancreatic islet morphology compared to the milk control, while the control yogurt demonstrated worse effects on islets. These results suggest that our newly developed synbiotic yogurt protects against diabetes in mice and can be used as a therapeutic to prevent diabetes progression.     

CO2 process intensification of algae oil extraction to biodiesel

Algae-to-biodiesel processes are hindered by high costs and low energy return on investment.^1,2. Herein, three foci in research improve algae-to-biodiesel processes by: (1) reducing high installation and energy costs in the CO₂ sequestration, cultivation, and harvesting stages; (2) improving oil extraction and biodiesel generation; and (3) increasing utilization of the proteins in lipid-extracted biomass (e.g., for animal feed), as well as the omega-3 fatty acids for nutraceuticals and food supplements. A process is introduced that uses carbon dioxide to aid in all three of these foci. CO₂ is used first in the form of microbubbles to lyse algae cell walls, releasing triglyceride oils. CO₂ also aids with transesterification of these triglycerides using methanol. At low temperatures (353.15–368.15 K) and intermediate pressures (5–10 MMPa), carbon dioxide causes methanol to dissolve partially in the triglyceride phase and triglyceride to dissolve partially in the methanol phase, increasing the transesterification reaction rate. Due to the nondestructive nature of these processes, other metabolites can also be harvested providing improvements in both mass and economic efficiency with an overall sharp reduction in the modeled price of biodiesel.     

Sol-gel auto-combustion synthesis of Ba–Sr hexaferrite ceramic powders

We report the mechanism involved in sol-gel auto-combustion synthesis of Ba–Sr-hexaferrite (Ba_1-xSr_xFe₁₂O₁₉; x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1, BSFO) ceramic powders through the analysis of the phases evolved during annealing of the as-synthesized powders, along with their structure and morphological studies. The XRD patterns of the as-synthesized samples indicate the formation of barium/strontium monoferrite ((Ba/Sr)Fe₂O₄) and maghemite (γ-Fe₂O₃) phases along with a minute amount of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) phase. Annealing of these samples facilitates formation of BSFO phase through the solid state reaction between BaFe₂O₄ and γ-Fe₂O₃ phase. Interestingly, after annealing the samples with x = 0, 0.5 and 1, at 1000 °C for 2 h, we observed that phase pure Ba–Sr hexaferrite structure forms, but for samples with x = 0.25 and 0.75, high amount of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) phase is observed, especially for x = 0.75. The reason associated with this could be the large difference between the ionic radii of Ba²⁺ and Sr²⁺ ions occupying the oxygen site. Furthermore, our study on annealing dependent phase evolution confirms that, this difference in ionic radii forbids the formation of a single phase Ba–Sr hexaferrite. The growth of clear hexagonal-shaped plate-like particles with varied particle sizes was observed for all the samples. The particle size variation may be due to the influence of the ionic radii difference on the sinterability of the samples. Our study provides a better understanding of synthesis mechanism of Ba–Sr hexaferrite samples.     

Isatin compounds as corrosion inhibitors for N80 steel in 15% HCl

The inhibition effect of two synthesized isatin compounds namely 1-morpholinomethyl-3-(1-N-dithiooxamide)iminoisatin [MMTOI] and 1-diphenylaminomethyl-3-(1-N-dithiooxamide)iminoisatin [PAMTOI] on the corrosion inhibition of N80 steel in 15% HCl solution was studied by polarization, EIS and weight loss measurements. It was found that both the inhibitors were effective and their inhibition efficiency was significantly increased with increasing concentration. Polarization curves revealed that the used inhibitors represent mixed-type inhibitors. Adsorption of these inhibitors led to a reduction in the double layer capacitance and an increase in the charge transfer resistance, and was found also to obey Langmuir isotherm.     

Underground coal gasification: A new clean coal utilization technique for India

Energy demand of India is continuously increasing. Coal is the major fossil fuel in India and continues to play a pivotal role in the energy sector. India has relatively large reserves of coal (253 billion tonnes) compared to crude oil (728 million tonnes) and natural gas (686 billion cubic meters). Coal meets about 60% of the commercial energy needs and about 70% of the electricity produced in India comes from coal, and therefore there is a need for technologies for utilization of coals efficiently and cleanly. UCG offers many advantages over the conventional mining and gasification process. UCG is a well proven technology. Due to the site-specific nature of the process, possibility of land subsidence and surrounding aquifer water contamination, this technology is still in a developing stage in India. Potential for UCG in India is studied by comparing the properties of Indian coals with the properties of coal that are utilized by various UCG trials. The essential issues are elaborated for starting UCG in India based on the reported information from the successful field trials conducted all over the world. Indian industries are in the process of initiating pilot studies of UCG at various sites. This study will help to motivate both applied and theoretical research work on UCG sites in India and after detailed analysis it will provide basic data to interested industries.     

Relationship of Water Stress and Flood Damage for Sustainable Development

Water Resources Management - Climate change leads to the extreme occurrence of events, water-related disasters, and pressure on existing water resources. The water resource is important for the...     

Attenuation of ultrasonic waves in V, Nb and Ta at low temperatures

Variation of ultrasonic attenuation and velocities with temperature have been evaluated in the temperature range 5-50 K due to electron-phonon interaction mechanism in transition metals vanadium, niobium and tantalum for longitudinal and shear waves. For this evaluation, we have also computed the second order elastic constants using Morse potential. Behaviour of acoustical phonons in these bcc metals is different from other normal metals, intermetallics, semimetallics and alloys. Some characteristic features of these materials connected to ultrasonic parameters are discussed.