Carbon black‐reinforced dynamically cured EPDM/PP thermoplastic elastomers. I. Morphology,rheology, and dynamic mechanical properties

The structure development, rheological behavior, and viscoelastic properties of carbon black‐filled dynamically vulcanized thermoplastic elastomers based on the ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymer (EPDM) and polypropylene (PP) with the ratio range of 50/50 to 80/20 were studied and compared with similar but unfilled samples. Two‐phase morphology was observed at all ratios for the dynamically cured samples in which rubber particles are dispersed in the thermoplastic matrix. Carbon black distribution in each phase and damping behavior was found to be dependent upon the mixing condition and route of carbon black feeding. However, carbon black tends to stay mainly in the rubber phase, which leads to increase in the viscosity difference and, therefore, increase in the rubber particle size. Tensile strength and rupture energy increased with carbon black loading. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 1127–1137, 2000     

Effects of carbon blacks on electrical properties of EPDM compounds

The correlations between mechanical and electrical properties of ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) compounds and carbon black types and levels applied are studied. Tensile strength increases with an increase of the carbon black, especially for carbon black with higher surface area. Tracking resistance of EPDM compounds improves when a small amount of relatively nonconductive carbon blacks are added to EPDM compounds, whereas conductive carbon blacks decrease both dielectric properties and tracking resistance of EPDM compounds. Possible reasons for these results are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 78: 2540–2546, 2000     

Ozonation of black‐table‐olive industrial wastewaters: effect of an aerobic biological pretreatment

The present work is a study of oxidative degradation of the organic matter present in the washing waters from the black‐table‐olive industry. This oxidation is performed by an ozonation process, by an aerobic biological degradation process, and by another ozonation of biologically pretreated washing waters. In the ozonation process, a second‐order kinetic reaction with respect to ozone and COD or aromaticity has been deduced. The kinetic rate constants were correlated as a function of temperature by Arrhenius‐type equations. In the aerobic biological treatment, a kinetic study was performed using the Contois model, giving a value of 4.8 10⁻² h⁻¹ for the kinetic bioreaction constant. Likewise, a cell yield coefficient of 0.30 g VSS g COD⁻¹ and a kinetic constant for the endogenous metabolisme of 1.2 10⁻² h⁻¹ were deduced. Finally, in the ozonation of biologically pretreated wash‐waters, the deduced kinetic rate constants for COD and aromaticity were, respectively, 4.5 and 2.4 times higher that those corresponding to the ozonation of wash‐waters without biological pretreatment. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Experimental testing of the polymer–filler gel formation theory. II.

In Part I of the present article predictions of the polymer–filler gel formation theory were tested experimentally using fine-particle silica in natural rubber (NR) and in styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR). Part II brings a more detailed experiment–theory comparison using carbon blacks differing in specific surface area and structure, graphitized blacks, fume silica, and surface-modified (hydrophobized) fume silica. In the region of low and medium filler concentration c, the c-dependence of the fraction G of polymer in polymer–filler gel, of the fraction B of total filler-bound polymer, of the fraction w_disp of solvent-dispersed filler particles were found to be correctly predicted by the theory. The effect of filler characteristics and of the method of its incorporation into the polymer on the values of the adjustable parameters of the theory (filler surface adsorptivity, D, and filler particles connectivity, f) was determined and is discussed. In the region of very high c increasing positive deviations of D from the low-c behavior were observed and an explanation for this effect is proposed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 95–107, 1998     

Morphology and electrical properties of carbon black-filled poly(ε-caprolactone)/poly(vinyl butyral) blends

Electrical properties of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) blends containing carbon black (CB) were studied as a function of a small amount of PVB content and a wide range of molecular weight of PVB. For samples with the same CB content, the intensity of positive temperature coefficient (I_PTC, defined as the ratio of peak resistivity to resistivity at room temperature) of the blends was increased, with PVB content greatly and molecular weight of PVB weakly. As the band spacings of PCL spherulites in PCL/PVB blends decrease with PVB content and molecular weight of PVB, the changes of the positive temperature coefficient property are ascribed to the morphological difference (i.e., period of twisted lamellae) in the blends. We confirmed our previous conclusion that the origin of the positive temperature coefficient phenomenon is the changes of the distribution of the CB on the melting of the crystalline phase. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 193–199, 1998     

Studies on conductive silicone rubber compounds

The electrical conductivity of silicone rubber vulcanizates containing carbon blacks [e.g., acetylene black, lamp black, and ISAF (N-234) black] were investigated. The change in electrical conductivity with varying amounts of carbon blacks and the temperature dependence was measured. The mechanical properties like tensile strength, tear strength, elongation at break, hardness, etc., of the vulcanizates were determined. A comparative study of the electrical conductivity of the composites revealed that the electrical conductivity of the composites made with acetylene black was higher than that of the composites made of other blacks. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1043–1050, 1998     

Study of the nutritional value of black cumin seeds (Nigella sativaL)

The nutritional value of five samples of black cumin seeds from five different sources available in the local market were studied. The average values of the proximate analysis on dry matter basis were 216 g kg⁻¹ for crude protein, 406 g fat, 45 g ash, 84 g crude fibre and 249 g of nitrogen-free extract, whereas moisture content was 38 g kg⁻¹. The mineral and vitamin analyses showed that black cumin seeds contained iron, (105 mg kg⁻¹) copper (18 mg), zinc (60 mg) phosphorus (527 mg), calcium (1860 mg), thiamin (15·4 mg), niacin (57 mg), pyridoxine (5·0 mg) and folic acid (160 μg). The protein quality of black cumin seeds was evaluated using net protein utilisation (NPU), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and net dietary protein energy percent (NDPE %) for two samples imported from Syria and Turkey, while PER was determined for the Syrian sample only. The results indicated that the NPU standardised of Turkish black cumin seeds was significantly higher than that of Syrian type (P<0·05). The mean results (±SD) were 54·6±2·72 for the Syrian type and 63·1±3·74 for the Turkish type. The NDPE% mean results (±SD) were 5·3±0·79 and 5·6±0·26 for the Syrian and the Turkish samples, respectively. The PER adjusted value for the Syrian samples was 1·9. The results of protein quality evaluation and those of the nutrient composition suggest that black cumin is of relatively good nutritional value. © 1998 SCI.     

Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L), globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus) and chicory witloof (Cichorium intybus) processing by-products as sources of dietary fibre

By-products arising from vegetable processing activities have been assessed in relation to their potential application as sources of dietary fibre supplements in refined foods. Sources used were fresh cauliflower, globe artichoke and chicory witloof. Non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) content and composition of selected parts of each plant source have been measured from alcohol insoluble residues (AIR) and by fibre analysis, complemented by methylation analysis to characterise structural features of component polysaccharides. Results indicate that cauliflower upper stem NSP was similar to the floret (∽25 g kg⁻¹ fresh weight) and each was rich in pectic polysaccharides. Cauliflower lower stem was enriched in NSP (∽66 g kg⁻¹) due mainly to cellulose and xylan deposition, which resulted in a proportionate decrease in pectic polysaccharides. Artichoke stem (∽38 g NSP kg⁻¹) was similar to the receptacle (∽34 g NSP kg⁻¹) but bracts were heavily lignified. Chicory root and leaf bud were each rich in pectic polysaccharides but NSP content was much higher in the root (∽46 g kg⁻¹) than the leaf (∽8 g kg⁻¹). Results indicate that processing by-products, eg cauliflower upper stem, artichoke stem and chicory root, could prove useful as sources of pectic polysaccharide-rich supplements. However, polysaccharide composition and glycosidic linkage pattern also identified important structural differences between sources. The importance of ‘fibre type’ when considering development of food supplements is discussed. © 1998 SCI.     

The Stability of Theaflavins During HPLC Analysis of a Decaffeinated Aqueous Tea Extract

It has been shown that the theaflavins and thearubigin hump of decaffeinated aqueous extracts of black tea remain virtually stable for up to 850 min, thus permitting their automated overnight analysis. Within-run coefficients of variation for the total chromatogram area and peak area for each of the major theaflavins, following repeated (up to 10 times) injections of a single extract, did not exceed 2·5 and 6·0%, respectively. The corresponding values obtained by pooling data obtained on three separate occasions were 3·0 and 7·3%, respectively. Trend-line analysis indicated that there was a tendency for each of the areas studied to decline by factors in the range 0·11–0·53% of the original value per injection. This factor was not statistically significant for theaflavin-3,3′-digallate but reached 5% significance for theaflavin and total chromatogram area and 1% for both theaflavin monogallates. The magnitude of these changes is too small to warrant an avoidance of automated sample handling in routine screening or quality assurance programmes where the increased throughput allowed is advantageous. It was also noted that the use of citric acid to acidify the chromatographic solvents was not superior to acetic acid. © 1997 SCI.     

The spider environment

Visual composition is an interactive development of different applications by the direct manipulation of reusable components. We believe that the visual composition approach deals directly with the complexity of large software systems, making their development easier, more flexible, and easier to be understood. This is accomplished by implementing abstraction, reuse and visualization concepts. The developer becomes a component builder and no longer creates large applications that are hard to maintain and enhance. The user will have the freedom to choose the components he needs to build an application, and to mix and match components from different developers until the desired functionality is achieved. The visual Spider environment allows the creation of different kinds of applications. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.