Mechanical characterization and chemical resistances of cured unsaturated polyester resins modified with vinyl ester resins based on recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Unsaturated polyester resin (UP) was prepared from glycolyzed oligomer of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste based on diethylene glycol (DEG). New diacrylate and dimethacrylate vinyl ester resins prepared from glycolysis of PET with tetraethylene glycol were blended with UP to study the mechanical characteristics of the cured UP. The vinyl ester resins were used as crosslinking agents for unsaturated polyester resin diluted with styrene, using free‐radical initiator and accelerator. The mechanical properties of the cured UP resins were evaluated. The compressive properties of the cured UP/styrene resins in the presence of different vinyl ester concentrations were evaluated. Increasing the vinyl ester content led to a pronounced improvement in the compression strength. The chemical resistances of the cured resins were evaluated through hot water, solvents, acid, and alkali resistance measurements. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 3175–3182, 2007     

The Effect of Physical and Chemical Cues on Hepatocellular Function and Morphology

Physical topographical features and/or chemical stimuli to the extracellular matrix (ECM) provide essential cues that manipulate cell functions. From the physical point of view, contoured nanostructures are very important for cell behavior in general, and for cellular functions. From the chemical point of view, ECM proteins containing an RGD sequence are known to alter cell functions. In this study, the influence of integrated physical and chemical cues on a liver cell line (HepG2) was investigated. To mimic the physical cues provided by the ECM, amorphous TiO₂ nanogratings with specific dimensional and geometrical characteristics (nanogratings 90 nm wide and 150 nm apart) were fabricated. To mimic the chemical cues provided by the ECM, the TiO₂ inorganic film was modified by immobilization of the RGD motif. The hepatic cell line morphological and functional changes induced by simultaneously combining these diversified cues were investigated, including cellular alignment and the expression of different functional proteins. The combination of nanopatterns and surface modification with RGD induced cellular alignment and expression of functional proteins, indicating that physical and chemical cues are important factors for optimizing hepatocyte function.     

Electrocatalytic evolution of hydrogen on a novel SrPdO3 perovskite electrode

SrPdO₃ was prepared for the first time by the citrate method. XRD, SEM and TGA characterizations were carried out. The catalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was investigated, the activation energy, and reaction order and reaction mechanism have been determined using Tafel polarization and impedance techniques. The modified surface showed up to 100 times more efficiency towards electrocatalytic production of hydrogen. Adsorption of hydrogen on the catalyst was the rate-determining step and the reaction order at the surface of the catalyst is 0.86. The molar magnetic susceptibility was measured using Faraday's method and anti-ferromagnetic character was observed.     

Investigation of the catalytic activity of LaBO3 (B = Ni, Co, Fe or Mn) prepared by the microwave-assisted method for hydrogen evolution in acidic medium

LaBO₃ (B = Ni, Co, Fe and Mn) were prepared by microwave-assisted citrate method. The electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was investigated. XRD characterization showed that pure perovskite crystals were indeed formed. SEM images showed that changing the type of the B-site metal ion affected the morphology of the prepared perovskites. The influence of the type of B-cation on the catalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution was studied and the order of the electrocatalytic activity was LaFeO₃ > LaCoO₃ > LaNiO₃ > LaMnO₃, that was related to the calculated values of the activation energy 51.61, 45.37, 41.15 and 55.05 kJ mol⁻¹ for LaBO₃ (B = Ni, Co, Fe and Mn), respectively. The reaction order and the reaction mechanism for all the prepared perovskites were identified. In addition, the effect of the partial substitution at the B-site in LaNi_{1 − x}Co_xO₃ was also studied. It was found that among ternary perovskites, the catalytic activity of LaNiO₃ decreased by increasing the fraction of doped-Co.     

5G-V2X: standardization,architecture, use cases,network-slicing,and edge-computing

Wireless Networks - Vehicular communication is one of the critical technologies in intelligent transportation system to provide connectivity between vehicles, road side units, and pedestrians....     

Influence of Inoculant Type on the Microstructure Characteristics and Mechanical Properties of Ductile Iron

Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals - The inoculation process of molten cast iron defines the final microstructure of the produced castings. The current study is concerned with the...     

MHD flow and heat transfer of a micropolar fluid over a nonlinear stretching surface with variable surface heat flux and heat generation

An analysis has been carried out to study magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow and heat transfer of an electrically conducting micropolar fluid over a nonlinear stretching surface with variable wall heat flux in the presence of heat generation/absorption and a non‐uniform transverse magnetic field. The governing system of partial differential equations is first transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations using similarity transformation. The transformed equations are solved numerically. Results for the dimensionless velocity, micro‐rotation, and temperature profiles are displayed graphically delineating the effects of various parameters characterising the flow. The results show that the velocity profile decreases as the magnetic parameter and the velocity exponent increase, while it increases as the material parameter increases. The results show also that the temperature profile increases as the magnetic parameter, the velocity exponent, and the heat generation parameter increase. Furthermore, the temperature profile decreases as the material parameter, the heat absorption parameter, and the Prandtl number increase.     

Production of butanol and polyhydroxyalkanoate from industrial waste by Clostridium beijerinckii ASU10

This study demonstrated a biotechnological approach for simultaneous production of low‐cost H₂, liquid biofuels, and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) by solventogenic bacterium (Clostridium beijerinckii) from renewable industrial wastes such as molasses and crude glycerol. C beijerinckii ASU10 (KF372577) exhibited considerable performance for hydrogen production of 5.1 ± 0.84 and 11 ± 0.44 mL H₂ h^?1 on glycerol and sugarcane molasses, respectively. The total acetone‐butanol‐ethanol (ABE) generation from glycerol and molasses was 9.334 ± 2.98 and 10.831 ± 4.1 g L^?1, respectively. ABE productivity (g L^?1 h^?1) was 0.0486 and 0.0564 with a yield rate (g g^?1) up to 0.508 and 0.493 from glycerol and molasses fermentation, respectively. The PHA yields from glycerol and sugarcane molasses were 84.37% and 37.97% of the dried bacterial biomass, respectively. Additionally, the ultrathin section of C beijerinckii ASU10 showed that PHA granules were accumulated more densely on glycerol than molasses. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analysis confirmed that the PHAs obtained from molasses fermentation included 3‐hydroxybutyrate (47.3%) and 3‐hydroxyoctanoate (52.7%) as the main constituents. Meanwhile, 3‐hydroxybutyrate represented the sole monomer of PHA produced from glycerol fermentation. This study demonstrated that C beijerinckii ASU10 (KF372577) is a potent strain for low‐cost PHA production depending on its high potential to produce high‐energy biofuel and other valuable compounds from utilization of organic waste materials.     

Electrodeposited Metals at Conducting Polymer Electrodes. II: Study of the Oxidation of Methanol at Poly(3-methylthiophene) Modified with Pt–Pd Co-catalyst

The electrodeposition of sub-micro/nano-size Pt–Pd co-catalyst on conducting poly(3-methylthiophene) (PMT) films and the use of the resulting hybrid material for the oxidation of methanol are reported. Several factors affecting the electrocatalytic activity for this process were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), namely, the polymer film thickness, and the catalyst amount/ratio. In addition, the effects of methanol concentration and the operating temperature were also investigated. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the thermal stability of the polymer film increased by the incorporation of the metallic particles. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) were obtained to identify the relative size of the metallic particles and their distribution. The size ranged between 3 μm and 500 nm. Energy dispersive X-rays analysis (EDAX) was performed to identify the composition of the metallic particles. It was found that the particle composed of Pt and Pd in ratio that is comparable to that present in the feed solution.