The effect of epoxy‐polyester hybrid resin on mechanical properties,rheological behavior,and water absorption of polypropylene wood flour composites

The effect of epoxy resin on mechanical and Rheological properties, and moisture absorption of wood flour polypropylene composites (WPCs) were investigated. The reactive mixing of epoxy resin with 30, and 40 wt% wood flour and polypropylene (PP) was carried out in twin screw extruder with a special screw elements arrangement. PP grafted maleic anhydrides (MPP) were used as coupling agent to improve the interfacial interactions of wood flour, epoxy resin, and PP. The tensile strength of composites decreased, and elastic modulus and moisture absorption increased with increasing epoxy resin content. The complex viscosity η* increased with increasing epoxy resin content of composites, and a synergistic effect in increasing the η* was observed at 3 wt% resin. The epoxy resin modified wood‐PP composites that chemically coupled by MPP showed minimum water absorption with highest elastic modulus. The experimental oscillation rheologyical data were used to drive a model to predict the flow behavior of WPCs, in a wide range of frequencies. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:2041–2048, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Copper/copper oxide nanoparticles synthesis using Stachys lavandulifolia and its antibacterial activity

Nanoparticles of copper/cuprous oxide (Cu/Cu₂ O) were successfully synthesised by a green chemistry route. The synthesis process was carried out using an extract of Stachys lavandulifolia as both reducing and capping agents with a facile procedure. The nanoparticles were characterised by different techniques including X‐ray diffraction, indicating that the synthesised sample comprised both copper and cuprous oxide entity. The nanoparticles had a mean size of 80 nm and represented an impressive bactericidal effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Inspec keywords: copper, copper compounds, nanoparticles, nanofabrication, nanomedicine, antibacterial activity, X‐ray diffractionOther keywords: nanoparticles synthesis, Stachys lavandulifolia, antibacterial activity, green chemistry route, reducing agents, capping agents, X‐ray diffraction, bactericidal effect, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Cu‐Cu₂ O     

Supertough (Polyamide 6)/(acrylonitrile butadiene rubber) nano alloy through in situ polymerization of caprolactam in the presence of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber nanophase

In this work, polymerization of caprolactam (CL) was carried out in the presence of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) during the reactive melt‐mixing process. During shear mixing, NBR particles swelled and dissolved in the molten CL, which led to separation and distribution of rubber particles to nanoscale in the dissolution stage. Then, in an internal mixer, supertough Polyamide 6 was prepared via melt polymerization of CL/NBR mixture, sodium caprolactam as a catalyst, and hexamethylene diisocyanate as an activator. The effects of various concentrations of catalyst and activator on the initiation time of the reaction were determined. Physical and mechanical properties of different formulations prepared via reactive melt blending were determined by tensile and impact measurements, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray scattering techniques, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Experimental results showed that a recipe with 3% nitrile rubber in a CL/NBR mixture enhances the physical and mechanical properties the best, compared with other formulations. This condition led to the formation of NBR nanospheres during melt polymerization of Polyamide 6 as well. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 21:116–121, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effects of yoghurt butter oils on rat plasma lipids,haematology and liver histology parameters in a 150‐day study

Although yoghurt butter oil as a fermented dairy product is widely consumed in several countries, its metabolic effects have not been fully elucidated. In this study, male Wistar rats were treated with standard diet, standard diet enriched with 10% or 20% (W/W) of either cow yoghurt butter oil (CYBO), sheep yoghurt butter oil (SYBO) or cottonseed oil (COT) for 20 weeks. Treatment of rats with CYBO or SYBO (at both concentrations) did not significantly influence haematological parameters, plasma lipids and liver histological structure. However, in contrast to popular belief, COT treatment at the higher dose induced leukocytosis, dyslipidaemia and liver steatosis.     

Synthesis,characterization, rheological and thermal behavior of metallocene ethylene − norbornene copolymers with low norbornene content using pentafluorophenol modified methylaluminoxane

Ethylene ? norbornene copolymers were synthesized using rac‐ethylene bis(indenyl) zirconium dichloride/pentafluorophenol modified methylaluminoxane. First, the effect of using a modifier in combination with a low ratio of Al/Zr on the catalyst activity and co‐monomer incorporation was studied. The results of copolymerization reveal a 20% co‐monomer incorporation improvement and a rise of activity by 2‐fold in the presence of the modifier. Rheological measurements show a higher molecular weight in copolymers synthesized using modified methylaluminoxane. The alternative and dyad block microstructures of copolymers become possible in the case of a norbornene content of more than 14 mol%. Second, the effect of co‐monomer content on the rheological and thermal behavior of the synthesized copolymers was investigated. The results of the rheological study indicate a lower molecular weight in samples containing a higher norbornene content. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis confirms the influence of different microstructures on the glass transition temperature. The crystal structure of copolymers having a higher molecular weight is emphasized using wide angle X‐ray scattering and DSC even with a greater incorporation of norbornene. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Identifying the frequency dependent material property of a hydraulic engine mount through an iterative procedure using 3D finite element modeling

Achieving very restricted noise, vibration and harshness targets in modern vehicles, makes using the hydraulic engine mount crucial. Hydraulic engine mounts have both solid and fluid media in their structures that make their dynamic behavior complex to figure out. We present a three-dimensional model of HEM with using finite element method that encompasses elastomeric material’s nonlinearity and fluid-structure-interaction. Dynamic equivalent modulus of elasticity for elastomeric material is identified through iterative model updating procedure. To do model updating, the results (here, namely, natural frequencies and frequency response function graphs) are compared with real hydraulic engine mount behavior that derived from modal tests. The results showed that the dynamic characteristic of elastomeric material is frequency dependent and can be divided into two distinct regions: below 30 Hz (low frequency) and above 30 Hz (high frequency) with different trends.     

Investigation on the correlation between rheology and morphology of PA6/ABS blends using ethylene acrylate terpolymer as compatibilizer

Phase morphology and rheological behavior of polyamide 6 (PA6)/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymers blends was studied using scanning electron microscopy and rheometry. The results showed that the phase morphology and rheological properties depends on blend composition. We evaluated the effect of addition of ABS as dispersed phase and EnBACO‐MAH (ethylene n‐butyl acrylate carbon monoxide maleic anhydride) as a compatibilizer on the morphological and rheological behaviors of PA6/ABS blends. It was concluded that there is a good agreement between the results obtained from rheological and morphological studies. As a consequence, addition of the ABS and compatibilizer weight percent led to a significant change in morphological structure and a great mounting in the viscosity as well as the elasticity. The rheological properties results demonstrate that adding compatibilizer to polymer blends led to increasing the crossover point, which shows a transition from a high viscous to a considerably more elastic behavior. Also, the slow transition of relaxation time peak from the peak of the PA6 to the peak of the ABS implies increasing the miscibility of the PA6/ABS blend components by increasing compatibilizer content. In addition, the Carreau–Yasuda model was used to extract information on rheological properties (zero shear viscosity and relaxation time) for PA6/ABS/EnBACO‐MAH blends by fitting the experimental data with this model. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Investigations of Sulfuric Acid Corrosion of Concrete. I: Modeling and Chemical Observations

Degradation of a mortar specimen exposed to an acid sulfate solution was studied. The pH of the solution was maintained in the range of 4–5 for 8 days and 2–3 for 73 days. Data from the experiment were used to investigate the efficacy of a diffusion-reaction based model with a moving boundary for the corrosion process. Acid neutralization rates in the solution were used to calculate the corrosion rate constant for the mortar sample and to determine the effective diffusion rate of sulfuric acid in the corrosion layer. Visual observation of the cross section of the sample at the end of the experiment indicated that 0.82 mm was corroded. The data established the validity of the moving boundary paradigm for sulfide corrosion of concrete when the effective diffusion rate was a decreasing function of the age of the corrosion product being formed.