Conifer Needles as Thermoplastic Composite Fillers: Structure and Properties

Sugar export limits size of conifer needles.

Plant leaf size varies by more than three orders of magnitude, from a few millimeters to over one meter. Conifer leaves, however, are relatively short and the majority of needles are no longer than 6 cm. The reason for the strong confinement of the trait-space is unknown. We show that sugars produced near the tip of long needles cannot be exported efficiently, because the pressure required to d...

Effects of Fibers and Fillers on Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastic Composites

Thermoplastic copolyester elastomer (TCE) and Polyoxymethylene (POM) filled polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) composite, reinforced with short glass fiber (SGF) and different shape microfillers such as short carbon fiber (SCF), silicon carbide (SiC) and alumina (Al2O3) were prepared by melt mixing method using twin screw extruder followed by injection moulding. Mechanical properties such as tensile...

Scaling of phloem structure and optimality of photoassimilate transport in conifer needles.

The phloem vascular system facilitates transport of energy-rich sugar and signalling molecules in plants, thus permitting long-range communication within the organism and growth of non-photosynthesizing organs such as roots and fruits. The flow is driven by osmotic pressure, generated by differences in sugar concentration between distal parts of the plant. The phloem is an intricate distributio...

Novel Thermoplastic Polyimide Composite Materials

The Influence of Processing and the Polymorphism of Lignocellulosic Fillers on the Structure and Properties of Composite Materials—A Review

Cellulose is the most important and the most abundant plant natural polymer. It shows a number of interesting properties including those making it attractive as a filler of composite materials with a thermoplastic polymer matrix. Production of such composite materials, meeting the standards of green technology, has increased from 0.36 million tons in 2007 to 2.33 million tons in 2012. It is pre...