Plastics have prominent utilization worldwide. Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is one of the major types of plastics that can be found in the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) [1]. MSW contains high proportion of thermoplastic polymers which has been increasing in value. PET is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer, and is considered as polyester material [2]. Large amount of waste PET is being p...

In simple terms, the wood cell wall is a composite made of a rigid cellulose polymer in a matrix of lignin and the hemicelluloses. The lignin polymer in the middle lamella and S2 layer is thermoplastic; that is, it softens upon heating. The glass transition temperature Tg of the lignin in the matrix is approximately 170°C (338°F). Above the matrix Tg, it is possible to cause the lignin to under...

The large strain nonlinear stress-strain behavior of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) exhibits strong hysteresis, rate dependence and softening. Thermoplastic polyurethanes are copolymers composed of hard and soft segments. The hard and soft segments phase separate to form a microstructure of hard and soft domains typically on a length scale of a few tens of nanometers. Studies have revealed ...

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a technology where fine structures on a mold (or template) are transferred onto a substrate coated with thermoplastic or with ultraviolet (UV) curing resins by making contact with the substrate while being heated or exposed to UV lights. Recently, NIL has been applied in semiconductor manufacturing to print fine features of circuits on LSI chips and memories at ...

Polyurethane/graphene nanocomposites were synthesized using commercial thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU, Apilon 52DE55), and two types of graphene derivatives: graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO). Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy, TEM, and SEM microscopy and XRD techniques were used to chemical...

The emission properties of a graded-index thermoplastic polymer optical fiber and a step-index thermosetting one, both doped with rhodamine 6G, have been studied. The work includes a detailed analysis of the amplified spontaneous emission together with a study of the optical gains and losses of the fibers. The photostability of the emission of both types of fibers has also been investigated. Co...

This paper compares the performance of two alternative HVAC fan designs: a five-blade injection molded thermoplastic design, against the more traditional three-blade stamped metal version. The study was conducted using computational fluid dynamics techniques, along with finite element structural analysis, in which we attempted to optimize the air movement characteristics of the fan, as well as ...

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been synthesized from thermoplastic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using electrospinning in combination with a novel three-step heat treatment process, which successfully stabilizes the fibrous morphology before carbonization that was proven to be difficult for thermoplastic polymers other than polyacrylonitrile (PAN). These CNFs are both mesoporous and microporous wit...