This life cycle design (LCD) project was a collaborative effort between the National Pollution Prevention Center at the University of Michigan, General Motors (GM), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The primary objective of this project was to apply life cycle design tools to guide the improvement of fuel tank systems. Two alternative fuel tank systems used in a 1996 GM vehicl...

This study examined the effect coextruding a clear HDPE cap layer onto HDPE/wood-flour composites has on the discoloration of coextruded composites exposed to accelerated UV tests. Chroma meter, XPS, SEM, and UV vis measurements accounted for the analysis of discoloration and degree of oxidation of both uncapped (control) and coextruded composites before and after UV exposures. Two separate dis...

The new applications for carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in various fields and consequently their greater production volume have increased their potential release to the environment. Landfills are one of the major locations where carbon nanotubes are expected to be disposed and it is important to ensure that they can limit the release of CNTs. Diffusion of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) dispersed ...

The diversity and load of heterotrophic bacteria and fungi associated with the mangrove soil from Suva, Fiji Islands, was determined by using the plate count method. The ability of the bacterial isolates to produce various hydrolytic enzymes such as amylase, gelatinase and lipase were determined using the plate assay. The heterotrophic bacterial load was considerably higher than the fungal load...

in this research, the effect of wood species and particle size on mechanicalproperties of wood plastic composites (wpc) made of fir (abies alba) and beech(fagus orientalis l.) sawdust and high density polyethylene (hdpe) wereinvestigated. wood plastic composite (wpc) were made with 30% hdpe in abatch process at 185˚c, at two particle sizes of 40 mesh and 80 mesh. maleicanhydride polypropylene (...

Selective laser sintering (SLS) has been investigated for the production of bioactive implants and tissue scaffolds using composites of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) reinforced with hydroxyapatite (HA) with the aim of achieving the rapid manufacturing of customized implants. Single-layer and multilayer block specimens made of HA–HDPE composites with 30 and 40 vol % HA were sintered successfu...

To recycle post-consumer HDPE contaminated with waste lubricating oils, companies include prior washing and drying in the process. This consumes large amounts of water and energy, generates significant effluent requiring treatment. This study assesses lubricating oil influence on HDPE properties to evaluate the feasibility of its direct mechanical recycling without washing. The current lubricat...

Plastics occupy wide place in the applications of automotive, electronics and house goods. Especially reinforced plastics become popular because of their high strength besides their advantages of low weight and easy manufacturability. In this study, mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene (PP) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix composites reinforced with surface modifi...

Hospital-acquired infections pose both a major risk to patient wellbeing and an economic burden on global healthcare systems, with the problem compounded by the emergence of multidrug resistant and biocide tolerant bacterial pathogens. Many inanimate surfaces can act as a reservoir for infection, and adequate disinfection is difficult to achieve and requires direct intervention. In this study w...

The objective of this work is to study the effect addition compatibilizing agent poly(ethylene-alt-maleic anhydride) (HDPE-alt-MAH) on mechanical properties and morphology HDPE/PA12 blends. amounts compatibilizer used were 0, 2, 3 wt% blends manufactured in three ratios, namely: 75/25, 50/50, 25/75. It was observed that with 2 HDPE-alt-MAH presented best performance. As proportion PA12 blend in...