Natural fibers are used in polymer composites to improve mechanical properties to replace inorganic reinforcing agents produced by non-renewable resources. The present study investigates the tensile and flexural behaviors of palm fibers-high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite as a function of volume fraction. The surface of the fibers was treated by mercerization treatments to improve the we...

The 400 A filaments or "whiskers," which extend outward from the collar region of the phage, control retraction and extension of the tail fibers in response to certain environmental conditions. The tail fibers of normal phage retract in the absence of a required adsorption cofactor, at low pH, at low ionic strength, at low temperature, and at high concentrations of polyethylene glycol. The tail...

A suitable method to functionalize the surface of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) consists in the chemical treatment with different amines such as triethylenetetramine (TETA), or tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA). The paper describes the influence of PET surface amination on the mechanical and water-sorption properties. Superficial chemical treatment involves micro-structural changes such as molec...

Post-consumer PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles have been recycled into fiber and sheet products ever since the Containers and Packing Recycling Law came into effect in 1997. There has been a growing need, however, for a chemical recycling process. In this process, post-consumer PET bottles are recycled into monomers that can be used as feed stocks for the recycled production of PET bott...

Polypropylene (PP) hybrid composites were prepared by the combination of natural reinforcements and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers. Wood, flax, sugar palm fibers used to increase stiffness strength, while PET served improve impact resistance. Interfacial adhesion was increased using a maleated PP (MAPP) coupling agent. The containing 20 wt% homogenized in twin-screw compounder then i...

Simultaneous thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry studies of a pyrolytic decomposition of mixtures of different plastic wastes/coking coal were carried out. The investigation was performed at temperatures up to 1000oC in a helium atmosphere under dynamic conditions at a heating rate of 25 oC/min. Five thermoplastics, commonly found in municipal wastes: low density polyethylene (LDPE), high densit...

We examined whether environmentally relevant concentrations of different types of microplastics, with or without PCBs, directly affect freshwater prey and indirectly affect their predators. Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene, polyvinylchloride (PVC) or polystyrene with and without polychlorin...

Chemical recycling of Polyethylene terephthalate, PET, wastage has been investigated in this study. The aim of this work is recovery of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycols from PET waste. This process has been done in two stages. At the first stage, reaction between PET waste and sodium hydroxide for production of ethylene glycol and sodium terephthalate solution carried out in a stainless s...

Monolithic aerogels of high molecular weight polyethylene (Mw= 3x106- 6x106 g/mol) have been prepared by solvent extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide from thermoreversible gels prepared in decalin. These low density and highly porous aerogels present an apparent porosity up to 90%. The aerogel morphology observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is characterized by spherulitic stru...

This paper presents a comparative study of the thermal, mechanical, chemical and surface properties of the biodegradable polymer polylactic acid (PLA) and the petroleum based polymer polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The study shows how the material properties of these two polymers influence the processing conditions used during manufacture. The polymer properties were compared using differenti...