The conductivity of high-resistivity polymer films is dependent on the magnitude of applied electric field, repeated electric field exposure, and sample temperature. A traditional constant voltage method was used, maintained under vacuum to more closely resemble the space environment. Both the strength of the applied voltage and the thickness of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) samples were vari...

We estimate the energy content, the operational energy inputs, and the net energy ratio (NER) of an industrial tubular photobioreactor used for the photosynthetic production of H2 by microalgae. The calculated H2 output of the photobioreactor is based on a range of algal photosynthetic H2 generation efficiencies, and on the application of standard theory for tubular solar collectors. Small diam...

The biodegradation of spent saline bottles, a low density polyethylene product (LDPE) by two selected Arthrobacter sp. under in vitro conditions is reported. Chemical and UV pretreatment play a vital role in enhancing the rate of biodegradation. Treated LDPE film exhibits a higher weight loss and density when compared to untreated films. Arthrobacter oxydans and Arthrobacter globiformis grew be...

PAL measurements were used to study the process of graft polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) to low density polyethylene (LDPE). When the monomer was just sorbed to LDPE, both I, and z, were increased. When MMA was grafted to LDPE, on the other hand, they were decreased. These contrasting results suggests usefulness of the PAL method to study the micro-structures of polymers. Introducti...

Fullerene-60 nanoparticles were used for studying their influence upon the LDPE biodegradation efficiency of two potential polymer-degrading consortia comprising of three bacterial strains each. At a concentration of 0.01% (w/v) in minimal broth lacking dextrose, fullerene did not have any negative influence upon the consortial growth. However, fullerene was found to be detrimental for bacteria...

The by-products of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) from the crosslinking process such as acetophenone, cumyl alcohol and α-methylstyrene are said to be the sources of space charge formation in XLPE cable due to deep traps in the chemicals. However, by using space-chargeexperimental approach, it appeared that these chemicals show a different trapping nature. This paper is intended to present this approac...

The surface properties of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) can be modified by the grafting of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). This was done aiming at the production of new materials suitable for bioapplications. Samples with different monomer concentrations were prepared from LDPE particles by gamma irradiation, following different irradiation protocols, including irradiation in presence and...

Polythene is considered as one of the important object used in daily life. Being versatile in nature and resistant to microbial attack, they effectively cause environmental pollution. In the present study, biodegradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) have been performed using fungal lab isolate Rhizopus oryzae NS5. Lab isolate fungal strain capable of adhering to LDPE surface was used for ...