Mechanical properties of sisal fibre-reinforced polymer composites: a review

There has been a growing interest in the utilization of sisal fibres as reinforcement in the production of polymeric composite materials. Natural fibres have gained recognition as reinforcements in fibre polymer–matrix composites because of their mechanical properties and environmental friendliness. The mechanical properties of sisal fibre-reinforced polymer composites have been studied by many researchers and a few of them are discussed in this article. Various fibre treatments, which are carried out in order to improve adhesion, leading to improved mechanical properties, are also discussed in this review paper. This review also focuses on the influence of fibre content and fabrication methods, which can significantly affect the mechanical properties of sisal fibre-reinforced polymer composites.     

Methylol‐functional benzoxazines as precursors for high‐performance thermoset polymers: Unique simultaneous addition and condensation polymerization behavior

A new class of high‐performance resins of combined molecular structure of both traditional phenolics and benzoxazines has been developed. The monomers termed as methylol‐functional benzoxazines were synthesized through Mannich condensation reaction of methylol‐functional phenols and aromatic amines, including methylenedianiline (4,4′‐diaminodiphenylmethane) and oxydianiline (4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl ether), in the presence of paraformaldehyde. For comparison, other series of benzoxazine monomers were prepared from phenol, corresponding aromatic amines, and paraformaldehyde. The as‐synthesized monomers are characterized by their high purity as judged from ¹H NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectra. Differential scanning calorimetric thermograms of the novel monomers show two exothermic peaks associated with condensation reaction of methylol groups and ring‐opening polymerization of benzoxazines. The position of methylol group relative to benzoxazine structure plays a significant role in accelerating polymerization. Viscoelastic and thermogravimetric analyses of the crosslinked polymers reveal high T_g (274–343 °C) and excellent thermal stability when compared with the traditional polybenzoxazines. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Formation of a crosslinked POSS network by an unusual hydrosilylation: Thermo‐oxidative stabilization of the α‐cristobalite phase in its amorphous regions

A semicrystalline inorganic–organic hybrid crosslinked network containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) cores was constructed by the unusual hydrosilylation of the terminal vinyl groups of an internal acetylene‐containing silane linker by a POSS monomer. Products from the thermal treatments of this network in either argon or air at 250, 550, and 1000 °C, respectively, were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, Solid‐state ¹³C and ²⁹Si magic angle spinning NMR, X‐ray diffraction and XPS analyses. The highly symmetrically functionalized POSS silica clusters, in the fluorite silica phase, in the network were found to remain unchanged on thermal treatment possibly due to the shielding of the silica core by the functionalities and a cancellation of thermal stresses on the silica core. Stabilization of the metastable α‐cristobalite phase, which is typically formed on cooling by a β‐ to α‐transition of the β‐cristobalite phase formed above 1400 °C, was observed in the amorphous regions in the network sample treated only to 1000 °C in air. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Fatty amides synthesized from vegetable oil as extractant of molybdenum(VI)

In this study, fatty amides (FAs) synthesized from palm olein were used to extract and separate Mo(VI) from acidic media. Effects of various parameters upon the separation of Mo(VI) from Co(II), Ni(II), Al(III) and Mn(II), including extractant concentration, metal ion concentration, contact time, diluent, and acidity, were investigated. It was found that Mo(VI) was successfully separated from the above commonly associated metal ions by stripping from the loaded organic phase. Different acidic and alkaline solutions were used. Ammonium hydroxide solution was an optimal. Extraction of Mo(VI) into the organic phase involved the formation of 1:3 complexes. This work presents the development of a low-cost and environmentally friendly extractant to recycle and recover molybdenum.     

Uniqueness of uniform norm and C*-norm in L p (G, ω)

Let G be a locally compact abelian group with a fixed Haar measure and ω be a weight on G. For 1 < p < ∞, we study uniqueness of uniform and C*-norm properties of the invariant weighted algebra L ^p (G, ω).     

Quantitative Evaluation of Generic Glyphosate Using Carbon Paste Electrode Electrochemically Modified with Copper Ions

Russian Journal of Electrochemistry - Generic products are not identical to their branded equivalents. They are typically off-patent. Therefore, this paper suggests a selective, reliable, and...     

Ab-initio calculations of structural,electronic,and optical properties of Zn_3(VO_4)_2

The structural, electronic, and optical properties of Zn_3(VO_4)_2 are investigated using full potential linearized augmented plane wave(FP-LAPW) method within the framework of density functional theory(DFT). Various approaches are adopted to treat the exchange and correlation potential energy such as generalized gradient approximation(GGA),GGA+U, and the Tran–Blaha modified Becke–Johnson(TB-mBJ) potential. The calculated band gap of 3.424 eV by TB-mBJ is found to be close to the experimental result(3.3 eV). The optical anisotropy is analyzed through optical constants,such as dielectric function and absorption coefficient along parallel and perpendicular crystal orientations. The absorption coefficient reveals high absorption(1.5 × 10~(6) cm~(-1)) of photons in the ultraviolet region.     

Fabrication and characterization of zinc oxide anti-reflective coating on flexible thin film microcrystalline silicon solar cell

This paper studies the fabrication and characterization of 80 nm zinc oxide anti-reflective coating (ARC) on flexible 1.3 μm thin film microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) solar cell. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) shows a c-axis oriented ZnO (0 0 2) peak (hexagonal crystal structure) at 34.3° with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.3936°. Atomic force microscope (AFM) measures high surface roughness root-mean-square (RMS) of the layer (50.76 nm) which suggests scattering of the incident light at the front surface of the solar cell. UV–vis spectrophotometer illustrates that ZnO ARC has optical transmittance of more than 80% in the visible and infra-red (IR) regions and corresponds to band gap (E_g) of 3.3 eV as derived from Tauc equation. Inclusion of ZnO ARC successfully suppresses surface reflectance from the cell to 2% (at 600 nm) due to refractive index grading between the Si and the ZnO besides quarter-wavelength (λ/4) destructive interference effect. The reduced reflectance and effective scattering effect of the incident light at the front side of the cell are believed to be the reasons why short-circuit current (I_sc) and efficiency (η) of the cell improve.