Sonochemical fabrication of edible fragrant antimicrobial nano coating on textiles and polypropylene cups

We report on a simple and effective ultrasound-assisted deposition of vanillin nanoparticles (∼50 nm in size), raspberry ketone (RK) nanoparticles (∼40 nm in size) and camphor nanoparticles (width ∼30 nm, length ∼40 nm in size) on textiles and on polypropylene surfaces. The excellent antibacterial and antifungal activity of the fragrant coatings on cotton bandages, and polypropylene surface against Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella paratyphi A (S. paratyphi A) and the yeast Candida albicans (C. albicans) cultures was demonstrated. It is worth pointing out that these fragrant materials are edible, making them very useful for packaging. The mechanism of the edible fragrant coating formation and adhesion to the textile was discussed, and finally an up-scaling of the sonochemical process for textile coating was carried out.     

Polypropylene surface modification by entrapment of polypropylene-graft-poly(butyl methacrylate)

Surface modification of polypropylene was carried out by entraping a copolymer of polypropylene grafted poly(butyl methacrylate) into polypropylene. The effects of structure of copolymers, contact die and content of modifiers on their surface enrichment were studied by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), contact angle measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that PPw-g-PBMA could diffuse preferably onto the surface and effectively increase the hydrophilicity of PP. Lower content and higher surface energy die were in favor of the copolymer to enrich on the PP surface. PPw-g-PBMA with low PBMA contents, short length of PBMA distributed in PP with smaller phase domains and favored its selective enrichment on the surface of PP, especially at lower loadings in blends. The modified material exhibited excellent solvent-resistance.     

氨基硅烷/马来酸酐接枝聚丙烯界面化学反应的研究

利用溶剂萃取与红外光谱（ＩＲ）、光电子能谱（ＸＰＳ）技术研究了化学键接在玻璃纤维表面的硅烷偶联剂与接枝聚丙烯间的界面化学反应。结果表明：溶剂萃取可以除去玻璃纤维／树脂界面区物理结合的聚合物基体,减少基体信号的影响,在此基础上,利用ＩＲ,ＸＰＳ可以直接证明氨基硅烷（ＡＰＳ）与马来酸酐接枝聚丙烯间发生了界面化学反应,生成了含酰胺基的反应产物。进一步对不同化学状态的Ｎｌｓ的ＸＰＳ定量分析发现,尽管ＡＰＳ     

Fabrication of Polypropylene/Poly (Trimethylene Terephthalate) Blend Fibers with Highly Improved Resiliency and Preserved Mechanical Properties

The main aim of this study was to deal with one of the major drawbacks of polypropylene (PP) fibers, i.e. low resiliency, by incorporating poly (trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) nano-fibrils as a dispersed material into the PP polymer matrix. Thanks to the special helical shape of the PTT polymer backbone, the incorporated nano-fibrils of the PTT polymer strengthened the resiliency of the blend fibers. The presence of 10 and 15?wt% of PTT in the blend fibers led to an approximately 20% increase in the resilience behavior, compared to pure PP fibers, with the mechanical properties of the PP matrix preserved. The development of the fibrillar structures during the different steps of the melt spinning process was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the lowest mean diameter of the nano-fibrils was 64?nm for the hot drawn blend fiber samples consisting of 10?wt% of PTT. In summary, we suggest the optimized blend fiber samples produced in this research will be a promising candidate for a wide range of engineering applications.     

Bibliometric analysis and an overview of the application of the non-precious materials for pyrolysis reaction of plastic waste

Huge plastic consumption and depletion of fossil fuels are at the top of the world's environmental and energy challenges. The scientific community has tackled these issues through different approaches. Catalytic pyrolysis of plastic wastes to valuable products has been proved as a sustainable route which fits with the circular economy aspects. The design of catalytic materials is the central factor for performing the catalytic conversion of plastic wastes. This review aims to conduct a Bibliometric analysis of the pyrolysis of plastic wastes and non-precious-based catalysts by mapping research studies over the last fifty years. The analysis was developed via VOSviewer and RStudio tools. It showed the historical progress regarding plastic waste pyrolysis to produce valuable products and chemicals worldwide. The research shows that the top five countries with the highest citations and publications in this field were Spain, China, England, the USA and India. The Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis had the most comprehensive coverage of plastic waste. The relationship between the catalyst and the mechanism of plastic waste can influence the production yield and selectivity. The research gap and underrepresented research topics were identified, and previous research studies on developing non-precious-based catalysts that were most relevant to the current topic were reviewed and discussed. The challenges and perspectives on catalyst preparation and development for material complexity were critically discussed. Challenges of previous studies and directions for future research were provided. This report might guide the reader to take a general look at plastic waste valorization by pyrolysis and easily understand the main challenges.     

Polypropylene/polyperoxide interaction in the melt phase

This paper deals with the effect of polyperoxide on the properties and characteristics of PP. Interaction of PP with polyperoxide was carried out by their mixing in melt phase applying co‐rotating twin screw machine. The analysis of melting/crystallisation processes was performed using DSC. Influence of polyperoxide concentration and mixing condition (temperature, residence time) on PP properties was investigated via determination of PP molecular weight. Mechanism of the PP degradation and decomposition of peroxide groups was judged by thermogravimetric analysis, FT‐IR‐, and NMR‐spectroscopy. It was observed that decomposition of peroxide groups brings about degradation of polypropylene. However, simultaneously some part of short, chains of PP are grafted onto macrochain of the polyperoxide decomposed.