Near Infrared Investigation of Polypropylene-Clay Nanocomposites for Further Quality Control Purposes-Opportunities and Limitations.

Polymer nanocomposites are usually characterized using various methods, such as small angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) or transmission electron microscopy, to gain insights into the morphology of the material. The disadvantages of these common characterization methods are that they are expensive and time consuming in terms of sample preparation and testing. In this work, near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) spectroscopy is used to characterize nanocomposites produced using a unique twin-screw mini-mixer, which is able to replicate, at ~25 g scale, the same mixing quality as in larger scale twin screw extruders.

Acoustic properties of low growing plants.

The plane wave normal incidence acoustic absorption coefficient of five types of low growing plants is measured in the presence and absence of soil. These plants are generally used in green living walls and flower beds. Two types of soil are considered in this work: a light-density, man-made soil and a heavy-density natural clay base soil.

PET bottle use patterns and antimony migration into bottled water and soft drinks: the case of British and Nigerian bottles.

While antimony has been reported to migrate from PET bottles into contents, reports on bottled water and soft drinks usage and PET bottle reuse patterns are currently unavailable in the literature. Bottle use conditions and patterns are important determinants of antimony migration. In this work a survey assessing the pattern of bottle use and reuse in Britain and Nigeria was undertaken.