Occurrence of microplastics in freshwater gastropods from a tropical river U-Taphao, southern Thailand.

Background: Microplastics (MPs) are pollutants in rivers and marine environments. Rivers can be sources and sinks of MPs that enter the biota. Previous studies focusing on freshwater species are quite limited, especially for gastropods.

Development and Characterization of Unmodified and Modified Natural Rubber Composites Filled with Modified Clay.

Novel composite based on rubber and modified bentonite clay (Clay) was investigated. The modified bentonite clay was developed by dispersing in ethanol solutions (Et-OH) using ultrasonic method. The effect of Et-OH on the dispersion of bentonite clay at various mixing temperatures in case of different type of rubber matrix, i.

Influence of Non-Rubber Components on the Properties of Unvulcanized Natural Rubber from Different Clones.

Natural rubber from different clones, namely RRIM600, RRIT251, PB235 and BPM24, exhibit unique properties. The influences of the various fresh natural rubber latex and cream concentrated latex on the non-rubber components related properties were studied. It was found that the fresh natural rubber latex exhibited differences in their particle size, which was attributed to the non-rubber and unique signature of clones which affect various properties.

Combination of Self-Healing Butyl Rubber and Natural Rubber Composites for Improving the Stability.

The self-healing composites were prepared from the combination of bromobutyl rubber (BIIR) and natural rubber (NR) blends filled with carbon nanotubes (CNT) and carbon black (CB). To reach the optimized self-healing propagation, the BIIR was modified with ionic liquid (IL) and butylimidazole (IM), and blended with NR using the ratios of 70:30 and 80:20 BIIR:NR. Physical and chemical modifications were confirmed from the mixing torque and attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR).