High-density polyethylene composites filled with micro- and nano-particles of nickel ferrite: magnetic, mechanical, and thermal properties.

With the increasing demand of new magnetic materials for modern technological application alternatives to conventional magnetic materials, the development of lightweight polymer magnetic composites has become a prominent research area. For this perspective, a new magnetic material was developed using 30 wt% nickel ferrite micro and nanoparticles as fillers for a high-density polyethylene matrix. The development process began with the synthesis of NF-micro and NF-nanoparticles using solid-state and co-precipitation techniques, respectively, followed by extrusion molding and injection molding.

Hemp cellulose nanocrystals for functional chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol-based films for food packaging applications.

Hemp is known for its swift growth and remarkable sustainability, requiring significantly less water, an adaptable cultivation to a wide range of climates when compared to other fibers sources, making it a practical and environmentally friendly choice for packaging materials. The current research seeks to extract cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from hemp fibers using alkali treatment followed by acid hydrolysis and assess their reinforcing capacity in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan (CS) films. AFM analysis confirmed the existence of elongated, uniquely nanosized CNC fibers.

Crosslinked starch-coated cellulosic papers as alternative food-packaging materials.

In general, during the papermaking process or the production of cellulosic materials for food-packaging applications, lignin and other amorphous components are usually removed the pulping and multilevel bleaching process to entirely separate them from the fiber. The aim of this work was to study the positive effect that can impart the residual lignin remaining in the alkali-treated fiber surface over bleached fibers to produce an alternative food-packaging cellulosic paper. Herein, cellulosic papers based on alkali-treated and bleached fibers obtained from the Alfa plant were successfully prepared using a compression process.

Effect of iron doped titanium oxide encapsulated in alginate on photocatalytic activity for the removal of dye pollutants.

The focal point of this work is the design and comparison of two types of iron doped TiO prepared by a simple sol-gel method and then encapsulated in an alginate matrix. The as-prepared recyclable bio-nanocomposite photocatalysts were made of different amounts of TiO-FeO and TiO-FeO (1%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10%) and were developed to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO and simultaneously to achieve an expanded visible-light response range with high visible-light absorption potential in order to degrade organic pollutants from aqueous solutions, as a potential application.