This work investigates the feasibility of producing low density particleboards using an adhesive system based on sour cassava starch, taking advantage of its adhesive and self-expansion properties. Relevant properties of the produced particleboards were evaluated according to European Standards including: density, internal bond, moisture content and thickness swelling. Low density particleboard...

The aim of this study is to determine the change of some physical properties (oven-dry density, weight loss, swelling and anti-swelling efficiency) and mechanical properties (compression strength parallel to grain, bending strength, modulus of elasticity in bending, janka-hardness (cross-section, radial, tangential), impact bending strength and tension strength perpendicular to grain) of wild c...

Polyelectrolyte gels are known to undergo significant conformational changes in response to external stimuli such as pH, temperature, or the dielectric constant. Specifically, an increase of the degree of ionization associated with an increasing number of counterions leads to swelling of the network. For a macroscopically large gel, which is electrostatically neutral in its interior, swelling i...

The interactions of a biodegradable scaffold with cells or living tissues depend on the time-evolution of the nanoscale properties of the scaffold. We present an in situ quantitative study on the early-stage swelling and degradation of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). A novel metrology scheme based on force microscopy measurements of the patterns of PLGA nanostructures is developed to char...

Thin poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogels were allowed to swell under two conditions: as freestanding layers and as substrate-attached layers. Through a combination of particle tracking and defocusing methods, the positions of beads embedded within the gels were monitored over time via fluorescence microscopy, providing a convenient method to track the kinetics of swelling for layers ...