There is an extensive worldwide search for alternate fuels that can displace fossil-based resources, yet still fit within existing infrastructure. At Argonne National Laboratory, strains of fuel have been designed that are generated by photosynthetic bacteria, eventually producing a heavy alcohol called phytol (C20H40O). Phytol’s physical and chemical properties (cetane number, heat of combusti...

Stereocomplex poly(lactide) (PLA) was obtained by solution blending of linear PLLA and PDLA-PEG-PDLA. Effects of the L/D ratios, PEG block, and PDLA block on stereocomplexation of the blends are systemically discussed. The full stereocomplex PLA can be acquired by solution blending when L/D ratios are in the range of 7/3–5/5. The experiment results demonstrated that the stereocomplex degree of ...

The paper proposes a near infrared method able to directly and simultaneously quantify ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate in powder blends for tableting and in vitamin C chewable tablets without any sample preparation. In the first step, calibration models for the quantification of ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate in powder blends for tableting and subsequently in chewable vitamin C tablets (...

The feedstock used in our experiment for the production of biodiesel was Yellow Grease. The whole experiment was divided into two parts: Production and Testing. Production involves Transesterification of free fatty acids in yellow grease to form yellow grease alkyl esters. The process of testing involved calculation of the physio – chemical properties, acid value, density, kinematics viscosity ...

Heterogeneous textures due to phase separation in molten polypropylene (PP)/ ethylene-propylene-rubber (EPR) blends were investigated in relation to their dynamic viscoelastic properties. As characteristic to heterogeneous liquids, slow relaxation mechanisms due to the existence of such phases were found for dynamic moduli of PP/EPR blends. These moduli were analyzed by using the linear viscoel...

We report the effects of blending a non-conjugated polymer, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), with the precursor polymer of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV). After thermal conversion, the PVA/PPV blends show markedly different absorption and luminescence spectra than neat PPV, even in blends containing only 1 wt.% PVA. These changes coincide with the disappearance of the nanocrystalline domains present ...

This paper will review the important developments in the field of polymer blends. The subject of polymer blends has been one of the most prolific areas in polymer science and technology in the past five decades judging from publications and patents on the subject. Although a continuing important subject, the peak intensity occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. The author has been active in this area...

A Cummins N14-410 diesel engine was operated on twelve fuels produced by blending methyl tailowate, methyl soyate and ethanol with No.2 diesel fuel. Engine incylinder pressure data were used to evaluate engine performance. Peak cylinder pressures for each fuel blend at all engine speeds were lower than peak pressure for diesel fuel with the exception of the 80 % diesel, 13 % methyl tallowate, a...

The influences of short chain branching (SCB) and molecular weight (Mw) of low density polyethylene (LDPE) on its melt miscibility with polypropylene (PP) were investigated by rheological techniques. Rheological measurement and different data-treatment techniques as well as rheological models suggest that blends of PP with LDPE of high SCB (22 CH3/1000 C) are miscible at all compositions. Howev...

The morphology of donor-acceptor blends holds the key to good performance through the balancing of good exciton dissociation efficiency and interconnectivity for good charge collection. In this work, the good morphology is preserved in ternary blend systems through the use of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) nanofibers. The iridium(III)-based metal complex is incorporated in P3HT-PCBM blends as a ...