Using laboratory soil chambers a nonscaled representation of an agricultural raised bed was constructed. For a sandy loam soil, 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D) and chloropicrin (CP) were applied at 5 cm depth with an excess of water (simulated drip irrigation). Application was made under both high density polyethylene (HDPE) and virtually impermeable film (VIF) covering the soil bed (the furrow was...

The performance of many consumer products suffers due to weak and inconsistent bonds formed to low surface energy polymer materials, such as polyolefin-based high-density polyethylene (HDPE), with adhesives, such as cyanoacrylate. In this letter, we present an industrially relevant means of increasing bond shear strength and consistency through vacuum metallization of chromium thin films and na...

Under uniaxial tension, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) often fractures in a ductile manner. The fracture involves extensive necking that is known to occur in the plane-stress condition. However, for large-scale HDPE products like polyethylene pipe, crack can grow rapidly in a brittle manner. This type of fracture is known to be in the plane-strain condition, which has much lower toughness tha...

Cell colonization of synthetic polymers can be regulated by physical and chemical modifications of the polymer surface. High-density and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) were therefore activated with Ar⁺ plasma and grafted with fibronectin (Fn) or bovine serum albumin (BSA). The water drop contact angle usually decreased on the plasma-treated samples, due to the formation of oxidized gr...

To investigate the gradual failure of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane as a result of long-term corrosion, four dynamic corrosion tests were conducted at different temperatures and durations. By combining tension and puncture tests, we systematically studied the variation law of tension and puncture properties of the HDPE geomembrane under different corrosion conditions. Results sho...

Experimental and mathematical modeling analyses were used for controlling melt free-radical grafting of vinylic monomers on polyolefins and, thereby, reducing the disturbance of undesired cross-linking of polyolefins. Response surface, desirability function, and artificial intelligence methodologies were blended to modeling/optimization of grafting reaction in terms of vinylic monomer content, ...

In this study, a pulp beating machine was used to premix the pulp fibers with high density polyethylene (HDPE) particles in water. The wet or pre-dried pulp fiber/HDPE mixture was then melt-compounded by a twin screw extruder. For further improving the dispersion of pulp fiber, some mixture was forced to pass through the twin-screw extruder twice. The resulting mixture was compression molded to...

Hybrid basalt fiber (BF) and Talc filled high density polyethylene (HDPE) and co-extruded wood-plastic composites (WPCs) with different BF/Talc/HDPE composition levels in the shell were prepared and their mechanical, morphological and thermal properties were characterized. Incorporating BFs into the HDPE-Talc composite substantially enhanced the thermal expansion property, flexural, tensile and...

The efficient large-scale recycling of plastic waste is of increasing interest from an ecological and economic point of view but it represents a goal that has yet to be achieved by the recycling industry. The W2Plastics project aims at a fundamental change of the present status of plastics recycling by creating a breakthrough technology for the recycling of polyolefin’s from complex wastes, i.e...