In simple terms, the wood cell wall is a composite made of a rigid cellulose polymer in a matrix of lignin and the hemicelluloses. The lignin polymer in the middle lamella and S2 layer is thermoplastic; that is, it softens upon heating. The glass transition temperature Tg of the lignin in the matrix is approximately 170°C (338°F). Above the matrix Tg, it is possible to cause the lignin to under...

The large strain nonlinear stress-strain behavior of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) exhibits strong hysteresis, rate dependence and softening. Thermoplastic polyurethanes are copolymers composed of hard and soft segments. The hard and soft segments phase separate to form a microstructure of hard and soft domains typically on a length scale of a few tens of nanometers. Studies have revealed ...

A wood-based prepreg was formed using vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) and a low viscosity thermoplastic resin. Wood strands were assembled to make porous mat for injection. The filled most of the cavities inside wood cells resulting in void volume fraction 7%. Young’s modulus strength saturated 38% 124% higher, respectively, than those prior infusion. Flat laminates produced by t...

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a technology where fine structures on a mold (or template) are transferred onto a substrate coated with thermoplastic or with ultraviolet (UV) curing resins by making contact with the substrate while being heated or exposed to UV lights. Recently, NIL has been applied in semiconductor manufacturing to print fine features of circuits on LSI chips and memories at ...

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been synthesized from thermoplastic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using electrospinning in combination with a novel three-step heat treatment process, which successfully stabilizes the fibrous morphology before carbonization that was proven to be difficult for thermoplastic polymers other than polyacrylonitrile (PAN). These CNFs are both mesoporous and microporous wit...

The carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTC) has been applied in the manufacture of automobiles. in-situ damage sensing and nondestructive evaluation techniques are important automobile industries. In this paper, Carbon (CF)/Polyamide (PA) composite was sensed using electrical resistance (ER) on tensile flexural stresses specimens. CF dispersion CF/PA evaluated ER calculated an ...