Nano-calcium carbonate reinforced polypropylene and propylene-ethylene copolymer nanocomposites: Tensile vs. impact behavior

Improvement of both the tensile and impact strength of the same polymeric material has always been a great challenge for the plastic industry. The study focuses on the effect of incorporation of calcium carbonate nanoparticles (0.3 wt% to 15 wt%) into three polypropylene (PP) based matrices viz. PP homopolymer, propylene-ethylene (PP-PE) copolymer and the blend of PP:PP-PE (30:70) to improve their impact behavior without hampering the tensile strength much. A loss in both the tensile and impact properties was observed in PP based nanocomposite. However, PP-PE based nanocomposites showed a significant improvement in impact strength (47 %) at 10 wt% loading with a loss of tensile strength by 22 %. To minimize this loss a blend of PP:PP-PE (30:70) was explored as a matrix. At 10 wt% loading, this matrix showed an improvement of 30 % in impact strength whereas the tensile loss was minimized to 10 %. Further, silane coupling agent which promoted good interfacial adhesion was used for best compositions. The variation of crystalline morphology of the nanocomposites with various formulations was analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction.     

Degradation and kinetic modeling of polyvinyl alcohol in aqueous solutions by a H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Mn(II) system

This paper is about the degradation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in aqueous solutions using a H2O2/Mn(II) system. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) were applied to analyze the degradation products of PVA, and the results revealed that the backbone chain of PVA could be effectively broken and oxidized. Several unsaturated degradation products, including carboxylic acids, ketones, aldehydes, olefins, and alkynes were also detected and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which indicated that higher treatment temperatures would considerably promote the generation of lower molecular weight degradation products. According to the work presented in this paper, the degradation efficiency of PVA increased from 55 % at 60 oC to 99 % at 90 oC after treatment when the initial PVA concentration was 5 %, at pH=3 with a H2O2 and Mn(II) dose of 100 ml/l and 0.6 mol/l, respectively. In addition, kinetic modeling indicated that the experimental results were best fitted by the Page-modified model with an activation energy of 48.78 kJ/mol.     

Dyeing performance of the azo dyes containing trifluoromethyl group for polyester fabrics and its single crystal structure

The structures of disperse dyes and their intermolecular interactions have important impacts on dyeing and printing performances for polyester fabrics. The fluorine dyes show some unique molecular stability and photochemical properties. The dyeing property of the azo dye containing trifluoromethyl group for polyester fabrics, 4'-(N-acetoxyethyl-Nethyl)- amino-2-bromine-4-nitro-6-trifluoromethylazo- benzene (D1), was investigated and compared with the similar structure disperse dye. The results show that the high color yield and good exhaustion of the dyed PET fabrics could be obtained. The polyester fabrics dyed with D1 had excellent light fastness. Its single crystal was prepared and the supramolecular interactions were solved by X-ray diffraction. Dye D1 formed triclinic crystals in a trimeric packing mode. The C-F bond distances of CF3 are 1.2730 Å, 1.2240 Å and 1.2900 Å, respectively. The two benzene rings linked azo unit (-N=N-) are obviously twist. The dihedral angle of the two benzene rings is 50.23 o. There are six weak hydrogen bonds around trifluoromethyl group in the intramolecule and intermolecule. The excellent light stability of the dye should be attributed to its unique supramolecular structure.     

Water and dye-free coloration of wool

A water and dye-free heat treatment method was used to color wool fibers. The heat effect changed wool fibers to different colors from white in a nitrogen atmosphere. The influences of heating temperature and time on the colors of wool were investigated and the mechanical property of colored wool fibers was evaluated. The color strength of wool fibers increased as heat treatment temperature and time increased. The tensile strength retention rate of wool fiber was relatively high (≥90 %) when the heat temperature was below 200 °C. The surface morphologies of wool fibers scarcely changed during the heat treatment. The carbon content of fibers was found to reduce by heat treatment, indicating oxidization of components in the wool fibers in the process of coloration. Heat treatment may provide a water and dye-free approach to color wool and other textile fibers, albeit within a limited color range.     

Effect of nitrogen root zone fertilization on rice yield,uptake and utilization of macronutrient in lower reaches of Yangtze River,China

Improper application of nitrogen (N) has led to high N losses and low N use efficiency in the lower reaches of Yangtze River in China. An effective method to solve such problems is the deep fertilized N in root zone (RZF). Limited information is available on the effect of RZF on the uptake of macronutrients (N, P and K) and rice yield. Field experiments, conducted from 2014 to 2015, compared the farmer fertilizer practice (FFP, with 225 kg ha^?1 of N, split into three doses) and RZF using the same rate but placing N 5 cm away from rice roots in holes 10 cm deep (RZF10) or 5 cm deep (RZF5) as a single application. The highest mean yield (10.0 t ha^?1) was obtained in RZF10, which was 19.5% more than that in FFP. Root zone fertilization of urea (whether 10 cm deep or 5 cm deep) resulted in greater accumulation of N, P and K in stem, leaf sheaths, leaf blades and grains compared to that in FFP in sandy and in loam soils. The uptake of N, P and K was the highest in RZF10 (average at 176.7, 66.2 and 179.1 kg ha^?1, respectively), higher than that in FFP by 45.0, 17.0 and 22.6%, respectively. N apparent recovery efficiency was markedly higher in RZF10 (53.1%) than in FFP (27.5%). RZF10 significantly increased the N, P, K uptake compared with FFP under different N rates in both sandy and loam soils. These results suggest that the N, P and K input amount should be re-determined under RZF.     

Modeling the water and nitrogen transports in a soil–paddy–atmosphere system using HYDRUS-1D and lysimeter experiment

Efficient water and fertilizer use is of paramount importance both in rain-fed and irrigated rice cultivation systems to tread off between the crop water demand during the dry spell and the fertilizer leaching. This lysimeter study on paddy in a lateritic sandy loam soil of the eastern India, to simulate the water and solute transports using the HYDRUS-1D model, reveals that this model could very well simulate the soil depth-specific variations of water pressure heads and nitrogen (N) concentrations with the efficiency of >86 and 89%, respectively. The change in the level of water ponding depth did not have a significant effect on the time to peak and the temporal variability of N concentration in the bottom soil layer. The lysimeter-scale water balance analysis indicated that the average deep percolation loss and crop water use were 35.01 ± 2.03 and 39.74 ± 1.49% of the total water applied during the crop growth period, respectively. Similarly, the amount of N stored in the plant and lost through soil storage, deep percolation, and other losses (mineralization, denitrification, and gaseous N loss to the atmosphere through plant leaves) were 1.60 ± 0.16, 0.17 ± 0.04, 12.00 ± 0.48, and 86.23 ± 0.41% of the total applied nitrogen, respectively. The simulation results reveal that a constant ponding depth of 3 cm could be maintained in paddy fields to reduce the N leaching loss to 7.5 kgN/ha.     

Predicting adoption of double cropping in paddy fields of northern Iran: a comparison of statistical methods

Factors affecting the adoption of double cropping were explored in rice farms of Fouman County of Guilan Province in northern Iran using artificial neural networks (ANNs), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and logistic regression (LGR). Eleven factors (age, education, occupation, family size, type of farm ownership, distance to the agricultural service center, attending agricultural extension courses, use of financial resources and bank loans, number of domestic animals, area under cultivation, and social participation) were examined. An additional objective was to compare the ability of the three models in predicting the adoption of double cropping. ANNs showed an overall predictive power of 89.8%. LDA showed an overall predictive power of 83.2%, with seven of the eleven independent variables being effective on the adoption of double cropping. LGR indicated an overall predictive power of 87.6%, with eight of the eleven independent variables being effective on the adoption of double-rice cropping. ANNs showed higher power than LGR and LDA in predicting the adoption of double cropping. Based on all three methods used for analysis, the most important independent variables were social participation and area under cultivation (positive factors) as well as distance to the agricultural service center and family members (negative factors). Establishment of cooperatives or other kinds of farmers’ associations to foster social participation could motivate adoption of double cropping, particularly among small-scale farmers. To increase agricultural services, more local centers should be created in rural areas. The government should promote double cropping through effective incentives and technology transfer to small-scale farmers.     

A GIS-aided two-phase grey fuzzy optimization model for nonpoint source pollution control in a small watershed

A method for allocating allowable ranges of total nitrogen (TN) load to nonpoint (diffuse pollution) sources in a watershed has been developed by adopting the two-phase grey fuzzy optimization approach. Competing goals of water quality management authorities and TN load dischargers at nonpoint sources such as paddy field, upland crop field, and residential area are described with linear imprecise membership functions including interval numbers. TN load discharged from each cell of the nonpoint sources is assumed to be transported along with surface, subsurface, and river flow under the conventional first-order kinetic removal with respect to distance. The travel length of the load is estimated with a digital elevation model in a geographic information system (GIS). Uncertainty of river discharge and self-purification coefficients appearing in the TN transport model is also expressed with interval numbers. The GIS-aided grey fuzzy optimization model developed here is applied to the Seimei River watershed, Japan. By solving the optimization model, the allowable load represented by an interval number at each cell is procured, which would be a scientific base for effluent control regarding nonpoint sources in the area.     

Investigating the reduction of sodium adsorption ratio from agricultural waste by rice husk in batch scale and physical model of drain envelop

Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) is one of the water quality indexes that whose is important due to reuse or depletion to environment. Solutes in drain water can be controlled by adsorption, chemical or biological reaction, organic envelope of drainage. Rice husk is the common option of drainage envelops in paddy fields. In this study, the ability of reduction of SAR by rice husk was evaluated in batch scale and physical model of drain envelops. In the batch experiments, the adsorption of SAR parameters was investigated by adding 2 g of rice husk into a 100 ml of sodium chloride solution. The results indicated that rice husk absorbed calcium, magnesium and sodium, respectively. By increasing the temperature, contact time and pH, adsorption of calcium, magnesium and sodium was increased; however, the higher concentration of sodium in soil solution reduced the percentage of adsorption. In a more realistic state, physical models of subsurface drainage in the paddy fields were made. Drainage envelope treatments included of rice husk (H), combination of 20 and 60 % of husk with gravel (H₂₀G₈₀ and H₆₀G₄₀) and a pipe without envelope (NE). Due to higher drain discharge and more sodium removal (lower SAR in drain water), treatment H with the discharge of 16.2 ml/min and SAR of 1.27 (meq/l)^0.5 was better in comparison with other treatments.