http://www.hindawi.comThe latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation© 2012, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2012/280181/A review of the history of the evolution of material science and material technology shows us that one tendency for the future could be the use of agriculture resources. In this work, we review the performances of one of these resources, that is, wheat flour. We show that it is possible to get thermoplastic films with properties quasiequivalent to what is obtained for expensive pure starch. By adding natural fibres, composites are also obtained. These composites exhibit performances which allow their use only for short duration.Jean Marc Saiter, Larisa Dobircau, and Nathalie LeblancCopyright © 2012 Jean Marc Saiter et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2012/245205/Monotonic loading tests were conducted on five commercial blends of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) (PCT) at temperatures of 90°C and 100°C and strain rates of 0.1/s, 0.05/s, and 0.005/s in uniaxial and plane strain compression. On comparing the mechanical behavior of the five materials, it was found that the behavior of the low-PCT content materials was different from the high-PCT content materials only at conditions that favored strain-induced crystallization, particularly in plane strain compression. Load-hold tests were also conducted on three of the blends with similar results to the monotonic tests. Material differences were only pronounced at certain conditions, and in these cases the low-PCT content materials showed increased strain hardening after the hold period while the high-PCT content material did not. Therefore, it was found that the addition of a hold period was not exclusively required to observe differences in the crystallizable materials over the noncrystallizing blends. The increased strain hardening likely associated with crystallization in PET was only observed when the following conditions were met: (i) strain rates of 0.1/s and above, (ii) temperatures of 90°C–100°C, (iii) plane strain compression, and (iv) after a certain level of deformation.Gurucharan Chandrasekaran and Rebecca B. DupaixCopyright © 2012 Gurucharan Chandrasekaran and Rebecca B. Dupaix. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2012/381342/The aim of this study was to develop cellulose-nanofibril-film-reinforced polycarbonate composites by compression molding. Nano fibres were prepared from wood pulp fibres by mechanical defibrillation, and diameter distribution of the fibres produced was in the range of 1–100 nm. Nanofibre films were prepared from the nanofibre suspensions and were characterized in terms of strength properties, crystallinity, and thermal properties. Strength and modulus of the nano fibre films prepared were 240 MPa and 11 GPa, respectively. Thermal properties of the sheets demonstrated the suitability of processing fibre sheets at high temperature. Tensile properties of the films subjected to composite-processing conditions demonstrated the thermal stability of the fibre films during the compression molding process. Nanocomposites of different fibre loads were prepared by press-molding nano fibre sheets with different thickness in between polycarbonate sheet at 205°C under pressure. The tensile modulus and strength of the polycarbonate increased with the incorporation of the fibres. The strength of the thermoplastic increased 24% with 10% of the fibres and is increased up to 30% with 18% of the fibres. Tensile modulus of the polycarbonate demonstrated significant enhancement (about 100%).S. Panthapulakkal and M. SainCopyright © 2012 S. Panthapulakkal and M. Sain. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/426057/The polycarbonate film (PC) surface was treated using glow discharge low-pressure air plasma. The modified surface was characterized by contact angle, FTIR, XRD, AFM, and XPS analysis. The surface-modified samples were further investigated using T-peel test for technical applications. The surface energy of the sample was estimated by measuring contact angle. The results show that, after plasma treatment, the root mean square (RMS) roughness of PC film was gradually increased with exposure time. Plasma treatment modified the chemical composition of the polymer surface and it made the surface to be highly hydrophilic. It was found that the air plasma treatment increases the polar component of PC film.K. A. Vijayalakshmi, M. Mekala, C. P. Yoganand, and K. Navaneetha PandiyarajCopyright © 2011 K. A. Vijayalakshmi et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/302843/Zinc oxide thin films of different thicknesses ranging from 100 to 300 nm were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate substrates with thermal evaporation in a vacuum of approximately 3×10-5 Torr. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the proper phase formation of the material. From atomic force microscopy (AFM) images, it was found that the root mean square roughness of the film surface increased as the film thickness increased. The optical properties of ZnO on PET substrates were determined through the optical transmission method using an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The optical band gap values of ZnO thin films slightly decreased as the film thickness increased.M. G. Faraj and K. IbrahimCopyright © 2011 M. G. Faraj and K. Ibrahim. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/731708/This study comprises a detailed morphological study of cold-drawn polyethylene monofilaments by Raman spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray measurements. The structure of the three-phase morphology of the linear low-density polyethylene monofilaments was investigated by combining these measurements. It was found that the most important structure variation was found in the intermediate or rigid amorphous phase, whereby the amounts of crystalline and amorphous phases were nearly constant and almost independent of the cold-draw ratio. The intermediate third phase contains gauche and transmolecules, and the amount of transmolecules was increased with the cold-draw ratio and was directly related to this cold-draw ratio. It was found that the two peaks in the Raman spectra, respectively, at 1303 and 1295 cm-1, can be correlated to the amount of gauche and transmolecules in the polyethylene monofilaments. A good and new insight into the three-phase morphology was obtained by combining the DSC and X-ray measurements with the amounts of trans- and gauche molecules from the Raman spectra analysis.Blerina Kolgjini, Gustaaf Schoukens, and Paul KiekensCopyright © 2011 Blerina Kolgjini et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/521985/Natural rubber based composites have been prepared using various amounts of two fillers: conventional Corax N220 carbon black or electrically conductive carbon black Printex XE-2B which has a very high specific surface area. The composites have been studied by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, dielectric thermal analysis and SEM. It has been established that all vulcanizates investigated are in the glass state in the −80∘C to −40∘C interval. The storage modulus increases with the increasing filler content in the −40∘C to +80∘C interval when the vulcanizates are in the highly elastic state. DETA shows that the increase in filler content leads to an increase in the dielectric permittivity (ε′). ε′ also increases with temperature increasing. Higher frequency causes a decrease of ε′ values which becomes more pronounced with the increasing filler content. Obviously, when the content of Printex XE-2B carbon black in the vulcanizates is higher than 7.5 phr, the percolation threshold is reached and the ε′ values increase up to 102–104. The ε′ values for the vulcanizates comprising 20 and 50 phr Corax N220 carbon black are measurable with those for the vulcanizates comprising 5 and 10 phr Printex XE-2B carbon black respectively. The results obtained could be explained by the difference in the structure and specific surface area of the two types of carbon black—Printex XE-2B and Corax N220.Omar A. Al-Hartomy, Falleh Al-Solamy, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Nikolay Dishovsky, Milcho Ivanov, Mihail Mihaylov, and Farid El-TantawyCopyright © 2011 Omar A. Al-Hartomy et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/570149/The interactions in poly(oxyethylene) (E) – poly(oxybutylene) (B) of EB or EBE type block copolymers-sodium dodoecyl sulfate (SDS) or dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and/or t-octylphenoxy polyethoxyethanol, (TX-100) have been monitored as a function of surfactant concentration and temperature. The addition of ionic surfactants to copolymer micellar solutions in general induced not only shape transition from spherical to prolate ellipsoids at 30∘C in the copolymer micelles but also destabilize them and even suppress the micelle formation at high surfactant loading. DTAB destabilizes the copolymer micelles more than SDS. TX-100, being nonionic, however, forms stable mixed micelles. The block copolymer-surfactant complexes are hydrophilic in nature and are characterized by high turbid and cloud points. Triblock copolymer micelles got easily destabilized than the diblock copolymer ones, indicating the importance of the interaction between the hydrophilic E chains and surfactants. The effects of destabilization of the copolymer micelles are more dominating than the micellar growth at elevated temperatures, which is otherwise predominant in case of copolymer micelles alone.Sanjay H. Punjabi, Nandhibatla V. Sastry, Vinod K. Aswal, and Prem S. GoyalCopyright © 2011 Sanjay H. Punjabi et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/936973/A phosphate ester-forming reaction was carried out by mixing epoxidized soybean oil with up to 1.5% o-phosphoric acid. In situ oligomerization took effect almost instantly producing a clear, homogeneous, highly viscous, and a low-acid product with a high average functionality. The resulting epoxide was used as a reactant for urethane bioelastomer synthesis and evaluated for rigid foam formulation. Results have shown that with a number of catalysts tested phosphoric acid significantly enhances a solvent-free oxirane ring cleavage and polymerization of the epoxidized soybean oil via phosphate-ester formation at room temperature. The resulting phosphoric acid-catalyzed epoxide-based bioelastomer showed an 80% decrease in extractable content and increased tensile strength at the same isocyanate loading relative to the noncatalyzed epoxide. The oligomerized epoxidized soybean oil materials exhibited ASTM hydroxyl values 40% less than the nonoligomerized starting material which translates to reduced isocyanate loadings in urethane applications.Arnold A. Lubguban, Zuleica R. Lozada, Yuan-Chan Tu, Hongyu Fan, Fu-Hung Hsieh, and Galen J. SuppesCopyright © 2011 Arnold A. Lubguban et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/235805/Biocomposites are sensitive to water, and previous work on flax reinforced PLLA showed a large drop in mechanical properties after immersion (Le Duigou et al. 2009). Unreinforced PLLA was much less sensitive. This paper presents a strategy to reduce the influence of wet ageing by adding extra layers of PLLA on the biocomposite surface. Weight gain measurements show that a PLLA coating 350 μm thick reduces weight gain by half, and biocomposite stiffness and strength after ageing are improved by 100% compared to uncoated composite behaviour. Thermal analysis and microscopic examination are used to show damage mechanisms with and without protection. Property changes are shown to be quasilinearly related to weight gain.A. Le Duigou, J. M. Deux, P. Davies, and C. BaleyCopyright © 2011 A. Le Duigou et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/301807/Preirradiation graft polymerization of styrene in a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) film was examined by time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). A crosslinked PTFE film, thickness of which is about 50 μm, was irradiated by γ-ray and immersed in a mixed solvent of styrene monomer and toluene. SANS elucidated that graft polymerization proceeds by two reaction processes (I) and (II). In process (I) at 0<t<200 min, graft polymerization occurs at an interface between crystalline and amorphous PTFE domains and the grafted polystyrene segregates from PTFE, forming a thin layer with a sharp interface. In process (II) at 200<t<600 min, grafted PS layer starts to bridge between crystalline domains. At the end of process (II), 40% of total crystalline PTFE domain is covered by the grafted PS chains.Hiroki Iwase, Shin-ichi Sawada, Tetsuya Yamaki, Yasunari Maekawa, and Satoshi KoizumiCopyright © 2011 Hiroki Iwase et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/190349/Polystyrene, PS, was grafted from poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, backbone by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The hydroxyl groups of the PVA were converted into aromatic dithioester RAFT agent and polymerization began in the presence of this agent. The structure of compounds was confirmed by FT-IR and 1HNMR spectroscopy. The graft copolymer was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Grafted polystyrene chains were cleaved from the PVA backbone by acidic hydrolysis of the PVA-g-PS, and its polydispersity index, PDI, was determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) showing narrow molecular weight distribution.Gholam Ali Koohmareh, Morteza Hajian, and Hazhir FallahiCopyright © 2011 Gholam Ali Koohmareh et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/810628/A new type of unsaturated polyketones and copolyketones having cycloheptanone moiety in a p-conjugated main chain were synthesized via Friedel-Crafts reaction through the polymerization of the monomer: 2,7-bis furfurylidene cycloheptanone I with different diacid chlorides. The model compound was synthesized by reacting I with benzoyl chloride and characterized by 1H-NMR, IR, and elemental analyses. The polyketones and copolyketones were soluble easily in protic solvents like H2SO4 and trifluoroacetic acid. The thermal properties of these polyketones and copolyketones were evaluated and correlated to their structural units by TGA and DSC measurements. The crystallinity of some polymers was tested by X-ray analyses; also the morphological properties of selected examples of poly and copolyketones were detected by SEM. All the polyketones were tested for their biological activity against bacteria, fungi, and yeast. It was observed that the majority of the polyketones and its copolymers synthesized can be used as antibacterial and antifungal agents.Nayef S. Al-MuaikelCopyright © 2011 Nayef S. Al-Muaikel. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/627195/9′-Hydroxy-1,3,3-trimethylspiro[indoline-2,3′[3H]naphtha[2,1-b]-1,4oxazine] (SPO-7OH) was used in studies of photochromic transformations in polymer matrices. Illumination with UV lamp caused opening the spirostructure of the oxazine with formation of open merocyanine species absorbing at ca. 610 nm. The kinetic studies of thermal relaxation of the open form showed that this process can be described with a biexponential function including both photochemical reaction and rheological behaviour of the polymeric environment. Basing on Arrhenius plot of the rate constant ascribed to the photochemical reaction, the activation energy was determined, which was 66.1 and 84.7 kJ/mole for poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate) and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) matrix, respectively.Maria Larkowska, Michael Wuebbenhorst, and Stanislaw KucharskiCopyright © 2011 Maria Larkowska et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/109693/Reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) synthesis and self-assembly of free-base porphyrin cored star polymers are reported. The polymerization, in the presence of a free-base porphyrin cored chain transfer agent (CTA-FBP), produced porphyrin star polymers with controlled molecular weights and narrow polydispersities for a number of monomers including N, N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and styrene (St). Well-defined amphiphilic star block copolymers, P-(PS-PDMA)4 and P-(PDMA-PS)4 (P: porphyrin), were also prepared and used for self-assembly studies. In methanol, a selective solvent for PDMA, spherical micelles were observed for both block copolymers as characterized by TEM. UV-vis studies suggested star-like micelles were formed from P-(PS-PDMA)4, while P-(PDMA-PS)4 aggregated into flower-like micelles. Spectrophotometric titrations indicated that the optical response of these two micelles to external ions was a function of micellar structures. These structure-related properties will be used for micelle studies and functional material development in the future.Lin Wu, Ronan McHale, Guoqiang Feng, and Xiaosong WangCopyright © 2011 Lin Wu et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/427095/The viscoelastic properties of mica-reinforced polypropylene (PP) was studied in temperature range between −30°C and 120°C. WLF equation permits determining the free volume fraction in α and αc transitions regions. It was shown that the value of this parameter is lower for αc transition, indicating that the free volume and thermal expansion of α region is more than that of αc region. At a 40% loading level, it was shown that the storage and loss modulus of mica-filled PP increases dramatically (in comparison with the pure polypropylene). The relative modulus does not change significantly at glassy state but it increases for the temperature higher than Tg. It was also shown that mica does not affect the glass transition temperature but results in an increase in αc transition.S. Farzaneh and A. TcharkhtchiCopyright © 2011 S. Farzaneh and A. Tcharkhtchi. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/837803/In this paper, the dielectric and microwave properties of carbon black/siloxane rubber-based nanocomposites have been investigated in the frequency range from 1 GHz till 12 GHz according to the content of carbon black and the frequency. It has been established that the increasing frequency and filler content lead to an increase in the relative permittivity and tangent of dielectric loss angle. At higher filler content, the effects become more pronounced, especially those upon dielectric loss. It has been also established that there are two well-distinguished areas in all dependences of microwave properties on frequency and filler content increasing. The first is between 1 and 8 GHz wherein the reflection and attenuation of microwaves do not change considerably with frequency and filler content alternation while shielding effectiveness worsens. The second area is between 8 and 12 GHz wherein the reflection and attenuation of microwaves increase drastically with the increasing frequency and filler content. Shielding effectiveness improves, too. It has been established that in all cases the degree of correlation between dielectric and microwave properties evaluated on the basis of the coefficients of correlation calculation is perfect.Omar A. Al-Hartomy, Falleh Al-Solamy, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Nikolay Dishovsky, Vladimir Iliev, and Farid El-TantawyCopyright © 2011 Omar A. Al-Hartomy et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/591948/This study presents a new method for improving adhesion between ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber and polyester fabric. In this work, natural rubber was modified by maleic anhydride in order to improve the adhesion force between ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber and polyester fabric. The effect of thermal aging and ionizing radiation on the stability of the rubber mix as well as on the peel strength of the rubber-coated fabric was investigated. It was observed that the natural rubber modified by maleic anhydride improved the peel strength of the EPDM rubber-coated polyester fabric.A. A. El-WakilCopyright © 2011 A. A. El-Wakil. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/238619/The effects of titanate as a coupling agent and some particulate nanoscale particles such as TiO2, CaCO3, and ZnO on thermal and mechanical properties of emulsion polyvinylchloride (E-PVC) were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and mechanical tests. In this research, it was found that, in the presence of nanoparticles of CaCO3, TiO2, and ZnO, the peak temperature of dehydrochlorination of E-PVC was shifted to higher temperatures, and the rate of mass loss was decreased. Also results of differential scanning calorimetry showed that the addition of nanoparticle of CaCO3, TiO2, and ZnO led to an increase in glass transition temperature. The impact strength, elastic modulus and toughness of the samples were enhanced after addition of 0–10 part of filer in hundred parts of resin (phr) nano-CaCO3, nano-TiO2, and nano-ZnO due to improvement of compatibility of the polymer and the nano-particles. Also UV and thermal stability of the samples were enhanced by means of the nanoparticles. It was found that, in the presence of titanate as coupling agent, content of additives that could be used in the composite of PVC shifts to higher amounts.Morteza Hajian, Gholam Ali Koohmareh, and Afsaneh MostaghasiCopyright © 2011 Morteza Hajian et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2011/849370/Kinetics of linear polymer thermal depolymerization under isothermal and dynamic TGA modes was simulated by the Monte Carlo method. The simulation was carried out on model arrays having the same initial degree of polymerization Pn=100 and different width (polydispersity index, PDI=Pw/Pn=1∼3) at three constant temperatures and five heating rates. Kinetics of the process in both modes is described by the Avrami equation, the exponent in which decreasing as the distribution width increases. Treatment of the model kinetic curves of degradation using the nonlinear regression method by the Avrami equation, under both isothermal and dynamic modes, gives correct activation energy and pre-exponential factor values independently of the initial PDI. Data obtained in the dynamic mode were also treated by two isoconversion methods, widely applied to kinetic analysis of TGA curves (Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) method).Elena V. Bystritskaya, Oleg N. Karpukhin, and Alla V. KutsenovaCopyright © 2011 Elena V. Bystritskaya et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/939536/Chitosan, a versatile biopolymer, finds numerous applications in textile processing unit operations such as preparation, dyeing, printing, and finishing. However, the accessibility of this biopolymer by the textile material depends on the viscosity of its solution which in turn is a function of its molecular weight. In this work, therefore, the effect of molecular weight, storage life, presence of electrolyte, and particle size of chitosan on its viscosity was investigated. Chitosan of different molecular weights was synthesized by nitrous acid hydrolysis of parent chitosan solution. The synthesized low molecular weight products were analysed by FTIR spectroscopy. Chitosan of nanoconfiguration was prepared by Ionotropic gelation method and characterized by particle size analyzer. The viscosity of different chitosan solutions was determined using Ubbelohde capillary viscometer. As an extension to this study, the chelation property of chitosan was also evaluated.D. P. Chattopadhyay and Milind S. InamdarCopyright © 2010 D. P. Chattopadhyay and Milind S. Inamdar. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/831658/The optimal conditions of cellulose acetate sulfate (CAS) homogeneous synthesis with the yield of 94–98 wt.% have been determined. CAS was confirmed to have an even distribution of functional groups along the polymer chain. The polymer was characterized by an exceptionally high water solubility (up to 70 wt.%). The isothermal diagrams of its solubility in water-alcohol media have been obtained. CAS aqueous solutions stability, electrolytic, thermal, and viscous properties have been defined. The main hydrodynamic characteristics such as intrinsic viscosity, Huggins constant, and crossover concentration have been evaluated. The parameters of polymer chain thermodynamic rigidity have been calculated. The formation of liquid crystalline structures in concentrated CAS solutions has been confirmed. CAS was recommended to be used as a binder for the medicinal forms of activated carbon and carbon sorbent for water treatment, hydrophilic ointment foundation.D. D. Grinshpan, T. A. Savitskaya, N. G. Tsygankova, S. E. Makarevich, S. M. Tretsiakova, and T. N. NevarCopyright © 2010 D. D. Grinshpan et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/652719/Till date, market is augmented with a huge number of improved drug delivery systems. The success in this area is basically due to biodegradable polymers. Although conventional systems of drug delivery utilizing the natural and semisynthetic polymers so long but synthetic polymer gains success in the controlled drug delivery area due to better degradation profile and controlled network and functionality. The polyesters are the most studied class group due the susceptible ester linkage in their backbone. The Poly(glycolic Acid) (PGA), Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), and Polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) are the best profiled polyesters and are most widely used in marketed products. These polymers, however, still are having drawbacks which failed them to be used in platform technologies like matrix systems, microspheres, and nanospheres in some cases. The common problems arose with these polymers are entrapment inefficiency, inability to degrade and release drugs with required profile, and drug instability in the microenvironment of the polymers. These problems are forcing us to develop new polymers with improved physicochemical properties. The present review gave us an insight in the various structural elements of Poly(glycolic acid), polyester, with in depth study. The first part of the review focuses on the result of studies related to synthetic methodologies and catalysts being utilized to synthesize the polyesters. However the author will also focus on the effect of processing methodologies but due some constraints those are not included in the preview of this part of review.Vineet Singh and Meena TiwariCopyright © 2010 Vineet Singh and Meena Tiwari. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/829752/This paper compares the results yielded by two methods of small-angle X-ray scattering data analysis for semicrystalline polymer blends. The first method is based on the use of a theoretical modeling for isotropic samples and a subsequent curve fitting. The second one is a more familiar method, based on the calculation of the linear one-dimensional correlation function. The experimental material considered for this purpose deals with a series of semi-crystalline blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and poly(methyl methacrylate), with a PVDF content covering the range 50 wt%–100 wt%. The results obtained by both calculation methods are systematically confronted to the crystallinity degrees deduced from wide angle X-ray scattering patterns.Mohamed Fatnassi, Fadhel Ben Cheikh Larbi, and Jean Louis HalaryCopyright © 2010 Mohamed Fatnassi et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/987357/This paper presents an experimental study of the influence of the addition of aromatic diamine (MDA) to bismaleimide (BMI) resin on the crystallinity, solubility, melting temperature, and mechanical properties of BMI/carbon composites. The modified BMI was prepared through the chain extension with MDA via Michael addition reaction with molar ratio of 3 : 2 (BMI : MDA). Both modified and unmodified BMI were characterised for chemical structure, crystallinity, melting temperature, mechanical property, and morphology and fracture behaviour using FTIR, XRD, DSC, UTM, and SEM, respectively. The FTIR results revealed the formation of polymeric chain due to the broad N-H absorption. The modified resin was semicrystalline in nature having low melting temperature and hence showed good processibility. The modification of BMI resulted in decrease of pores and increase of tensile, flexural, and impact properties of the composites. Also, SEM studies of the tensile fractured specimens revealed that modification of BMI resulted in improved resin/fibre interfacial strength.Satheesh Chandran M., M. Krishna, Salini K., and K. S. RaiCopyright © 2010 Satheesh Chandran M. et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/867825/A series of novel fire-retardant agents, fluorocyclotriphosphazene derivatives with the substitution groups of 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropoxy groups were synthesized using hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene and 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl alcohol as starting materials. The synthesized fire-retardant agent was emulsified and applied on the cotton fabric finishing to reduce the flammability and afford water/oil repellency simultaneously. The optimum finishing process was achieved according to the test of cotton finishing with fluorocyclotriphosphazene. The treated cotton showed not only excellent fire-retardant performance, but also water and oil repellency with little change in strength and whiteness.Li Zhanxiong and Du LipingCopyright © 2010 Li Zhanxiong and Du Liping. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/294790/Terpyridine-polyethyleneglycol-block-polyleucine block copolymer (tpy-PEG-PLeu) was synthesized by a ring-opening polymerization of L-leucine N-carboxyanhydride. The copolymer complexed with Fe2+ ion and its aqueous solution showed a purple color as a result of the complexation. This complexation caused the diblock/triblock structural transition of the copolymer. The change of the aggregation behavior caused by the structural transition was observed by a dynamic light scattering apparatus. The diblock tpy-PEG-PLeu copolymer formed a micelle in the aqueous solution. On the other hand, the triblock-type copolymer, after the complexation, formed the micelle structures and huge aggregates, which is considered to be a network structure. The complexation of the diblock tpy-PEG-PLeu copolymer with Fe ion is consequently considered to be a trigger of the gelation.Satoshi Tanimoto, Yasushi Nakamura, Hitoshi Yamaoka, and Yoshitsugu HirokawaCopyright © 2010 Satoshi Tanimoto et al. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/359015/The grafting of ADPEA onto natural rubber was executed with UV radiation. Benzoyl peroxide was used to initiate the free-radical grafting copolymerization. Natural rubber-graft-N-(4-aminodiphenylether) acrylamide (NR-g-ADPEA) was characterized with an IR technique. The paper aims interested to determine the crosslinking density by using the ultrasonic technique. The ultrasonic velocities of both longitudinal and shear waves were measured in thermoplastic discs of NBR vulcanizates as a function of aging time. Ultrasonic velocity measurements were taken at 2 MHz ultrasonic frequency using the pulse echo method. We studied the effect of aging on the mechanical properties, crosslinking density, and the swelling and extraction phenomena for acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer (NBR) vulcanizates, which contained the prepared NR-g-ADPEA and a commercial antioxidant, N-isopropyl-N−-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine. The prepared antioxidant enhanced both the mechanical properties of the NBR vulcanizates and the permanence of the ingredients in these vulcanizates.Abdulaziz Ibrahim Al-Ghonamy and Mirham A. BarakatCopyright © 2010 Abdulaziz Ibrahim Al-Ghonamy and Mirham A. Barakat. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/528173/Ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPDM)/wheat husk fibers (WHFs) composites were prepared using a laboratory size two-roll mill. Cure characteristics and some physical properties such as swelling, mechanical, and thermal properties of the vulcanizates were studied. The adhesion status between the WHF and rubber matrix is lacked in general, but it started to reinforce the matrix at higher WHF contents where a higher restriction to molecular motion of the macromolecules with uniformed stress distribution of the fibers is produced. From the TGA analysis, a thermally stable property is exhibited, which in turn partially enhanced the reinforcement of the WHF-EPDM composites due to the natural adhesion during vulcanization.Maged S. Sobhy and M. T. TammamCopyright © 2010 Maged S. Sobhy and M. T. Tammam. All rights reserved.http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijps/2010/689837/N,N′-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)oxalamide (BHEOA) was subject to hydroxyalkylation with ethylene carbonate (EC). By means of instrumental methods (IR, 1H-NMR, MALDI ToF, GC, and GC-MS), an influence of the reaction conditions on structure and compositions of the obtained products was investigated. The hydroxyalkyl and hydroxyalkoxy derivatives of oxalamide (OA) were obtained by reaction of BHEOA with 2–10-molar excess of ethylene carbonate (EC, 1,3-dioxolane-2-one). The products have a good thermal stability and possess suitable physical properties as substrates for foamed polyurethanes. The obtained products were used in manufacturing the rigid polyurethane foams which possess enhanced thermal stability and good mechanical properties.Iwona Zarzyka-NiemiecCopyright © 2010 Iwona Zarzyka-Niemiec. All rights reserved.