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Understanding the sorption equilibrium of penetrants into a polymer is key to mastering the kinetics and properties of the final product. These systems are non‐ideal meaning the presence of multiple components in the continuous phase changes the solubility of individual species with respect to pure component solubilities. For this reason, measurements of the individual and total solubilities of multiple penetrants in isotactic polypropylene (iPP) and random copolymers (RCP) were performed using a pressure decay method at temperatures of 75–85°C, and total pressures of up to 29 barG. The results showed that the pure component solubilities of propylene and propane in amorphous iPP were similar, but 4 to 5 times higher than that of ethylene in the same polymer. However, in the ternary system of propylene/propane/iPP, it is seen that propylene acts as an anti‐solvent to propane, and that propane acts as an anti‐solvent to propylene, resulting in lower solubility of both penetrants than in the respective binary cases. The co‐solubility effect of propylene on ethylene and the anti‐solvent effect of ethylene on propylene were observed for the system of propylene/ethylene/RCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, composite powders of natural rubber/silica (NR-SiO2) were prepared via sol-gel and spray drying method. The morphology and physical properties of resultant rubber composite powders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, laser light scattering particle sizer and thermogravimetric analyzer. The results showed that spray-dried NR-SiO2 particles were spherical in shape with diameter of less than 10 μm, with silica on the outer layer. The particle size was found to increase gradually with the increase in NR/Si mass ratio. Marginal growth in particle size was observed with increasing feed flow rate. Increasing inlet air temperature improved the latex particle encapsulation by silica layer while maintaining the final particle size. The mechanical properties of NR-SiO2 powders-filled polylactic acid (PLA) composite increase gradually with the addition of dried particles of higher rubber content. However, the composite exhibited relatively lower or reduced tensile strength and elongation at break compared to the host PLA polymer. This could be attributed to poor filler dispersion associated with weak filler/matrix interaction effect occurring during meltcompounding process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic enhancement of syngas production rate and yield by combined ternary eutectic carbonate salt–Ni/Al 2 O 3 ( MS-Ni ) medium was investigated by CO 2 gasification of cellulose, biomass wastes (chopstick, newspaper, sawdust), and sawdust char in a lab-scale reactor. Compared to the case of only molten salt ( MS ), MS-Ni medium could increase syngas production yields of the above-listed 5 feedstock by 28, 23, 18, 17, and 12%, respectively, at 1173 K. In fact, H 2 production yield increased by up to 300% while the CO production yield slightly increased by 10–15% with the temperature at peak rate shifted lower by approximately 100 K. Arrhenius rate expressions for char gasification were derived to give activation energies of 125 and 105 kJ mol −1 for the MS and MS-Ni mediums, respectively. The Ni/Al 2 O 3 catalyst in MS-Ni medium was not only active for H 2 production but also could enhance CO production. The reaction mechanism of CO 2 gasification of cellulose in MS-Ni medium was schematically proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]