Characterization Studies of a GC based SAW Sensor System for Potential Detection and Identification of Toxic Environmental Gases/Vapors

The characterization of a custom-designed GC-based SAW e-Nose sensor system is presented here to study the sensing ability of the sensor system to detect and identify low medium and high toxic vapors. A semi-automated multi-vapor generator generates vapors of chemical compounds that are then exposed to the sensing system to examine its performance under various concentrations. Time-domain verses frequency response of GC-SAW Sensor is noted for repeated cycles against different chemical compounds like xylene, 1,2 dibromoethane, dimethyl sulfate, triethyl phosphate, nitrobenzene, phosphorous trichloride being tested. The generated data is examined using a principle component analysis (PCA) technique to detect a unique response for an individual chemical compound. Experimental results are reported.

Bio-Based Rigid Polyurethane Foams Modified with Phosphorus Flame Retardants

Rigid polyurethane foams (RPURF) containing a bio-polyol from rapeseed oil and different phosphorus-based flame retardants were obtained. Triethyl phosphate (TEP), dimethyl propane phosphonate (DMPP) and cyclic phosphonates Addforce CT 901 (20 parts per hundred polyol by weight) were used in the synthesis of RPURF. The influence of used flame retardants on foaming process, cell structure, and physical–mechanical properties as well as flammability of RPURF were examined. The addition of flame retardants influenced the parameters of the cellular structure and decreased compressive strength. All obtained foam materials had a low thermal conductivity coefficient, which allows them to be used as thermal insulation. The research results of bio-based RPURF were compared with foams obtained without bio-polyol. All modified materials had an oxygen index above 21 vol%; therefore, they can be classified as self-extinguishing materials. The analysis of parameters obtained after the cone calorimeter test showed that the modified RPURF have a lower tendency to fire development compared to the reference foams, which was particularly noticeable for the materials with the addition of DMPP.

A Single Step Preparation of Photothermally Active Polyvinylidene Fluoride Membranes Using Triethyl Phosphate as a Green Solvent for Distillation Applications

Membrane distillation is a growing technology that can address the growing problem of water shortage. The implementation of renewable energy and a reduction in the environmental impact of membrane production could improve the sustainability of this process. With this perspective, porous hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared using triethyl phosphate (TEP) as a green solvent, using the non-solvent induced phase separation technique. Different amounts of carbon black were added to dope solutions to improve the photothermal properties of the membranes and to enable direct heating by solar energy. By optimizing the preparation conditions, membranes with porosity values as high as 87% were manufactured. Vacuum membrane distillation tests carried out using a concentrated NaCl solution at 50 °C showed distillate fluxes of up to 36 L/m2 h and a complete salt rejection. Some preliminary studies on the photothermal performance were also conducted and highlighted the possibility of using such membranes in a direct solar membrane distillation configuration.

Triethyl phosphate in an antisolvent: a novel approach to fabricate high-efficiency and stable perovskite solar cells under ambient air conditions

In this contribution, PSCs with a high efficiency and good stability are fabricated under ambient conditions without a glove box via introducing triethyl phosphate (TEP) into a perovskite through an antisolvent.

A Fire-retarding Electrolyte using Triethyl Phosphate as Solvent for Sodium-ion Batteries

We introduce a fire-retarding phosphate-based electrolyte, 1 M NaBF4 in triethyl phosphate with 3% vinylene carbonate as an SEI-forming additive for sodium-ion battery. With this electrolyte formulation, we achieved a...

Development and Characterization of “Green Open-Cell Polyurethane Foams” with Reduced Flammability

This work presents the cell structure and selected properties of polyurethane (PUR) foams, based on two types of hydroxylated used cooking oil and additionally modified with three different flame retardants. Bio-polyols from municipal waste oil with different chemical structures were obtained by transesterification with triethanolamine (UCO_TEA) and diethylene glycol (UCO_DEG). Next, these bio-polyols were used to prepare open-cell polyurethane foams of very low apparent densities for thermal insulation applications. In order to obtain foams with reduced flammability, the PUR systems were modified with different amounts (10–30 parts per hundred polyol by weight—php) of flame retardants: TCPP (tris(1-chloro-2-propyl)phosphate), TEP (triethyl phosphate), and DMPP (dimethyl propylphosphonate). The flame retardants caused a decrease of the PUR formulations reactivity. The apparent densities of all the foams were comparable in the range 12–15 kg/m3. The lowest coefficients of thermal conductivity were measured for the open-cell PUR foams modified with DMPP. The lowest values of heat release rate were found for the foams based on the UCO_TEA and UCO_DEG bio-polyols that were modified with 30 php of DMPP.