The Thermo-Oxidative Behavior of Cotton Coated with an Intumescent Flame Retardant Glycine-Derived Polyamidoamine: A Multi-Technique Study

Linear polyamidoamines (PAAs) derived from the polyaddition of natural α-amino acids and N,N′-methylene bis(acrylamide) are intumescent flame retardants for cotton. Among them, the glycine-derived M-GLY extinguished the flame in horizontal flame spread tests at 4% by weight add-on. This paper reports on an extensive study aimed at understanding the molecular-level transformations of M-GLY-treated cotton upon heating in air at 300 °C, 350 °C and 420 °C. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) identified different thermal-oxidative decomposition stages and, coupled to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, allowed the volatile species released upon heating to be determined, revealing differences in the decomposition pattern of treated and untreated cotton. XPS analysis of the char residues of M-GLY-treated cotton revealed the formation of aromatic nanographitic char at lower temperature with respect to untreated cotton. Raman spectroscopy of the char residues provided indications on the degree of graphitization of treated and untreated cotton at the three reference temperatures. Solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) provided information on the char structure as a function of the treatment temperature, clearly indicating that M-GLY favors the carbonization of cotton with the formation of more highly condensed aromatic structures.

Red Wine Oxidation Characterization by Accelerated Ageing Tests and Cyclic Voltammetry

In order to obtain information on the oxidative behavior of red wines, oxygen consumption rates and electrochemical changes (cyclic voltammetry) were measured for nine red wines subject to three different accelerated ageing tests: chemical (with hydrogen peroxide), enzymatic (with laccase from Trametes versicolor), and temperature (at 60 °C). Oxidative behavior depended both on the wine sample and accelerated ageing test type. A good correlation was observed between electrochemical parameters of charges for reference/non-oxidized wines, in accordance with their antioxidant capacity, and the variation of charges after enzymatic and temperature tests, meaning that cyclic voltammetry could be used in order to predict these two oxidation tests and reflect the wine sensitivity towards respective oxidation targets. However, it was not possible to predict wine chemical oxidation test based on hydrogen peroxide from the electrochemical measurements.

Methodology for Efficient Bitumen Storage with Reduced Energy Consumption

This paper studies the possibility of minimizing energy consumption during 35/50 bitumen storage. Similarly to most bitumen companies, the company with which we collaborated uses fossil fuel to maintain bitumen tanks at 150 °C. The main objective is to optimize energy usage. To achieve this purpose, we tested two new storage processes. One is based on dynamic temperature storage between 140 and 160 °C, and the other on room temperature conditions. This work evaluates the effect of these storage conditions on the quality of 35/50 bitumen, and studies the energy aspect to calculate the energy profit for every storage method. After storage, we have studied short-term and long-term ageing using the Rolling Thin Film Oven (RTFOT) and the Pressure Ageing Vessel (PAV) tests, respectively. We characterized the samples using needle penetration at 25 °C, the softening point, and Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. We observed that the change in physical properties is negligible after the tested storage processes. Chemically, both the storage conditions affected the oxidative behavior acceptably; the carbonyl index was the same in the long term. We conclude that we can store 35/50 bitumen at room temperature conditions, which follow us to save more than three times the energy needs compared to the standard configurations.

Influence of Diluent Concentration in Localized High Concentration Electrolytes: Elucidation of Hidden Diluent-Li+ Interactions and Li+ Transport Mechanism

Localized high concentration electrolytes (LHCE) offer a viable dilution strategy for high concentration electrolytes (HCE) as the dilution process barely impacts the enhanced reductive/oxidative behavior of the HCE formulation but...

Chemical Analysis of Minor Bioactive Components and Cannabidiolic Acid in Commercial Hemp Seed Oil

Although hemp seed (HS) oil is characterized by more than 80% polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), a very high ω-6-to-ω-3 ratio is not a popular commodity. The aim of this work was to provide useful data about the bioactive components and cannabidiolic acid content in thirteen different commercial hemp seed oils. The investigated HS oils showed a good ω-6/ω-3 ratio, ranging from 1.71 to 2.27, massively differed in their chlorophylls (0.041–2.64 µg/g) and carotenoids contents (0.29–1.73 µg/g), as well as in total phenols (22.1–160.8 mg Gallic Acid Equivalents (GAE)/g) and tocopherols (3.47–13.25 mg/100 g). Since the high content of PUFAs in HS oils, photo-oxidative stability was investigated by determining the Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) assay and extinction coefficient K232 and K270 after the photo-oxidative test. The percentage of increase in K232 and K270 ranged from 1.2 to 8.5% and from 3.7 to 26.0%, respectively, indicating good oxidative stability, but TBARS showed a 1.5- to 2.5-fold increase in oxidative behavior when compared to the initial values. Therefore, the diversity in bioactive compounds in HS oils, and their high nutritional value, suggest the need for a disciplinary booklet that well defines agronomic and post-harvest management conditions for achieving a good food objective.