Monitoring the continuous manufacture of a polymeric foam via a thermokinetic-informed acoustic technique

Polymer foams are difficult to characterise due to rapidly evolving physical features from liquid to porous solid. Swift changes in volume, porosity and moduli render many techniques challenging for the characterisation of the foam curing during a manufacturing process. A technique that employs the longitudinal speed of sound of an ultrasonic signal, informed by a thermokinetic model, is proposed as an in situ, in-line, non-destructive and continuous monitoring tool during the production of rigid polyurethane foams. This study demonstrates that speed of sound measurements are suitable for (a) continuous characterisation of different foaming stages in the polymer reaction and curing; (b) determining the degree of cure for the continuous monitoring of foams, and (c) predicting mechanical properties (i.e., stiffness and Poisson's ratio) of cured foam samples. The validity of this monitoring technique is confirmed by comparison with well-established methods that use physical characteristics (e.g., expansion rate, electrical properties), thermo-kinetic models and mechanical testing. This method positions itself as a monitoring tool and convenient method for determining material stiffness during production.

Effect of Fiber-matrix Interface Decohesion on the Behavior of Thermoset and Thermoplastic Composites Reinforced with Natural Fibers: A Comparative Study

In this article, a comparative study was carried out on two types of thermosetting and thermoplastic matrices to study the effect of the fiber-matrix interface damage on the behavior of thermosetting and thermoplastic composites reinforced by the same natural alfa and wood fibers. The genetic modeling was based on the probabilistic formalism of Weibull. The results have been compared with those obtained by the nonlinear acoustic technique, the two results found to coincide perfectly. The numerical simulation also shows a good concordance with the real behavior of the materials studied, and shows that thermosetting composites are the most resistant to applied thermal stress by 21% compared to thermoplastic composites. Statistical analysis demonstrates that the correlation coefficient values found are very close to 1 (0.964 and 0.973), these values are very satisfactory, and confirm that the results obtained by the genetic model and the nonlinear acoustic technique are in very good agreement with the statistical analysis data. The experimental work presented by Antoine Le Duigou et al. and the work of Bodros et al. have shown that the use of natural fibers greatly improves the mechanical properties of composite materials.

Advances in Electrochemical and Acoustic Aptamer-Based Biosensors and Immunosensors in Diagnostics of Leukemia

Early diagnostics of leukemia is crucial for successful therapy of this disease. Therefore, development of rapid, sensitive, and easy-to-use methods for detection of this disease is of increased interest. Biosensor technology is challenged for this purpose. This review includes a brief description of the methods used in current clinical diagnostics of leukemia and provides recent achievements in sensor technology based on immuno- and DNA aptamer-based electrochemical and acoustic biosensors. The comparative analysis of immuno- and aptamer-based sensors shows a significant advantage of DNA aptasensors over immunosensors in the detection of cancer cells. The acoustic technique is of comparable sensitivity with those based on electrochemical methods; moreover, it is label-free and provides straightforward evaluation of the signal. Several examples of sensor development are provided and discussed.

Theoretical study of the effect of thermal stress on transversal damage of hybrid biocomposite materials Flax-Hemp / Polyethylene

Background: The objective of sustainable development in the field of materials necessitates and demands the substitution of the basic constituents of a composite material (carbon, glass, etc.) by natural reinforcements, which have a very important role in the protection of the environment and to subsequently have new materials with good properties compared to so-called traditional materials. Objective: In this context, we have investigated, using genetic modeling based on probabilistic models, the effect of thermal stress on transversal damage of a bio-composite hybrid Flax-Hemp/PE material. Method: Our model genetic is based on probabilistic models of Weibull and the different values of the thermal stress was calculated by the Lebrun equation. We used the nonlinear parameter β in the Hoock law of the nonlinear acoustic technique to trace the curves of the damage under the mechanical and thermal stress to validate our theoretical calculations. Results: The results obtained with a genetic simulation are in good agreement with the results found by Clément GOURIER and Raphaël KUENY, who have shown that flax and hemp fibers (bark/Liberian fibers) are good reinforcements of the Polyethylene matrix, we found also found that our hybrid biocomposite material Flax-Hemp/PE is resistant in particular, a part of this material is of plant origin and gives us environmental benefit. Conclusion: It should be noted that the results obtained by the genetic simulation are in good agreement with the results obtained by the nonlinear acoustic technique mentioned by the green curve in all the figures. In perspective, it would be interesting to see, later, the effect of humidity on the damage of the matrix fiber interface of a hybrid biocomposite.