• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.127-140
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• 2024

Upon direct/indirect exposure to flame or heat, composite structures may burn or thermally buckle. This issue becomes more important in the natural fiber-based composite structures with higher flammability and lower mechanical properties. The main goal of the present study was to obtain an optimal eco-friendly composite system with low flammability and high thermal buckling resistance. The studied composite consisted of polypropylene (PP) and short abaca fiber (AF) with eggshell powder (ESP) and halloysite clay nanotubes (HNTs) additives. An optimal base composite, consisting of 30 wt.% AF and 70 wt.% PP, abbreviated as OAP, was initially introduced based on burning rate (BR) and the Young's modulus determined by horizontal burning test (HBT) and tensile test, respectively. The effects of adding ESP to the base composite were then investigated with the same experimental tests. The results indicated that though the BR significantly decreased with the increase of ESP content up to 6 wt.%, it had a very destructive influence on the stiffness of the composite. To compensate for the damaging effect of ESP, small amount of HNT was used. The performance of OAP composite with 6 wt.% ESP and 3 wt.% HNT (OAPEH) was explored by conducting HBT, cone calorimeter test (CCT) and tensile test. The experimental results indicated a 9~23 % reduction in almost all flammability parameters such as heat release rate (HRR), total heat released (THR), maximum average rate of heat emission (MARHE), total smoke released (TSR), total smoke production (TSP), and mass loss (ML) during combustion. Furthermore, the combination of 6 wt.% ESP and 3 wt.% HNT reduced the stiffness of OAP to an insignificant amount by maximum 3%. Moreover, the char residue analysis revealed the distinct differences in the formation of char between AF/PP and AF/PP/ESP/HNT composites. Afterward, dilatometry test was carried out to examine the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of OAP and OAPEH samples. The obtained results showed that the CTE of OAPEH composite was about 18% less than that of OAP. Finally, a theoretical model was used based on first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) to predict the critical bucking temperatures of the OAP and OAPEH composite plates. It was shown that in the absence of mechanical load, the critical buckling temperatures of OAPEH composite plates were higher than those of OAP composites, such that the difference between the buckling temperatures increased with the increase of thickness. On the contrary, the positive effect of CTE reduction on the buckling temperature decreased by raising the axial compressive mechanical load on the composite plates which can be assigned to the reduction of stiffness after the incorporation of ESP. The results of present study generally stated that a suitable combination of AF, PP, ESP, and HNT can result in a relatively optimal and environmentally friendly composite with proper flame and thermal buckling resistance with no significant decline in the stiffness.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.33-38
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• 2021

In order to manufacture a lightweight medical radiation shielding sheet, a new shielding material was studied. We tried to verify the possibility of a shielding material by mixing egg shell powder, which is thrown away as food waste at home, with a polymer material. Existing lightweight materials satisfy eco-friendly conditions, but there are difficulties in the economics of shielding materials due to the cost of the material refining process. This study aims to solve this problem by using egg shells, which are household waste. A 3 mm-thick shielding sheet was fabricated using HDPE, a polymer material, and particle distribution within the cross-section of the shielding sheet was also verified. The shape of the particles was rough and there were voids between the particles, and the average weight per unit area was 1.5 g/cm². The shielding performance was around 20% in the low energy area and 10% in the high energy area, showing the possibility of a low-dose medical radiation shielding body.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.315-328
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• 2023

The main goal of the present study was to assess the effects of eggshell powder (ESP) and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) on the mechanical properties of abaca fiber (AF)-reinforced natural composites. For this purpose, a limited number of indentation tests were first performed on the AF/polypropylene (PP) composites for different HNT and ESP loadings (0 wt.% ~ 6 wt.%), load amplitudes (150, 200, and 250 N), and two types of indenters (Vickers or conical). The Young's modulus, hardness and plasticity index of each specimen were calculated using the indentation test results and Oliver-Pharr method. The accuracy of the experimental results was confirmed by comparing the values of the Young's modulus obtained from the indentation test with the results of the conventional tensile test. Then, a feed-forward shallow artificial neural network (ANN) with high efficiency was trained based on the obtained experimental data. The trained ANN could properly predict the variations of the mentioned mechanical properties of AF/PP composites incorporated with different HNT and ESP loadings. Furthermore, the trained ANN demonstrated that HNTs increase the elastic modulus and hardness of the composite, while the incorporation of ESP reduces these properties. For instance, the Young's modulus of composites incorporated with 3 wt.% of ESP decreased by 30.7% compared with the pure composite, while increasing the weight fraction of ESP up to 6% decreased the Young's modulus by 34.8%. Moreover, the trained ANN indicated that HNTs have a more significant effect on reducing the plasticity index than ESP.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.1195-1201
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• 2009

Dietary effects of Agaricus bisporus powder (ABP) on the quality characteristic of eggs from hens (Hy-Line) were investigated. Experimental groups (100 hens/group) were divided into normal control group (Control), 0.3% ABP supplemented diet group (M-0.3) and 0.6% ABP supplemented diet group (M-0.6), then fed for 12 weeks. There were no significant differences in shell thickness, while Haugh unit in M-0.3 and M-0.6 groups were 18.3$\sim$27.6% higher than that of control groups. Color $L^*$ and $b^*$ values of egg albumen and yolk in the M-03 and M-0.6 groups were lower whereas $a^*$ values were higher than those of NC group. In the yolk of M-03 and M-0.6 groups compared with control groups, the levels of total phospholipids and HDL-cholesterol were 4.5$\sim$13.9% and 86.1$\sim$87.0% higher, respectively, while the levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol were 29.4$\sim$31.9%, 51.9$\sim$52.4% and 49.1$\sim$53.5% lower than those of control groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in fatty acids. In the result of sensory evaluation, gory odor of raw eggs in the M-03 and M-0.6 groups was slightly lower compared with control groups. These results suggest that the feed containing mushroom of Agaricus bisporus can be used to reduce the egg yolk cholesterol content and gory odor from raw egg, and also to increase the phospholipids as a functional feed. Further studies on the mechanism are required.