Cellulose nanofibers from microfibril cellulose (MFC) was prepared by hydrobromic acid (HBr) treatment at different concentrations. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite films at various loading level of nanofibers were manufactured by a film casting method. The analysis of degree of polymerization (DP), crystallinity (Xc) and molecular weight (Mw) of cellulose after acid treatment was conducted. The mechanical and thermal properties of the cellulose nanofibers reinforced PVA films were characterized using tensile tests and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The DP and Mw of MFC by HBr hydrolysis considerably decreased, but Xc showed no significant change. After acid hydrolysis, the diameter of cellulose nanofibers was in the range of 100 to 200 nm. The thermal stability of the films was steadily improved with the increase of nanofiber loading. There was a significant increase in the tensile strength of PVA composite films with the increase in MFC loading. Finally, 5 wt.% nanofiber loading exhibited the highest tensile strength and thermal stability of PVA composite films.

This lecture introduces new press, adapter and control concepts to size multi-level sintered components. The essential thing here is that the advantages of the multi-plate technology have been applied to the sizing adapter concept. Thus, the new concept meets the demands for a modern P/M manufacture and offers sufficient potential to size any future, complex sintered components such as synchronizer hubs, oil pump wheels and VCT parts with highest precision. Furthermore, it outlines a new flexible concept for the parts transfer, including feeding, orientation and lubrication while responding to the high demands on process stability and short change-over times.

Sediment works as a resource for electric cells. This paper was designed in order to verify how sediment cells work with anodic material such as metal and carbon fiber. As known quite well, sediment under sea, rivers or streams provides a furbished environment for generating electrons via some electron transfer mechanism within specific microbial population or corrosive oxidation on the metal surfaces in the presence of oxygen or water molecules. We experimented with one type of sediment cell using different anodic material so as to attain prolonged, maximum electric power. Iron, Zinc, aluminum, copper, zinc/copper, and graphite felt were tested for anodes. Also, combined type of anodes-metal embedded in the graphite fiber matrix-was experimented for better performances. The results show that the combined type of anodes exhibited sustainable electricity production for ca. 600 h with max. 0.57 W/㎡ Al/Graphite. Meanwhile, graphite-only electrodes produced max. 0.11 W/㎡ along with quite stationary electric output, and for a zinc electrode, in which the electricity generated was not stable with time, therefore resulting in relatively sharp drop in that after 100 h or so, the maximum power density was 0.64 W/㎡. It was observed that the corrosive reaction rates in the metal electrodes might be varied, so that strength and stability in the electric performances(voltage and current density) could be affected by them. In addition to that, COD(chemical oxygen demand) of the sediment of the cell system was reduced by 17.5∼36.7% in 600 h, which implied that the organic matter in the sediment would be partially converted into non-COD substances, that is, would suggest a way for decontamination of the aged, anaerobic sediment as well. The pH reduction for all electrodes could be a sign of organic acid production due to complicated chemical changes in the sediment.