Carbon nanotube (CNT) grafted with hyperbranched poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer (CNTD) were used as a multifunctional curing and composite agent of polyurethane (PU) terminated with epoxy units. Amino-functionalized CNT was used as the core for grafting the first generation of PAMAM dendrimer by sequential addition of methyl acrylate and ethylenediamine. Two different epoxy-terminated PUs (PUB and PU-PMDA) were prepared from the reaction of poly(ethylene glycol), excess amounts of hexamethylene diisocyanate, and different chain extenders (1,4-butanediol for PUB and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) for PU-PMDA), and subsequent end group transformation of the isocyanate groups to epoxy functionalities using glycidol. Fourier transform infrared spectra and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed that CNTD was successfully prepared. TGA thermograms revealed that thermal decomposition of composites were carried out in two main steps related to the soft and hard segments. In addition, char content and thermal stability of the composites were increased with increasing the CNTD content. Most importantly, the PMDA chain extender resulted in high thermal stability of the epoxy-terminated PU composites. X-ray diffraction and scanning and transmission electron microscopies presented morphological and structural properties of nanotubes and hybrid composites.

The objective of this study was to examine quality characteristics of a smoked duck marinated in natural curing agents containing extracts of pear by sugar, celery powder, and vitamin C. We evaluated the composition food additives residue and total plate count, chromaticity, sensory properties, total polyphenol contents, 2,2-Diphenyl- 1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging effect of general smoked duck (GSD) and natural smoked duck (NSD). The nitrite ion, antioxidant and sodium glutamate of NSD were not detected. The lightness, yellowness and redness of the two smoked duck decreased significantly as growing longer storage days. The total plate count (CFU/g) of coliform bacteria of two smoked duck were not grown. The sensory properties showed that NSD was higher than GSD in the aspect of taste, texture and overall preferences. The total polyphenol contents and DPPH radical scavenging effect of NSD were higher than those of GSD. These results suggested that it was possible to manufacture a smoked duck marinated in natural curing agents including extracts of pear by sugar, celery powder, and vitamin C for the improvement of safety and quality.