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We report a process of fabrication of latex tubes using the dip-coating technique. We investigated centrifuged latex, with different original viscosities, extracted from the Hevea brasiliensis. The influence of the main deposition parameters (dip-coating velocity, mold material, mold diameter and number of coatings) and post-deposition drying process parameters (temperature and time) on the properties of the final samples are investigated and discussed. Additional investigation about the elastic behavior of the tubes is presented for strain values up to rupture. The rupture occurred at 120 mm for tubes 15 mm-long, which represents an elongation of 800%. The tubes presented two distinct elastic mechanisms, with the most elastic one being observed below an elongation of about 500%. During a cycled strain experiment with strain values below the rupture point, a hysteretic-like curve was observed, which was related to the uncurling and recurling of the polymeric chains.

The possibility of current injection and transport in eumelanin films, humans' most common natural pigment, has fascinated physicists and materials scientists since the early '60s. Nowadays, it is accepted that...

Investigations of polycrystalline chemical vapor deposited diamond films by electron-spin-resonance (ESR), light-induced (L)ESR, and the constant photoconductivity method have identified dispersed substitutional nitrogen (P1 center) as the main paramagnetic form of N incorporated in the CVD diamond. The density of N-related paramagnetic states is strongly affected by illumination and heat treatment. It is found that the P1 center in CVD diamond gives rise to a deep donor state about 1.5 eV below the conduction band.