The surfaces of henequen fibers, which can be obtained from the leaves of agave plants, were treated with two different media, tap water and sodium hydroxide, that underwent both soaking and ultrasonic methods for the fiber surface treatment. Various biocomposites were fabricated with untreated and treated, chopped henequen fibers and polypropylene using a compression molding method. The result is discussed in terms of interfacial shear strength, flexural properties, dynamic mechanical properties, and fracture surface observations of the biocomposites. The soaking (static method) and ultrasonic (dynamic method) treatments with tap water and sodium hydroxide at different concentrations and treatment times significantly influenced the interfacial, flexural and dynamic mechanical properties of henequen/polypropylene biocomposites. The alkali treatment was more effective than the water treatment in improving the interfacial and mechanical properties of randomly oriented, chopped henequen/PP biocomposites. In addition, the application of the ultrasonic method to each treatment was relatively more effective in increasing the properties than the soaking method, depending on the treatment medium and condition. The greatest improvement in the properties studied was achieved by ultrasonic alkalization of natural fibers, which was in agreement with the other results of interfacial shear strength, flexural strength and modulus, storage modulus, and fracture surfaces.

Environmentally friendly biocomposites were made using plant-based natural fibers, such as henequen and kenaf. The natural fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) and unsaturated polyester (UP) biocomposites were examined in terms of the reinforcing effect of natural fibers on thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. Kenaf (KE) and henequen (HQ) fibers were treated with an electron beam (EB) of 10 and 200 kGy doses, respectively, or with a 5 wt% NaOH solution. Four types of biocomposites (KE/PP, HQ/PP, KE/UP and HQ/UP) were fabricated by compression molding and each biocomposite was characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The kenaf fiber had the larger reinforcing effect on the dynamic mechanical properties of both PP and UP biocomposites than the henequen fiber. The highest storage modulus was obtained from the biocomposite with the combination of UP matrix and 200 kGy EB treated kenaf fibers.

Natural fiber henequen/unsaturated polyester (UPE) composites were fabricated by means of a compression molding technique using chopped henequen fibers treated at various electron beam (EB) dosages. The interfacial shear strength (IFSS), dynamic mechanical properties, and thermal expansion behavior were investigated through a single fiber microbonding test, fractographic observation, dynamic mechanical analysis, and thermomechanical analysis, respectively. The results indicated that the interfacial and dynamic mechanical properties significantly depended on the level of the EB treatment irradiated onto the henequen fiber surfaces. The effect of EB treatment on the IFSS, storage modulus and fracture surface of the henequen/UPE composites agreed with each other. The results of this study also suggested that the modification of henequen fiber surfaces at 10 kGy EB is the most effective for improving the interfacial properties of the henequen/UPE composites.

In this paper we have extensively studied what and how processing parameters for quasi-carbonization influence the breaking strength and modulus of resulting quasi-carbon fabrics that are prepared from stabilized PAN fabrics with a spun yarn texture. Seven processing parameters have been considered as follows: applied tension, final heat-treatment temperature, heating rate, heating step, holding time, cooling rate, and purging gas purity. The results indicate that optimal uses of applied tension, final heat-treatment temperature, heating rate, and heating step during quasi-carbonization process are primarily important to increase the tensile properties of quasi-carbon fabrics and holding time, cooling rate, and purging gas purity are less importantly contributed.

We present near-infrared light curves of HBC 722 after its the September 2010 outburst. We have been monitoring its near-infrared light curves since November 2010 with Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute Infrared Camera System (KASINICS). HBC 722 exhibits large changes in optical and near-infrared brightness since its outburst. The J, H, and K s light curves over about 2.5 years show that in all observed bands HBC 722 progressively became fainter until around April 2011, down to J ∼10.7, H ∼9.9, K s ∼9.3, but it is getting brighter again. Large scatter in the obtained light curve prevents us from finding whether there is any short timescale variation as reported in other optical observations. The near-infrared color of HBC 722 is becoming bluer since its outburst. The pre-outburst Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of HBC 722 is consistent with that of a slightly reddened Class II YSO with the exception of the extraordinary IR-excess in the far-infrared region.