The aim of the study is to determine the optimum cure temperatures and kinetics for two different epoxy resin systems without using solvent. Two resin systems consist of EPIKOTE 828® epoxy resin–EPIKURE® 3090 polyamidoamine curing agent and DURATEK® KLM 606A epoxy resin–DURATEK® KLM 606B polyamide curing agent. The ratio of resin to curing agent was kept as 1:1 for both the systems. Curing temperatures of both the systems were determined and kinetic parameters were calculated with respect to the experimental results following nth‐order kinetics. Then, a series of isothermal temperatures was applied to the resin systems in order to assess the cure process in terms of conversion, time, and temperature by using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The test results of both systems show that the rate of degree of cure for EPIKOTE 828® epoxy resin–EPIKURE® 3090 polyamidoamine curing agent system is approximately 10 times higher than that of DURATEK® KLM 606A epoxy resin–DURATEK® KLM 606B polyamide curing agent system at 230°C. POLYM. COMPOS., 28:762–770, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers

SUMMARYThe purpose of this study was to manufacture urea-formaldehyde-based particleboard from hazelnut shell and eliminate its disadvantages such as flammability, water absorption, swelling thickness by using fly ash and phenol-formaldehyde. Synthesized urea-formaldehyde and grained hazelnut shells were blended at different ratios ranging from 0.8 to 3.2 hazelnut shell/urea-formaldehyde and dried at 70 • C in an oven until constant weight was reached. In addition, other parameters affecting polymer composite particleboard from hazelnut shell and urea-formaldehyde were investigated to be the amount of fly ash, amount of phenol formaldehyde and the effects of these parameters on bending stress, limit oxygen index, water absorption capacity and swelling in the thickness. The optimization results showed that the maximum bending strength was 4.1N/mm 2 , at urea-formaldehyde ratio of 1.0, reaction temperature of 70 • C, reaction time of 25 min, hazelnut shell/urea-formaldehyde resin of 2.4 and mean particle size of 0.1 mm. Although the limited oxygen index and smoke density of composite particleboard without fly ash has 22.3 and 1.62, with fly ash of 16% (w/w) according to the filler has 38.2 and 1.47, respectively. Water absorption and increase in the swelling thickness exponentially decreased with increasing phenol formaldehyde.

The aim of the study is to produce suitable unfilled cast polyamide-6 composition exhibiting optimum mechanical, physical, thermal and electrical properties with anionic polymerization mechanism. Sodium lactamate was used as catalyst at all compositions. Activators used were varied as toluenediisocyanate (TDI), isophronediisocyanate (IPDI), hexamethylenediisocyanate (HMDI) and diphenylmethylenediamine (DPMD). Also, activator and catalyst content were varied between 0.4-0.8% and 1-4% respectively. The best mechanical properties were attained with using TDI as activator at 0.488%. Then, other properties of this composition were determined. Comparison of these properties with other plastics showed that it had the highest abrasion resistance, lower water absorption, higher tensile and flexural strength.

Summary: The aim of the study was to investigate the variation in total surface area, porosity, pore size, Knudsen and surface diffusion coefficients, gas permeability and selectivity before and after the application of sol‐gel process to porous ceramic membrane in order to determine the effect of pore modification. In this study, three different sol‐gel process were applied to the ceramic support separately; one was the silica sol‐gel process which was applied to increase porosity, others were silica‐sol dip coating and silica‐sol processing methods which were applied to decrease pore size. As a result of this, total surface area, pore size and porosity of ceramic support and membranes were determined by using BET instrument. In addition to this, Knudsen and surface diffusion coefficients were also calculated. After then, ceramic support and membranes were exposed to gas permeation experiments by using the CO2 gas with different flow rates. Gas permeability and selectivity of those membranes were measured according to the data obtained. Thus, pore surface area, porosity, pore size and Knudsen diffusion coefficient of membrane treated with silica sol‐gel process increased while total surface area was decreasing. Therefore, permeability of ceramic support and membrane treated with silica sol‐gel process increased, and selectivity decreased with increasing the gas flow rate. Also, surface area, porosity, pore size, permeability, selectivity, Knudsen and surface diffusion coefficients of membranes treated with silica‐sol dip coating and silica‐sol processing methods were determined. As a result of this, porosity, pore size, Knudsen and surface diffusion coefficients decreased, total surface area increased in both methods. However, viscous flow and Knudsen flow permeability were detected as a consequence of gas permeability test and Knudsen flow was found to be a dominant transport mechanism in addition to surface diffusive flow owing to the small pore diameter in both methods. It was observed that silica‐sol processing method had lower pore diameter and higher surface diffusion coefficient than silica‐sol dip coating method.

The improvement of energy efficiency in buildings is one of the most important factors of the energy policy of Turkey owing to its energy import, especially of natural gas. Çorum city, one of the colder cities of Turkey that uses a high amount of natural gas as fuel for heating, was selected to demonstrate the reduction in energy loss and carbon dioxide emissions of buildings and to contribute to the insulation sector in the Çorum industry. Therefore, two different methods, namely, the Turkish standard 825 and heating degree-days, are applied in cost-optimal methodology, using four types of traditional insulation materials, namely, standard expanded polystyrene, neopor (graphite-added expanded polystyrene), extruded polystyrene, and stone wool, and two state-of-the-art insulation materials, aerogel and vacuum insulation panels in two types of reference buildings comprising hollow brick and pumice stone walls. As a consequence of application of the Turkish standard 825 and heating degree-days methods in the cost optimal methodology of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive with the utilization of the optimum insulation thicknesses of six types of insulation materials calculated from both the Turkish standard 825 and heating degree-days methods at four different types of windows and one top side measure, a new methodology was developed. Results obtained from three methodologies are compared based on insulation materials and wall types.Keywords: Turkish standard 825 / heating degree-days / cost-optimal methodology / wall types / insulation materials Die Verbesserung der Energieeffizienz in Gebäuden ist aufgrund des Energieimports, insbesondere von Erdgas, eine der wichtigsten Faktoren der Energiepolitik der Türkei. Die Stadt Çorum, eine der kälteren Städte der Türkei, die eine große Menge Erdgas als Brennstoff zum Heizen verwendet, wurde ausgewählt, um die Reduzierung des Energieverlusts und der Kohlendioxidemissionen von Gebäuden zu demonstrieren und einen Beitrag zum Isoliersektor in Çorum zu leisten. Daher werden zwei verschiedene Methoden, nämlich der türkische Standard 825 und Heizgradtage, in kostenoptimaler Methodik angewendet, wobei vier Arten traditio-