This article evaluates the use of bagasse flour — a waste generated by sugarcane refinery—as a filler in the PVC matrix. The aim of the study is to develop a value-added product from the sugar mills. For this purpose, bagasse powder was obtained after grinding the dried waste from sugar mills having particle sizes of 100—150 µm and <50 µm. In order to evaluate the effect of filler content and alkali treatment of bagasse, several PVC formulations were obtained by dry-mixing PVC compound with filler of varying particle size. The compounds were obtained by blending on a hot roll mill followed by compression molding. The test specimens were punched out from the sheets and the effect of filler content, particle size, and alkali treatment of bagasse powder on the properties of PVC were evaluated. Tensile strength, percent elongation at break, and impact strength of composites decreased whereas stiffness, modulus, and hardness of the composites increased with increasing amount of filler. The particle size had a large effect on the properties of composites, and the filler having particle size <50 µm gave better properties as compared to filler with particle size of 100—150 µm. Some improvement in properties was observed when treated bagasse powder was used as filler. An increase of ∼48% in tensile modulus, ∼10% in thermal stability, and 14% in impact strength was observed as compared to neat PVC at a filler loading of 30 phr. Morphological characterization was done using a scanning electron microscopy. A uniform dispersion of filler was observed.

In this article, we present a novel synthesis of mesoporous SiO2/Ag nanostructures for dye (methylene blue) adsorption and surface plasmon mediated photocatalysis.

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The rising incidence of drug resistant diseases has led to an increasing need for developing novel and efficient antimicrobial products that can counter these infections. We report for the first time, the exceptional antibacterial activity of N-doped carbon nanosheets (CNS). The antibacterial activity and mechanism of action of CNS was examined for gram negative E. coli. Based on the cell viability tests, nucleic acid quantitation, time and concentration dependent antibacterial activity tests and SEM and TEM micrographs, performed under similar concentration and incubation conditions, the CNS dispersion shows the highest antibacterial activity, sequentially followed by GO, rGO and CCM, with a loss of cell viability by 92.1 AE 1.7%. We envision that the physical stress and piercing action caused by sharp "knifeedges" as well as the presence of heteroatoms in CNS result in the rupturing of the bacterial cell wall, eventually causing cell death. The high I D /I G ratio (0.99) of CNS is closely related to the formation of structural and edge plane defects, especially in the case of N-doped carbonaceous materials, which is one of the key factors in enhancing the antibacterial activity of the material.

This article describes the effect of filler [obtained from bark of Acacia (Babool)] content and its particle size (ranging from 100 to 150 lm and <50 lm) on the properties of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) composites. Bark of the fast-growing species Acacia was used as powder for making PVC composites, which may find applications as a substitute to high-cost wood and to avoid deforestation. A two-roll mill was used for mixing varying amounts of bark flour with PVC formulation. Samples for testing were prepared by compression molding. Tensile strength and percentage of elongation at break decreased, whereas modulus increased with an increasing amount of bark flour. A significant increase in storage modulus (E 0 ) was observed upon incorporation of filler. Improvement in properties was significant in the presence of filler, having a particle size <50 lm as compared to filler, having a particle size ranging from 100 to 150 lm. Morphological characterization was conducted by using scanning electron microscopy. A uniform dispersion of filler was observed in PVC matrix. V V C