Laser Scribing Turns Plastic Waste into a Biosensor via the Restructuration of Nanocarbon Composites for Noninvasive Dopamine Detection

The development of affordable and compact noninvasive point-of-care (POC) dopamine biosensors for the next generation is currently a major and challenging problem. In this context, a highly sensitive, selective, and low-cost sensing probe is developed by a simple one-step laser-scribing process of plastic waste. A flexible POC device is developed as a prototype and shows a highly specific response to dopamine in the real sample (urine) as low as 100 pmol/L in a broad linear range of 10-10-10-4 mol/L. The 3D topological feature, carrier kinetics, and surface chemistry are found to improve with the formation of high-density metal-embedded graphene-foam composite driven by laser irradiation on the plastic-waste surface. The development of various kinds of flexible and tunable biosensors by plastic waste is now possible thanks to the success of this simple, but effective, laser-scribing technique, which is capable of modifying the matrix's electronic and chemical composition.

Characterization of Hybrid FRP Composite Produced from Recycled PET and CFRP

In recent years, carbon fiber has experienced a significant surge in popularity attributed to its exceptional properties, including its high-temperature resistance, mechanical strength, and cost-effectiveness. Many industries have been attracted to the prevalent use of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers or plastics (CFRP). However, the increasing demand for carbon fiber has created a waste recycling problem that needs to be addressed. This research aimed to develop a recycled composite using PET waste as a solution to the growing demand for both materials. The recycled carbon fibers were processed chemically and mechanically to generate power for this process. Various samples were tested with different proportions of CF (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) to analyze their mechanical properties. The recycled composites are examined under tensile test conditions to further explore the waste carbon reinforcement's effect on polymers' characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy was also utilized for mechanical morphology evaluations. After analyzing the data, it was found that samples containing 20% CF had the highest elastic modulus value among all the mixes. This is attributed to the reinforcing effect of the fibers. The Elasticity Modulus of the filaments increased with the concentration of CF, reaching its peak at 20% before decreasing. This trend is also apparent in the visual representations. When compared to recycling, the Elasticity Modulus value of 20% CF filament increased by 97.5%. The precise value for CF with a 20% filament is 4719.3 MPa. Moreover, the composite samples were analyzed using SEM to characterize them, and it was discovered that the incorporation of 20% CF/PET filler produced the composition with the highest strength.

Thermal and mechanical characterization of composite materials from industrial plastic wastes and recycled nylon fibers for floor paving tiles application

Industrial plastic waste is growing globally at an alarming rate and environmental pollution from traditional landfill disposal and incineration treatments are of great concern. As a strategy to reduce plastic pollution, value-added composite materials from industrial plastic wastes reinforced with recycled nylon fibers for use in floor paving tile applications were developed. This is to address the disadvantages of existing ceramic tiles which are relatively heavy, brittle, and expensive. The plastic waste composite structures were produced via compression molding technique at an optimized randomly oriented constant fiber volume fraction of 50 wt% after the initial sorting, cleaning, drying, pulverizing, and melt-mixing. The molding temperature, pressure, and time for the composite's structures were 220 ℃, 65 kg.cm^-3, and 5 min respectively. The composites' thermal, mechanical, and microstructural properties were characterized in accordance with appropriate ASTM standards. From the results obtained, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of mixed plastic wastes and nylon fiber wastes showed a processing temperature range of 130-180 ℃, and 250 ℃ respectively. Thermal degradation temperature (TGA) of the plastic and nylon fiber waste composites were stable above 400 ℃ with maximum bending strength, however, the reinforced plastic waste sandwiched composite structures had outstanding mechanical properties indicating unique characteristics suitable for floor paving tiles. Hence, the current research has developed tough and lightweight tiles composites that are economically viable, and their application will contribute to the development of the building and construction sectors thereby reducing about 10-15% of annual plastic waste generation and a sustainable environment.

Recycling of 100% Cotton Fabric Waste to Produce Unsaturated Polyester-Based Composite for False Ceiling Board Application

In recent years, the garment and textile industries generate millions of tons of textile waste every year around the world. Textile wastes are one of the disposed of materials and the sum of disposed of material squander materials expanded from year to year. For this reason, regenerating and utilizing the textile waste item as resources and decreasing environmental pollution may be an extraordinary opportunity. This research is aimed at manufacturing unsaturated polyester composite reinforced with 100% cotton fabric waste for ceiling board application using a manual mixing process followed by the compression molding method. The statistical results showed that mechanical properties of the produced composite samples such as tensile, compressive, flexural, and impact strength are affected by fiber mixed ratio and matrix loading at $\alpha =0.05$ . The composite ceiling reinforced with 33 weight % cotton fabric waste and a matrix of 67 weight % unsaturated polyester had a maximum tensile strength of 198 MPa, the flexural strength of 30.1 MPa, and compressive strength of 1105.3 MPa. On the contrary, the false ceiling board made from 10% cotton fabric waste and matrix of 90% unsaturated polyester had a lower tensile strength of 112.6 MPa, flexural strength of 21.5 MPa, and compressive strength of 867.5 MPa. Generally, the manufactured composites’ mechanical behaviors were comparable to existing commercial ceiling boards and the output of this research work can protect the environmental pollution by reducing textile waste disposed to landfills.