Synthesis of TiO2-(B) Nanobelts for Acetone Sensing

Titanium dioxide nanobelts were prepared via the alkali-hydrothermal method for application in chemical gas sensing. The formation process of TiO2-(B) nanobelts and their sensing properties were investigated in detail. FE-SEM was used to study the surface of the obtained structures. The TEM and XRD analyses show that the prepared TiO2 nanobelts are in the monoclinic phase. Furthermore, TEM shows the formation of porous-like morphology due to crystal defects in the TiO2-(B) nanobelts. The gas-sensing performance of the structure toward various concentrations of hydrogen, ethanol, acetone, nitrogen dioxide, and methane gases was studied at a temperature range between 100 and 500 °C. The fabricated sensor shows a high response toward acetone at a relatively low working temperature (150 °C), which is important for the development of low-power-consumption functional devices. Moreover, the obtained results indicate that monoclinic TiO2-B is a promising material for applications in chemo-resistive gas detectors.

Synthesis of cellulose microcrystals (CMC)/nylon 6,10 composite by incorporating CMC isolated from Pandanus ceylanicus

The paper presents a novel candidate plant: Pandanus ceylanicus (PC) for cellulose extraction. The plant showed an average of 91.5 ± 0.2 % of cellulose yield which is the highest yield for Pandanus species reported. Cellulose was extracted from the leaves of the plant by carrying out alkali and bleaching treatments, and cellulose microcrystals (CMC) were isolated from extracted cellulose fibers with sulphuric acid treatment. Chemical composition of PC leaves was investigated at different stages of treatment by using TAPPI standard methods. The extracted globular shaped CMC crystals had an average diameter less than a micro meter. Results revealed that PC leaves are an efficient source of micro-cellulose which result in a high yield than most lignocellulosic biomasses. The CMCs were successfully incorporated with nylon 6,10 by in-situ interfacial polymerization of sebacoyl chloride and hexamethylenediamine in the presence of CMC. The CMC/nylon 6,10 composite showed improved water absorption with low water retention time.