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Interesting Polyurethane
A view into PU
 Grazyna Mitchener, recently who was earlier inducted into the UTECH Europe Hall of fame, showed the below picture as part of her paper, ‘Nature-inspired impact absorbing polyurethanes’ at the UTECH Europe 2021 Conference. In an exposure of over one minute, a probe going over minute chains of polyurethanes (about 2nm thick, about 100,000 thinner than a human hair) took a picture of the material’s structure at the molecular level. The darker lines show individual chains of crosslinked MDI-based polyurethane spreading on the surface of the sample. The molecules lying just slightly below the first layer of chains are already out of focus, and create an orange background. The photograph was taken using an atomic force microscope (AFM) by the UK National Physical Laboratory, as part of a research project in the Measurement for Recovery Scheme that is being run in co-operation with Merlin Polyurethanes. Source : https://www.utech-polyurethane.com/news/polyurethane-molecules-now-visible?utm_source=utech-news-report&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter-NewsReport%202021-11-30&utm_term=Newsletter-NewsReport |
Wearable sensors using PU - Developed in India
 Dr Dipti Gupta from IIT Bombay has developed low-cost soft, flexible, and wearable sensors with potential applications in robotics, prosthetics, as well as minimally invasive surgery and identification of tumour/cancerous cells.A very simple, low-cost approach was found for the fabrication of a pressure sensor based on polyurethane (PU) foam coated with the graphene-silver composite ink for highly conductive wearable electronics applications. The technology which can be used to monitor the pulse waveform of a human radial artery in real-time is aligned with the 'Make in India' initiative, and Dr Gupta has applied for 3 national patents for these sensors. Credit : https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/science-environment/1690379-tactile-sensorsdeveloped-using-low-cost-polyurethane-foam-and-nanomaterial-based-inks |
Polyurethane eating mushroom !
 Pestalotiopsis microspora, can grow on polyurethane and use it as its sole carbon source. This was discovered by Yale students on a class research trip in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador back in 2011. The fungus,According to the Yale research team. The plain-looking light brown mushroom can live in environments with or without oxygen, breaking down and digesting polyurethane before turning it into organic matter. Another fungus, called Aspergillus tubingensis, could break down polyester polyurethane into smaller pieces after two months.Research clearly shows that these types of mushrooms can break down plastics in weeks or months, potentially producing a protein-rich food for animals, humans, or plants. With more research, mushrooms could help address our plastic pollution problems. We can envision at-home recycling kits and community recycling centers with fungi systems built in to utilize this process. It turn out that some of these mushrooms are edible ! this could be the solution for not only eradicating plastics but also eradicating world hunger ! https://www.treehugger.com/mushroom-that-eats-plastic-5121023 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pestalotiopsis_microspora https://vimeo.com/113942952 |
Gold-finger !
 Scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Tokyo have developed an ultrathin pressure sensor that can be attached directly to the skin. It can measure how fingers interact with objects to produce valuable data for technological or medical applications. The sensor has an unnoticeable effect on the users’ sensitivity and ability to grip objects, and it is highly resistant to disruption from rubbing. A layer of polyurethane nanofibers serves as a passivation and carrier layer, followed by an ultra-thin layer of gold mesh, an intermediate layer of parylene-coated polyurethane nanofibers and finally another layer of gold mesh. Make up the sensor thats applied to the finger tips.  https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/details/36332/ https://newatlas.com/electronic-nanomesh-skin-wearable-sensor/50540/ |
Polyurethane from Trees
 Made from oil extracted from bark and mixed with CO2, this cyclic carbonate is a precursor for polyurethane, a common form of plastic with a wide range of everyday uses The University of Toronto’s Ning Yan and her team showed that tree bark can be used to create an isocyanate-free version of polyurethane. The bark is liquefied into an oil, which is then mixed with CO2 to create a product known as cyclic carbonate, a precursor for polyurethane. The cyclic carbonate product contains 15 per cent CO2 by weight, providing a new path to sequestering the greenhouse gas. Yan is the director of the newly formed Low Carbon Renewable Materials Centre (LCRMC) at U of T Engineering, which is supported by the dean’s strategic fund. LCRMC researchers work closely with forestry companies and industry associations to transform forest biomass – including materials that today are discarded as waste – into commercially valuable products. Sources : |
Neem Oil + PU for seed bags
 Azadirachta indica, commonly known as neem or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent. Products made from neem trees have been used in the traditional medicine of India for centuries. In a novel use of neem tree oil, researchers from the IIT-H have developed neem oil encapsulated electrospun polyurethane nanofibrous bags for seed storage. The real-time storage experiment carried out for 75 days showed that 90 per cent of the seeds stored in these bags were uninfected, while 70 per cent stored in commercial bags were found to be infected with storage fungi. The research, led by Chandra Shekhar Sharma, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT-H, demonstrates the suitability of neem oil bags as an ideal storage system. “Polyurethane is the most favoured versatile polymer, and polyurethane nanofibers are elastic, semipermeable, thermally-stable with excellent strength." Sources : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azadirachta_indica https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2020/oct/24/iit-h-develops-neem-bags-to-store-seeds-2214455.html |
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