An extruder is disclosed including: a barrel; and a screw provided with a helical groove; wherein the screw comprises a dewatering portion comprising a first portion, and a second portion at a location downstream from the first portion; wherein, at the dewatering portion, clearance between the groove and the barrel decreases as one proceeds downstream; and wherein clearance reduction ratio at the first portion is greater than clearance reduction ratio at the second portion.

A partially separated fiber bundle having a surface of a reinforcing fiber coated with a sizing agent containing a water-soluble polyamide-based resin, in which a separated fiber section consisting of a plurality of separated fiber bundles and an unseparated fiber section are provided alternately along a longitudinal direction of the reinforcing fiber bundle consisting of a plurality of single yarns, wherein the reinforcing fiber bundle contains 600 fibers/mm or more and less than 1,600 fibers/mm of fibers per unit width while the reinforcing fiber has a drape level of 120 mm or more and 240 mm or less.

Embodiments are directed to compositions comprising (i) amphiphilic block copolymer, (ii) resin material; and amine modified graphene oxide; where the composition shows a synergic effect in critical strain energy release rate (Glc) value versus predicted value calculated by adding (i) the Glc value for neat resin material, plus (ii) the difference in Glc found when adding the amphiphilic block copolymer to the resin material versus the neat resin material, plus (iii) the difference in Glc found when adding the amine modified graphene oxide to the resin material versus the neat resin material.

A water-oil separation device uses a difference in density between water and oil. The water-oil separation device can easily and quickly separate oil by using a polymer film floating at interface between water and oil. The water-oil separation device easily and quickly collects oil of various viscosities with a simple structure by using differences in density between materials without using a conventional lyophilic/lyophobic film, thus solving the drawbacks of conventional filter-based and adsorption-based methods, and enabling quick and effective responses to actual oil spill situations.

The present invention relates to environmentally friendly flame retardant materials based on renewable resources and industrial waste streams. The materials have advantageous intumescent properties, charring, gas phase radical traps and thermal stability. The present invention further relates to processes for the preparation of the flame retardant materials and to plastic materials comprising said flame retardant materials.

A method for preparing a polymer nanocomposite is provided with steps of (1) dissolving polyvinyl chloride; (2) dissolving polyethylene; (3) dissolving a polyvinyl chloride-polyethylene block copolymer; (4) adding a surfactant into a mixed solution obtained from the above-mentioned steps; (5) adding a light permeable material into the mixed solution; (6) adding an enforcement material into the mixed solution; (7) performing an ultrasonic mixing to the mixed solution; and (8) performing a rotary evaporation to the mixed solution.

A method for preparing an intelligent antibacterial and antioxidative film involves preparing a PVA solution; adding nano-TiO.sub.2 to the PVA solution to obtain a PVA-TiO.sub.2 solution; determining the optimal amount of nano-TiO.sub.2; preparing a PSPC solution; preparing a PSPC-TiO.sub.2-PVA solution; and producing a PSPC/TiO.sub.2/PVA film. The film has better mechanical performance than saccharide and protein films. Shelf life of food is prolonged as the film possesses antibacterial and antioxidative properties. Furthermore, the film shows different colors in various pH environments. The film has a wide range of applications in food packaging owing to the integration of color development and antibacterial and antioxidative properties.

A radiation shielding material is fabricated by providing a mixture of a polyester polymer and lead oxide. The material can be formed by the open mold cast technique. A nanocomposite material comprising at least 10% lead oxide is used to provide shielding for diagnostic or medium x-rays. A formulation comprising 40% of lead oxide nanofiller embedded in a polyester matrix performed best at attenuation of diagnostic and medium x-ray levels.

A method of forming an asphalt binder includes the steps of: providing a liquid binder base housed in a feeding tank; providing a plurality of unprocessed granules of a waste plastic material housed in a hopper; pumping the liquid binder base into a wetting tank; augering the plurality of unprocessed granules of the waste plastic material into the wetting tank; mixing the liquid binder base and the plurality of unprocessed granules of the waste plastic material to form a blended binder that includes 5 percent to 40 percent by volume of the waste plastic material and 60 percent to 95 percent by volume of the liquid binder base; pumping the blended binder into a storage tank; and mixing the blended binder at a temperature of 325° F. to 350° F. for a duration of 10 minutes to 30 minutes to form the asphalt binder.

A piezoelectric composite material is formed from a cellulosic material and an inorganic piezoelectric material dispersed in a piezoelectric polymer. The piezoelectric polymer of the composite material has a dielectric constant of from 10 or more. A method of making a piezoelectric is also disclosed wherein a matrix of a cellulosic material, an inorganic piezoelectric material, and a piezoelectric polymer material is formed. The matrix is formed into a piezoelectric composite body.