A bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on Fairtrade labelling

Since its foundation, the Fairtrade movement has attracted the attention of consumers, practitioners, media and scholars. Discussing the role that Fairtrade can play on a global yet locally rooted scale is very complex, as research reports contrasting results about its usefulness and effectiveness. This study examines scientific research on Fairtrade over the last decades by conducting a bibliometric analysis of the literature published on the ISI Web of Knowledge Core Collection, which included 876 papers by 1,293 authors in 432 journals. Results show that despite this being a relatively recent field of study, Fairtrade has been approached from different disciplines with different methodologies and objectives. The structured quantitative study of the literature enabled us to inspect how research has evolved over the years in the light of the changes faced by Fairtrade, to explore its scope in the broader field of the global market, to detect current research schools and perspectives within the network and to identify hitherto unaddressed issues and unconnected subfields

Effect of the dispersion of the chromophore on the optical performances of polarizers from polyethylene and 5”-thio-(3-butyl)nonyl-2,2’:5’,2”-terthiophene

A new polyethylene-compatible terthiophene chromophore, 5"-thio-(3-butyl) nonyl-2,2':5',2"-terthiophene, with melting point lower than 0degreesC was prepared and used for linear polarizers based on ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy indicate that the new chromophore is dispersed uniformly in films of UHMWPE obtained by casting from solution. The films show excellent dichroic properties (dichroic ratio 30) at rather low drawing ratio (approximate to20). Moreover, qualitative agreement is observed with the Ward pseudo-affine deformation schem