Polyethylene/Polyhydroxyalkanoates-based Biocomposites and Bionanocomposites

The development of advanced polymer composite materials having superior mechanical properties has opened up new horizons in the field of science and engineering. Polyethylene (PE) is considered one of the most widely used thermoplastics in the world due to its excellent properties which have excellent chemical inertness, low coefficient of friction, toughness, near-zero moisture absorption, ease of processing and electrical properties. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are garnering increasing attention in the biodegradable polymer market because of their promising properties such as high biodegradability in different environments. This chapter covers polyethylene/polyhydroxyalkanoates-based biocomposites and bionanocomposites. It summarizes many of the recent research accomplishments in the area of PE/PHAs-based biocomposites and bionanocomposites such as state-of-the-art regarding different methods of their preparation. Also discussed are different characterization techniques and use of PE/PHAs-based biocomposites and bionanocomposites in biomedical, packaging, structural, military, coating, fire retardant, aerospace and optical applications, along with recycling and lifetime studies

Acoustic and visual display of photons: a handheld demonstration device

A handheld device for rendering the signals produced by individual photons is presented in this paper. Electric pulses produced by individual photons in a photomultiplier are made audible by a small loudspeaker built into the housing. Output connectors allow the pulse signals to be displayed by an external amplifier/loudspeaker system, an oscilloscope, or to be further processed by pulse counting electronics. The device is intended to be used for lecture (or public) demonstrations of the discrete nature of light