A FARM-TO-DOOR DELIVERY MODE FOR ORGANIC VEGETABLES UNDER MOBILE COMMERCE IN METROPOLISES OF CHINA

This paper presents a farm-to-door delivery mode for organic vegetables, which connects farmers and customers directly, under the circumstance of mobile commerce (M-commerce). In recent years, the need of organic vegetables is growing constantly in China. Meanwhile, the farm-to-door delivery mode widely spread in metropolises as people there barely have time to go to food markets on weekdays. However, the terrible traffic condition makes it impossible to conduct the delivery in day time. So vegetables have to be delivered very early in the morning (usually 3:00-7:00 A.M.), which makes the owner unable to attend delivery. And in the traditional delivery mode, the absence of delivery may lead to the package missing in China. Aiming at solving these practical issues in China, an SMS-based interaction system is integrated in the delivery mode for informing, endorsing, confirming, tracing and complaining. Intelligent cupboards are used as a buffer to realize the asynchronously endorsement. This is a new business mode that extends the frontiers of the M-commerce. It can greatly reduce the intermediate links of vegetable distribution and simplify the food purchasing in people’s daily life. This application of mobile technology would have a huge potential in market

Cellular Structures of Carbon Nanotubes in a Polymer Matrix Improve Properties Relative to Composites with Dispersed Nanotubes

A new processing method has been developed to combine a polymer and single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) to form electrically conductive composites with desirable rheological and mechanical properties. The process involves coating polystyrene (PS) pellets with SWCNTs and then hot pressing to make a contiguous, cellular SWCNT structure. By this method, the electrical percolation threshold decreases and the electrical conductivity increases significantly as compared to composites with a well-dispersed SWCNTs. For example, a SWCNT / PS composite with 0.5 wt% nanotubes and made by this coated particle process (CPP) has an electrical conductivity of ~ 3 x 10-4 S/cm, while a well-dispersed composite made by a coagulation method with the same SWCNT amount has an electrical conductivity of only ~ 10-8 S/cm. The rheological properties of the composite with a macroscopic cellular SWCNT structure are comparable to PS, while the well-dispersed composite exhibits a solid-like behavior, indicating that composites made by this new CPP method are more processable. In addition, the mechanical properties of the CPP-made composite decrease only slightly, as compared with PS. Relative to the common appoach of seeking better dispersion, this new fabrication method provides an important alternative means to higher electrical conductivity in SWCNT / polymer composites. Our straightforward particle coating and pressing method avoids organic solvents and is suitable for large-scale, inexpensive processing using a wide variety of polymer and nanoparticles

Temperature Dependence of Thermal Conductivity Enhancement in Single-walled Carbon Nanotube/polystyrene Composites

The thermal conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/polystyrene composites, prepared by a method known to produce a uniform distribution of SWCNT bundles on the micrometer length scale, was measured in the temperature range from approximately 140 to 360 K. The thermal conductivity enhancement (50% for 1 mass % at 300 K) is reasonably constant above room temperature but is reduced at the lower temperatures. This result is consistent with the expected, large contribution of interfacial thermal resistance in SWCNT/polymer composites. Enhancements in electrical conductivity show that 1 mass % loading is in the region of the electrical percolation threshold

Simulations and electrical conductivity of percolated networks of finite rods with various degrees of axial alignment

We present a three-dimensional simulation and calculation of electrical conductivity above the filler percolation threshold for networks containing finite, conductive cylinders as a function of axial orientation (S) and aspect ratio (L/D). At a fixed volume fraction and L/D, the simulations exhibit a critical degree of orientation, S-c, above which the electrical conductivity decreases dramatically. With increasing filler concentration and aspect ratio, this critical orientation shifts to higher degrees of alignment. Additionally, at a fixed volume fraction and L/D, the simulated electrical conductivity displays a maximum at slight uniaxial orientation, which is less pronounced at higher volume fractions and aspect ratios. Our approach can be used as a predictive tool to design the optimal filler concentration and degree of orientation required to maximize electrical conductivity in polymer nanocomposites with conductive cylindrical fillers of finite dimension

Relationship Between Dispersion Metric and Properties of PMMA/SWNT Nanocomposites

Particle spatial dispersion is a crucial characteristic of polymer composite materials and this property is recognized as especially important in nanocomposite materials due to the general tendency of nanoparticles to aggregate under processing conditions. We introduce dispersion metrics along with a specified dispersion scale over which material homogeneity is measured and consider how the dispersion metrics correlate quantitatively with the variation of basic nanocomposite properties. We then address the general problem of quantifying nanoparticle spatial dispersion in model nanocomposites of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) dispersed in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) at a fixed SWNT concentration of 0.5 % using a \u27coagulation\u27 fabrication method. Two methods are utilized to measure dispersion, UV-Vis spectroscopy and optical confocal microscopy. Quantitative spatial dispersion levels were obtained through image analysis to obtain a \u27relative dispersion index\u27 (RDI) representing the uniformity of the dispersion of SWNTs in the samples and through absorbance. We find that the storage modulus, electrical conductivity, and flammability containing the same amount of SWNTs, the relationships between the quantified dispersion levels and physical properties show about four orders of magnitude variation in storage modulus, almost eight orders of magnitude variation in electric conductivity, and about 70 % reduction in peak mass loss rate at the highest dispersion level used in this study. The observation of such a profound effect of SWNT dispersion indicates the need for objective dispersion metrics for correlating and understanding how the properties of nanocomposites are determined by the concentration, shape and size of the nanotubes

Carbon nanofiller/polymer nanocomposites: Diffusion, mechanical and electrical properties

Since the discovery two decades ago, fullerene family has drawn remarkable attention because of their unique electrical, thermal, optical, mechanical and flammable properties. They have been widely used to improve polymer properties. These nanofillers produce huge interfacial areas between the polymer and the fillers. Despite the intensive research on fullerene nanocomposites, understanding of the importance of the filler-polymer interface is still limited and further investigation of the structure-property relationships is needed. This dissertation probed influence of nanoparticles on polymer tracer diffusion and molecular weight dependence of composite mechanical properties, and developed a coated particle process to obtain composites with high electrical conductivity. Deuterated polystyrene (dPS) diffusion in nanoparticle/polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites was measured by an elastic recoil detection method. We used single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and C60 as nanofillers and found that the nanofillers have a significant influence on polymer tracer diffusion. When the tracer molecules ( Rg) are larger than the fillers ( RCNT), the tracer diffusion coefficient exhibits a minimum as a function of filler concentration. In contrast, the tracer diffusion in nanocomposites is constant when the tracer chains are smaller than the fillers. A trap model simulation was developed to understand the minimum diffusion coefficient. The load transfer mechanism from polymer matrix to fillers were studied by tensile testing and Raman spectroscopy in SWCNT/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposite fibers. Without strong filler-polymer interactions, effective load transfer is limited to small strains, and Raman peak shift and stress-strain curve of composite fibers are reversible, suggesting an elastic deformation. Beyond this strain region, the load transfer is nonlinear because of a slippage at the polymer-filler interface. The stress on nanotubes reaches a maximum and then decreases with further increase in the strain. A coated particle process (CPP) method was developed to prepare nanocomposites with a cellular filler structure. The fillers are SWCNTs and PMMA is used as polymer matrix. Compared with the coagulated nanocomposites with well dispersed SWCNTs, the CPP-made nanocomposites have a higher electrical conductivity (2 orders higher), a smaller percolation threshold (50%)