Chemical Recycling of Consumer-Grade Black Plastic into Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotubes

The global plastics crisis has recently focused scientists’ attention on finding technical solutions for the ever-increasing oversupply of plastic waste. Black plastic is one of the greatest contributors to landfill waste, because it cannot be sorted using industrial practices based on optical reflection. However, it can be readily upcycled into carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using a novel liquid injection reactor (LIR) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. In this work, CNTs were formed using black and white polystyrene plastics to demonstrate that off-the-shelf materials can be used as feedstock for growth of CNTs. Scanning electron microscopy analysis suggests the CNTs from plastic sources improve diameter distribution homogeneity, with slightly increased diameters compared with control samples. Slight improvements in quality, as determined by Raman spectroscopy of the D and G peaks, suggest that plastics could lead to increased quality of CNTs. A small device was constructed as a demonstrator model to increase impact and public engagement

On the Use of Carbon Cables from Plastic Solvent Combinations of Polystyrene and Toluene in Carbon Nanotube Synthesis

For every three people on the planet, there are approximately two Tonnes (Te) of plastic waste. We show that carbon recovery from polystyrene (PS) plastic is enhanced by the coaddition of solvents to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by liquid injection chemical vapour deposition. Polystyrene was loaded up to 4 wt% in toluene and heated to 780 °C in the presence of a ferrocene catalyst and a hydrogen/argon carrier gas at a 1:19 ratio. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Raman spectroscopy were used to identify multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The PS addition in the range from 0 to 4 wt% showed improved quality and CNT homogeneity; Raman “Graphitic/Defective” (G/D) values increased from 1.9 to 2.3; mean CNT diameters increased from 43.0 to 49.2 nm; and maximum CNT yield increased from 11.37% to 14.31%. Since both the CNT diameters and the percentage yield increased following the addition of polystyrene, we conclude that carbon from PS contributes to the carbon within the MWCNTs. The electrical contact resistance of acid-washed Bucky papers produced from each loading ranged from 2.2 to 4.4 Ohm, with no direct correlation to PS loading. Due to this narrow range, materials with different loadings were mixed to create the six wires of an Ethernet cable and tested using iPerf3; the cable achieved up- and down- link speeds of ~99.5 Mbps, i.e., comparable to Cu wire with the same dimensions (~99.5 Mbps). The lifecycle assessment (LCA) of CNT wire production was compared to copper wire production for a use case in a Boeing 747-400 over the lifespan of the aircraft. Due to their lightweight nature, the CNT wires decreased the CO2 footprint by 21 kTonnes (kTe) over the aircraft’s lifespan.We would like to thank Keysight Technologies for the use of a test model of the B2900A SMU. We would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Swansea University College of Engineering AIM Facility. We would like to thank TRIMTABS Ltd. for purchasing equipment required for making ethernet cables. Thanks to Swansea Employability Academy (SEA) for the summer placements scheme. Thanks to the Swansea University Texas Strategic Partnership. R.E.P. acknowledges his work was associated with the IMPACT operation. We acknowledge pixabay for use of imagery in the graphical abstract (https://pixabay.com/vectors/airplane-boeing-747-transport-48 11157/ (accessed on 1 December 2021))

Work, Parenting and Gender: The care-work negotiations of three couple relationships in the UK

Changes globally mean that there are now record numbers of mothers in paid employment and a reported prevalence of involved fathering. This poses challenges to mothers and fathers as they negotiate care-work practices within their relationships. Focusing on interviews with three heterosexual couples (taken from a wider UK qualitative project on working parents), the paper considers care-work negotiations of three couples, against a backdrop of debates about intensive mothering and involved fathering. It aims to consider different configurations of work and care within three different couple relationships. We found that power within the relationships was negotiated along differential axis of gender and working status (full or part time paid work) . We present qualitatively rich insights into these negotiations. Framed by a critical discursive psychological approach, we call on other researchers to think critically about dominant discourses and practices of working, caring and parenting, pointedly how couples situated around the world operationalise these discourses in talking about themselves as worker and carers

Disinfection by-productinduced diseases and human health risk

This chapter examines the spectrum of health-related diseases associated with exposure to disinfection by-products (DBPs) in disinfected drinking water based on evidences adduced from epidemiological data, experimental animal studies, and other models. Critical evaluation of confounding factors in the design, application, interpretation of results of animal studies, epidemiological evidences, corresponding implications in population health impact assessment was presented. The use of predictors or biomarkers in assessing the overall health implications of the complex mixture of DBPs and why only a few DBPs have been regulated despite emerging evidences of more toxic compounds in the DBPs consortium were highlighted. Specific healthassociated references with contacts with trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, odorous DBPs, 3-chloro-4(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H) furanone, chlorite, and bromate were discussed. In conclusion the chapter highlighted differences in sourcing and treatment of water by water utilities in developed and developing countries and recommend more elaborate epidemiologicalstudies in defining the actual health implication of exposure to disinfected water

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Early results from the UK Geo-Electric Field Monitoring Project

To understand how space weather impacts the national power grid, BGS models the surface electric field that rapid geomagnetic variations can produce. This electric field is the source of electrical currents that can damage transformers in the grid. However, the electric field has not been routinely measured anywhere in the UK. Recently we initiated a project to provide long term measurements of the electric field at our UK geomagnetic observatories. These measurements will help to constrain our electric field models and hence should improve the prediction of induced currents in the UK power system. Over the longer term, the project will also provide magnetotelluric data for study of deep Earth conductivity

Is pollen‐food syndrome a frequent comorbidity in adults with irritable bowel syndrome?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects up to 10% of UK adults, 50% of whom may also have seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) and thus an increased risk of developing pollen‐food syndrome (PFS) if sensitized to birch tree pollen.1-3 In an exploratory prospective controlled cohort study, we compared the prevalence of PFS in IBS subjects from a secondary care clinic diagnosed using the Rome IV criteria,4 with that of an age and gender‐matched control group with another chronic health condition (congenital heart disease). The control group were chosen as they had a chronic health condition and a younger age demographic which matched the IBS group. The study received ethical and HRA approval (REC 17/NW0577, IRAS Reference: 229644), and all subjects gave written informed consent to take part. Both groups self‐completed a validated PFS diagnostic questionnaire.3 The IBS case group alone also self‐completed a food and symptom questionnaire, validated IBS and SAR questionnaires (Appendix S1), underwent skin prick testing (SPT) to aeroallergens, food reagents and fresh foods (ALK Abelló) (Appendix S1) and had a 10‐mL blood sample collected and analysed for ImmunoCAP 112 ISAC (Thermo Fisher Scientific)