Chujiang Cai

The reuse of nonmetals recycled from waste printed circuit boards as reinforcing fillers in the polypropylene composites

The feasibility of reusing nonmetals recycled from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) as reinforcing fillers in the polypropylene (PP) composites is studied by using both mechanical and vicat softening temperature (VST) tests. The concentration of Cu leaded from the composites is also tested. The mechanical test shows that both tensile and flexural properties of the nonmetals/PP composites can be significantly improved by adding the nonmetals into PP. The maximum increment of tensile strength, tensile modulus, flexural strength and flexural modulus of the PP composites is 28.4%, 62.9%, 87.8% and 133.0%, respectively. As much as 30 wt% nonmetals recycled from waste PCBs can be added in the PP composites without violating the environmental regulation. The VST test shows that the presence of nonmetals can improve the heat resistance of the nonmetals/PP composites for their potential applications. The optimum particle is the fine or medium nonmetals recycled from waste PCBs, and the optimum content of the nonmetals is 30 wt% basing on the comprehensive consideration. All the above results indicate that the reuse of nonmetals as reinforcing fillers in the PP composites represents a promising way for recycling resources and resolving the environmental pollutions.

A novel approach to recycling of glass fibers from nonmetal materials of waste printed circuit boards

The printed circuit boards (PCBs) contain nearly 70% nonmetal materials, which usually are abandoned as an industrial solid-waste byproduct during the recycling of waste PCBs. However those materials have abundant high-value glass fibers. In this study, a novel fluidized bed process technology for recycling glass fibers from nonmetal materials of waste PCBs is studied. The recycled glass fibers (RGF) are analyzed by determination of their purity, morphology and surface chemical composition. This process technology is shown to be effective and robust in treating with nonmetal materials of waste PCBs. The thermoset resins in the nonmetal materials are decomposed in the temperature range from 400 degrees C to 600 degrees C. And the glass fibers are collected at high purity and recovery rate by the cyclone separators without violating the environmental regulation. This novel fluidized bed technology for recycling high-value glass fibers from nonmetal materials of waste PCBs represents a promising way for recycling resources and resolving the environmental pollutions during recycling of waste PCBs.

Surface metallization of cenospheres and precipitators by electroless plating

This paper reports the use of a colloidal Pd0 catalysis system to metallize the surface of precipitators separated from coal fly-ash, and metals such as Cu, Ni etc. are deposited on the precipitators surface. Alternatively, according to the characteristic surface of cenospheres, an Ag coating catalysis system is adopted to first deposit Ag on the cenospheres surface, followed, if necessary, by the deposition of other metals such as Cu, Ni, etc. on the Ag coating to produce monolayer and multilayer metal-coated cenospheres. The surface characteristics and the morphologies of the metal coatings are examined in detail with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. It can be shown that the quality of metal coatings derived from the Ag coating catalysis system, is better than that of the colloidal Pd0 catalysis system.

Influence of Spray Drying Conditions on the Properties of Ammonium Dihydrogen Phosphate Fire-Extinguishing Particles

Superfine spherical hollow ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NH4H2PO4) fire-extinguishing particles are first produced by the spray-drying method. The particles prepared at drying gas inlet temperature ranging from 180°C to 220°C are composed of NH4H2PO4. When the proportion of FK-510 increases from 5 wt%to 10 wt%, the surfaces of the as-prepared particles become rougher, and the volume mean size of particles increases from 11.25 to 15.44 µm. When the proportion of FK-510 increases from 10 to 15 wt%, the amount of broken spherical hollow particles clearly decreases and the volume mean size of particles decreases from 15.44 to 13.5 µm. The flow rate and bulk density of the particles prepared from the solution containing the proportion of FK-510 ranging from 5 to 15 wt% decreases with an increase in the proportion of FK-510. When 15 wt% of FK-510 is added, diesel oil contact angle of particles markedly increases. In addition, water contact angle of particles decreases with an increase in the proportion of FK-510. XPS analysis suggests that the wettability of particles is attributed to the migration of FK-510 and silicone oil emulsion to the surface of particles during the spray-drying process. Diesel oil contact angles of particles agree with fluorine element concentrations on the surface of particles, while water contact angles of particles agree with silicon element concentrations.

Superfine Spherical Hollow Ammonium Dihydrogen Phosphate Fire-Extinguishing Particles Prepared by Spray Drying

Superfine spherical hollow ammonium dihydrogen phosphate fire-extinguishing particles are prepared by spray drying and modified in situ with silicon oil emulsion. The results show that the amount of rough particles increased observably when the proportion of silicon oil emulsion is increased from 9 to 15 wt%, while no significant difference is detected when the proportion of silicon oil emulsion was varied from 0 to 9 wt%. The flowability of particles is improved with an increase in the proportion of silicon oil emulsion; 9.0 wt% is the optimal proportion of silicon oil emulsion for improving the hydrophobic performance of particles. Fire-extinguishing tests show that the fire-extinguishing capability of spray-dried superfine spherical hollow ammonium dihydrogen phosphate fire-extinguishing particles is much better than the two varieties of existing superfine dry chemical fire-extinguishing agents.

Facile and size-controllable preparation of graphene oxide nanosheets using high shear method and ultrasonic method

ABSTRACT The lateral size of the graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets could be controlled by preparation method, and a simple and effective strategy to adjust the lateral size of GO nanosheets by selecting suitable method is presented. The high shear method was introduced to produce GO nanosheets, and the GO nanosheets (few micrometres) prepared by high shear method is about one order of magnitude larger than GO nanosheets (few hundred nanometres) obtained by ultrasonic method, as evidenced by atomic force microscopy. The FTIR, XPS and Raman analysis revealed that there are no distinct differences in composition and functional groups between the GO nanosheets produced by high shear method and ultrasonic method. The cavitation in the procedure of ultrasonic method is favourable for GO exfoliation, but it also could result in damage to GO nanosheets. The shearing force in the process of high shear method is effective for GO delamination with minimal fragmentation. The results indicated that the high shear method proposed in this paper is an efficient exfoliation means to produce single-layer GO nanosheets.