Six water mist suppression experiments were conducted in an ISO 9705 size room lined with GRP panels with a small wooden crib as a fire initiation source. A four-nozzle water mist suppression system was used to extinguish the fires. Heat release rate (HRR) from the fires was measured, as well as: room temperature; wall surface temperature of GRP panels, and; heat flux to the wall at specific locations within the room. The concentration of oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide was also measured in one corner of the room. It was found that the mist suppression method used was an effective system for extinguishing fires from 500 kW - 1.5 MW in magnitude. However, in one experiment in which only a single, centrally located nozzle was used the fire could not be completely extinguished.The GRP material was characterised using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and cone calorimetry. The TGA results showed that the resin component of the GRP underwent pyrolysis over a temperature range of 225 degrees C to 450 degrees C when most of the resin mass was gasified leaving a solid char. The char material was completely consumed over a temperature range of 375 degrees C to 430 degrees C when heated in air. The DSC showed that, when heated in air, these two degradation steps released large amounts of energy.Cone calorimetry tests were conducted to measure the combustion behavior of the panel material (e.g. heat release rate (HRR) and time to ignition) when subjected to a constant incident radiant heat flux. The results showed that the panel material was flammable with a peak HRR of between 350 400 kW/m(2): and the minimum heat flux for ignition was determined to be 16.5 kW/m(2). (C) 2013 International Association for Fire Safety Science. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

a School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China b Fire Science and Technology Laboratory, CSIRO, Manufacturing and Materials Technology, Highett, Victoria, Australia c Shanghai Fire Research Institute of Public Security Ministry of China, Shanghai, China d State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

Ceramifying polymer materials have been developed by incorporating ceramic forming precursors into thermoplastics. These compounds can be processed on conventional plastic extrusion equipment to form sheets, profiles or coatings. In a fire situation, the polymer component is quickly pyrolized. However, a porous, coherent ceramic begins to form at sufficiently low temperatures to maintain the structural integrity of the material through to temperatures of over 1000C. The ceramic forming systems can be adjusted to minimize dimensional changes, or to provide a degree of intumescence through entrapment of volatile gases from the polymer. This can produce a cellular structure with increased thermal resistance. Ceramifying polymer technology has already been commercialized for fire resistant cable coatings and shows promise for many other fire protection coating applications.

Water mist suppression tests for glass-reinforced polyester (GRP) panels were conducted in ISO 9705 room. GRP panels covered part of the room and a wood crib fire was used as fire source to ignite GRP fire. A four-nozzle water mist suppression equipment was used inside test room on the time of flashover. Heat release rate of the combustion inside the room, room temperature, surface temperature of GRP panels, total heat flux to wall, ceiling and floor in specific positions were measured. Gas concentration of O2, CO, and CO2 was also measured in the corner of the room at two different levels. A thermal image video was used to record the suppression procedure inside room. Test results show that the water mist system is efficient in suppressing the flashover of GRP fire and cooling the room within short time.

Fire-barrier performance is an important property where the polymer composite can continue to provide a barrier to spread of fire after the polymer has burned. In this work a barrier is created by formation of a self-supporting ceramic from the inorganic fillers, over a temperature range where the polymer undergoes thermal degradation. Thermogravimetry showed that degradation of the unsaturated polyester resin left a residual char that subsequently degraded in parrale with reactions of the fire-retardants and ceramifying flux.

Identification and quantification of the opiates morphine and thebaine has been achieved in three commercial poppy cultivars using FTIR-ATR spectroscopy, from a simple and rapid methanolic extraction, suitable for field analysis. The limits of detection were 0.13 mg/ml (0.013%, w/v) and 0.3 mg/ml (0.03%, w/v) respectively. The concentrations of opiates present were verified with HPLC-MS. The chemometrics has been used to identify specific "signature" peaks in the poppy IR spectra for characterisation of cultivar by its unique fingerprint offering a potential forensic application in opiate crop analysis.

Burning behavior of small-scale wood crib was studied by a serial of cone calorimeter tests. The heat release rate curves of these small wood cribs were different due to porosity factor and this shows that the control condition switches from one to another. The burning of some crib with small porosity factors was self-extinguished in fixed flow rate of air supply in cone calorimeter. These results were compared with Gross’s studies. The switch point of porosity-controlled and surface area controlled burning regime is different from Gross’s result.

Cone calorimeter tests were conducted to investigate the flammability of glass-reinforced plastics (GRP) panels. The results gained from these bench scale tests were used to predict the time to flashover in the ISO 9705 room, which was partly covered by GRP panels. Östman and Tsantaridis’ empirical linear regression model and multiple discriminant function analysis (MDA) were used in the prediction. Three room-scale GRP fire tests were conducted in ISO 9705 room and the results were compared with the prediction.

Wood crib fires were studied by using of ISO 9705 Room. These free burning tests with different heat release rate were conducted inside room and outside room (under the hood). Thermal condition around crib fire was measured by using of thermocouples, total heat flux gauge, gas concentration analyzer, and standard instrumentations for heat release rate measurement in ISO 9705 Room. This paper focuses on the total heat flux to the surrounding area from wood crib fire. The correlation between heat release rate and total heat flux is presented. Wall and space effect is also analyzed.

Graphite flakes were oxidised using the Staudenmaier method to form graphite oxide. Poly(ethylene-co-methyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid)-graphite oxide and EMAA-expanded graphite oxide nanocomposites were prepared by direct solution blending. The aim was to investigate the effect of various graphite forms on the crystal structure, thermal properties, thermo-mechanical behaviour and dielectric properties of an EMAA matrix. WAXD of the various graphite showed significant change in the diffraction pattern and suggest that intercalation occurred within the graphite layers. However, the presence of graphite did not affect the crystal structure of EMAA. Thermal properties showed the graphite behaved as a nucleating agent for EMAA matrix. The thermal stability of filled EMAA was higher compared with pure EMAA. The thermo-mechanical properties revealed changes in the modulus of EMAA in the presence of graphite. Preliminary dielectric properties of the filled EMAA were altered slightly presumably due to the conductivity of the network structure of the graphite layers.

PP-g-MA-layered EGO composites were prepared directly by solution blending. Two types of PP-g-MA/EGO composites were prepared using different mixing methods: distributive and dispersive. In this study, the effects of the mixing method of EGO on the crystalline structure and thermo-mechanical properties of PP-g-MA/EGO composites are reported. WAXD exhibited a shift in 2 theta of the monoclinic (alpha) phase of PP-g-MA and (002) EGO peaks for PP-g-MA/EGO layered composites, which indicated a modification of the crystalline structure of PP-g-MA in the layered composites. DSC exhibited a single characteristic melting peak of monoclinic (alpha) crystalline phase PP-g-MA. The incorporation of EGO increased T-c indicating that the EGO acted as a nucleating agent for PP-g-MA. The crystallinity of the PP-g-MA/EGO composites was found to be dependent on the mixing method. Thermogravimetry demonstrated that PP-g-MA in the presence of EGO has higher degradation temperature, suggesting that the graphite particles acted as a thermal barrier material for PP-g-MA. DMA indicated that incorporation of EGO into PP-g-MA increased the storage modulus, due to the hydrogen bonding between EGO and MA of PP-g-MA.

Ceramifying polymer materials have been commercialised for fire resistant cable coatings and show promise for many other fire protection coatings. They comprise thermoplastics loaded with ceramic forming precursors which create a fire-resisting ceramic layer when subjected to fire. Intumescence can also be achieved to further increase thermal resistance.

This paper reports the development of selective polymers with high binding capacity suitable for large scale solid-phase extraction (SPE), e.g. for industrial applications. The technology of molecular imprinting was employed in the synthesis of selective molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Abacavir, which is a HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor, was chosen as the target analyte. An already established computational protocol, developed in our group, was employed to select the best monomers leading to polymers with high binding capacity for the target compound. Three different monomer compositions were chosen for the synthesis. The synthesised materials were then tested for the rebinding of abacavir in solid-phase extraction using several different conditions (buffered/non-buffered solutions and in the presence/absence of organic solvents). The best MIP showed a surprisingly high binding capacity, up to 157 mg of drug/g of adsorbent. The high binding capacity could make this polymer suitable for industrial applications to purify and/or concentrate the drug during its production.

The role of poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) in blends with poly(urethane) (PU) was investigated with respect to their abrasion resistance and mechanical properties. Two different thermoplastic poly(urethane) elastomers, Ela85A and Pel55D, were blended with a total of eight poly(dimethylsiloxane) viscosity fractions. The molecular mobility of the polymers in the blends was examined, and related to the morphological model responsible for the observed physical behaviour. The radiation chemistry of pure poly(dimethylsiloxane) was also investigated, resulting in the identification of the radiation products by direct spectroscopic techniques. The associated changes in molecular weight of poly(dimethylsiloxane) upon exposure to g -radiation, based upon the developed crosslinking model, were also studied. The macroscopic behaviour of the poly(urethane)/ poly(dimethylsiloxane) blends was studied by a range of techniques, including Dry-Sand Rubber- Wheel abrasion testing, kinetic coefficient of friction measurements, hardness and tensile testing. The morphology of the blends was studied by thermal analysis, small-angle x-ray scattering and 1H NMR spin-diffusion measurements. The dilute poly(urethane) / poly(dimethylsiloxane) blends were found to demonstrate greatest wear resistance at high PDMS viscosity (g 100 Pa s), at which point the Ela85A based blends performed better than, and the Pel55D based blends about equal to, the unblended elastomers: Severe degradation of abrasion resistance and mechanical properties was observed at low PDMS viscosities in all samples. This behaviour was related to the observed disruption of the poly(urethane) elastomer soft-segment by low molecular weight PDMS. The crystalline hard-segments of the PU elastomer were found to be largely unaffected by the addition of PDMS. The mobility of the low molecular weight poly(dimethylsiloxane) species, and their enhanced surface effect, was also considered to contribute to the decreased wear performance. The molecular mobility and chain dynamics of poly(dimethylsiloxane) in the pure molten state and in a blend with poly(urethane) were investigated by NMR transverse relaxation measurements. The calculated spin-spin relaxation times were found to be significantly shorter in the blends than in the pure PDMS fluids. This was related to partial solubilisation of the low molecular weight fractions of the polydisperse PDMS in the PU soft-segment, with the remainder of the PDMS residing in phase-separated domains. The size of the phase-separated domains was measured by PFG-NMR self-diffusion measurements, and was found to be approximately 5 mm in diameter. The inter-domain spacing of the poly(urethane) hard-segments was measured by 1H NMR spin-diffusion measurements, and was found to be approximately 110 A in Ela85A, and 65 A in Pel55D. Excellent agreement between the spin-diffusion measurements and SAXS was observed for Ela85A. The radiation chemistry of poly (dimethylsiloxane) was investigated by solution and solid-state NMR. This was the first study to provide direct spectroscopic evidence on the mechanism of crosslinking of g-irradiated poly(dimethylsiloxane). It was revealed that the primary method of crosslinking in g -irradiated poly(dimethylsiloxane) is through a previously unidentified trioxygenated silicon Y-type crosslink. Smaller amounts of H-type silmethylene and silethylene bridge crosslinks were also identified. Other new chain-end and side-chain functionalities formed during g -irradiation were also identified. The total crosslinking yield, which is the sum of new structures due to observable H- and Y-links, G(X), was found by solid-state NMR to be 2.54 p 0.3, and the scission yield, G(S), to be 1.2 p 0.26. The effect of oxygen on the radiation chemistry was determined to be limited by the rate of diffusion of oxygen into the crosslinked polymer. The formation of additional methoxvtype end-groups during oxygenated g -irradiation were, however, identified. The change in molecular weight of PDMS as a function of absorbed dose was investigated by triple-detection GPC, based upon a developed mixed Hand Y-linking model. Equations were developed to describe the mixed system, and were found to adequately describe the experimental data. A ratio of Hlinks to the total crosslink population of 0.45 was determined for irradiations performed at 303 K, with the G-value for formation of H-links found to be 1.38, and hence the total G(X) to be 3.08. Acceleration of scission and crosslinking processes with temperature, from 77 to 373 K, was found, although the ratio of H- to Y-links did not appear to remain constant. This was a novel use of the combined techniques of NMR and GPC to characterise a complex radiation induced crosslinking system. Low molecular weight products of the g -radiolysis of PDMS were identified by NMR, GPC and MALDI-TOF MS. Small cyclic siloxanes with four, five and six members were identified in the sol-fraction of the irradiated polymer by solution-state 29Si NMR, with larger linear and cyclic siloxanes identified by GPC and MALDI-TOF MS. A preferred size of 14 and 15 members was identified for the linear and cyclic species, respectively. The mechanism of the formation of these low molecular weight species was uncertain, and warrants further investigation. In essence, this study revealed that the production of wear resistant poly (urethane) / poly(dimethylsiloxane) materials would be enhanced by using high molecular weight poly (dimethylsiloxane), rather that the less viscous fluids used in this study. A study into the wear and mechanical behaviour of such materials based on very high molecular weight linear poly (dimethylsiloxane) elastomers (g 200 Pa s) which are commercially available, may reveal the PDMS properties required for optimal blend performance. The study into the radiation chemistry of g -irradiated poly (dimethylsiloxane) revealed previously unreported radiation products, with the mechanism of crosslinking being elucidated more thoroughly than ever before.