[en] The measurement of crystallinity of thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) of NR:HDPE blends have been made at various compositions of liquid natural rubber (LNR) using x-ray and thermal analysis methods. The results show that the crystallinity of the blends increase significantly with the addition of LNR into the blends. The data indicates a good agreement between the two methods. The tensile properties, stress and strain of the blend improved significantly with addition of LNR. SEM micrographs of the samples also indicates an increase in homogeneity of the blends with addition of LNR. (Author)

[en] Research has been conducted to determine the concentration of natural radionuclides (Uranium 238 and Thorium 232) and heavy metals (plumbum, zink, and cuprum) in soil samples collected from tin mining and amang processing areas and its surrounding in Dengkil, Selangor. The radionuclides were measured using gamma spectroscopy whilst heavy metals were extracted using various extracting solution before measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results showed that the pH of the soil was in the range of pH 4.28 - 5.53, whilst for amang the pH value was 2.65. The activity of U-238 and Th-232 were between 3.37 - 7.88 Bq/kg and 10.51 - 45.24 Bq/kg, respectively. For amang and reference IAEA-375 soil samples the values were 246.36 Bq/kg (U-238); 12452.18 Bq/kg (Th-232) and 24.4 Bq/kg (U-238); 20.5 Bq/kg (Th-232) respectively. Plumbum (5416.56 μg/g) was the dominant heavy metal extracted from the soil followed by Cu (158.9 μg/g) and Zn (6.23 μg/g). Concentrated nitric acid was very efficient in extracting heavy metal (52.8%) followed by Na₂EDTA (20.01%), NaOH (18.18%) and KNO₃ (9.09%). (Author)

[en] Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to view fracture surface from tensile testing samples of binary and ternary blends of rubber modified Polypropylene (PP). SEM micrograph of the binary blend demonstrated a two-phase morphology. The void formed by the minor EPDM rubber phase existed as a semi-continuos planar domain was surrounded by the continues PP matric. The fractured surface was very clean and smooth indicating no serious interaction between both components. Addition of a small amount of synthesised compatibiliser had significantly modified the surface morphology which reflect the strong adhesion between PP and EPDM, resulting in excellent tensile properties compared to the binary blend. The micrograph also indicated the mode of failure of the blends. (Author)

[en] Computerized reactor operation, monitoring, diagnostic and control system (CROMDAC) was on going project which had been started since 1983, with the aim of developing a microcomputer-based research reactor expert system. This paper discusses some aspects on how the control and expert system could further be developed

[en] It has been shown in our laboratory that EFB has the potential to be converted into animal feeds through the process of fermentation; and also use as media for mushroom growing (1). Irradiation of EFB at doses above 10 kGy followed by fermentation can reduce crude fibre (CF) content to almost 20-30% and crude protein (CP) content elevated to 10-15% from 50% and 2% respectively (2)(3). The end-product of fermentation displayed all the characteristics of animal feed, and at these levels of CF and CP can be utilised for feeding ruminants. Further reduction of CF and raising of CP can result in the products suitable for feeding non-ruminants such as poultry and pigs. Following the successful conversion of raw EFB into foodstuff for ruminant in the laboratory, there is an urgent need to evaluate whether such products could be mass-produced economically at larger scale for further feeding-trials. Pilot plant has to be set up to simulate the actual commercial production process before any technology transfer can be undertaken. The main objective of this paper is to report firstly, the economic and financial feasibility of the production process at pilot level. Secondly, preliminary evaluation on the cost of production of animal feed from EFB

[en] The effects of various nucleating agents (NA) on stability of polypropylene (PP) are investigated and compared. It was found that samples with NA, the elongation at break are lower than samples without NA. This indicates that the samples become more rigid with the addition of NA. Also, it was found that the lower the concentration of NA, the more stable the sample is toward irradiation. In the second run of the differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) measurement, the melting points (Tm) of PP with NA was higher than the one without NA and it was found that a correlation to radiation stability of samples can be made, For the melt flow index (MFI), it was found that the MFI increases with increasing dose indicating reduction in molecular weight and degradation has occurred in PP samples

[en] The inner structure of lamellar liquid crystal before and after addition of RDB palm olein was characterised employing small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique and optical microscopy. Results show that the addition of RDB palm olein to both layered structure indicate a temporary disturbance resulting in penetration of RDB palm olein into the layered structure

[en] The UV curing of newly developed acrylate resin based on natural rubber has been investigated. Two types of reactive diluent i.e.tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA) and trimethylol propane triacrylate (TMPTA), together with photoinitiators such as benzophenone, 1-benzoylcyclohexanol and N-methyl diethanol amine were used. Curing was done on a 20 cm width IST Minicure 200 UV curing machine. The curing properties were monitored by cure rate, gel fraction, pendulum hardness and chemical resistance measurements

[en] The technique of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, which for many years has been routinely applied to mineral analysis, has more recently found important applications in medical diagnosis. It is ideally suited to the measurement of heavy metals (lead, mercury, platinum, etc.) in the bones, kidneys, or in tumours (under treatment by platinum-containing drugs), and can for example, detect quantities of lead which are often found in the bones of environmental-exposed persons. An outline is given of the steps involved in designing, setting up and using a new measurement system for patient work

[en] A comparison of the radioisotope x-ray source Co-57 and Xe-133 for in vivo x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis is carried out. For a skin dose of 12 mGy, it is found that the xenon source gives a better detection limit for organ depths less than 2.3 cm, while the cobalt source is better for greater depths. Hence the xenon source seems to be more useful in the measurement of the selective uptake of platinum in superficial tumours (treated with cisplatin), and the cobalt source is more suitable for the in vivo platinum measurement in the kidney