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  • 1. Kuchta, Ashley Bio-sourced Coatings Derived from Spent Coffee Grounds for Cardboard Food Packaging Applications: Formulation, Barrier Properties, Thermal Analysis, and Biodegradability

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Food Science and Technology

    Two polymer coatings derived from spent coffee grounds were explored as a bio-sourced biodegradable alternative to traditional petroleum-based non-biodegradable plastic coatings used commonly in food packaging. The aim of this research is to formulate a bioplastic coating derived from spent coffee grounds that can serve as a viable alternative to current petroleum-based wax films used in the food packaging industry. Water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and oxygen transmission rate (OTR) tests were conducted to assess the coatings' barrier properties. Results indicated inferior water vapor resistance compared to the control, yet an enhanced water barrier of the cardboard alone. The coffee oil coating demonstrated superior OTR performance compared to the other samples. Biodegradability experiments conducted over 73 days revealed partial degradation of the coffee oil coated cardboard, showing potential as a bio-sourced biodegradable alternative. However, challenges encountered in biodegradability testing methodology require further investigation. Crystallization and thermal analysis revealed differences between cured and uncured samples, indicating structural changes during curing. Rheological analysis demonstrated Newtonian behavior in uncured samples and shear thinning in cured samples, providing insights into material behavior under increased deformation rates. Adhesion tests confirmed polymer adhesion to cardboard, with no observed odor or microbial growth. Overall, the coffee oil coating presents a promising option for sustainable food packaging, but further research is necessary to optimize properties.
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    Committee: Yael Vodovotz (Advisor); Emmanuel Hatzakis (Committee Member); Katrina Cornish (Committee Member) Subjects: Food Science; Packaging; Plastics; Sustainability

  • 2. Vishal, Kumar Bandgap Engineering of 2D Materials and its Electric and Optical Properties

    Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, 2023, Electrical Engineering

    Since their invention in 1958, Integrated Circuits (ICs) have become increasingly more complex, sophisticated, and useful. As a result, they have worked their way into every aspect of our lives, for example: personal electronic devices, wearable electronics, biomedical sensors, autonomous driving cars, military and defense applications, and artificial intelligence, to name some areas of applications. These examples represent both collectively, and sometimes individually, multi-trillion-dollar markets. However, further development of ICs has been predicted to encounter a performance bottleneck as the mainstream silicon industry, approaches its physical limits. The state-of-the-art of today's ICs technology will be soon below 3nm. At such a scale, the short channel effect and power consumption become the dominant factors impeding further development. To tackle the challenge, projected by the ITRS (International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors) a thinner channel layer seems to be the most viable solution. This dissertation will discuss the feasibility of using 2D (two-dimensional) materials as the channel layer. The success of this work will lead to revolutionary breakthroughs by pushing silicon technology to the extreme physical limit. Starting from graphene in 2004, 2D materials have received a lot of attention associated with their distinct optical, electrical, magnetic, thermal, and mechanical properties. In the year 2010, IBM demonstrated a graphene-based field effect transistor with a cut-off frequency above 100 GHz. The major challenge of applying graphene in large-scale digital circuits is its lack of energy bandgap. Other than carbon, a variety of graphene-like 2D materials have been found in various material systems, like silicene, germanene, phosphorene, MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, HfS2, HfSe2, GaS, and InS, etc. Among all the 2D materials, silicene appears to be the most favored option due to its excellent compatibility with standard silicon technology. Simil (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Yan Zhuang Ph.D. (Advisor); Ray Siferd Ph.D. (Committee Member); Junghsen Lieh Ph.D. (Other); Marian K. Kazimierczuk Ph.D. (Committee Member); Saiyu Ren Ph.D. (Committee Member); Henry Chen Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Electrical Engineering; Engineering; Materials Science; Nanoscience; Nanotechnology; Packaging; Physics; Quantum Physics; Solid State Physics

  • 3. Tyagi, Devanshi Incorporation of Clostridium acetobutylicum spores into a bio-based tapioca film for rapid deterioration in a landfill like environment

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Food Science and Technology

    This study explores the development of an environmentally friendly, bio-based packaging film by integrating Clostridium acetobutylicum spores into a tapioca matrix. The primary objective is to enhance the biodegradability of the film when disposed of in landfill-like conditions, addressing crucial issues of sustainability and contributing to a circular economy. The research delves into the roles and impacts of conventional and bio-based food packaging materials on the environment, emphasizing the 'cradle to grave' cycle of food packaging. Methodologically, the study encompasses the preparation of the tapioca films, followed by a thorough examination of their mechanical and barrier properties. These properties are critically analyzed through tensile testing, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), X-ray diffraction, oxygen transfer rate tests, and water vapor permeability (WVP) assessments. The statistical analysis of these tests provides a comprehensive understanding of the material's performance. Additionally, the thesis conducts an in-depth investigation into the degradation rate of the tapioca films containing Clostridium acetobutylicum spores. This is achieved by monitoring factors such as carbon-dioxide evolution, optical density, and by-products analysis offering insights into the biodegradation process under simulated landfill conditions. Overall, this research contributes significantly to the field of sustainable packaging, presenting a novel approach to tackling the environmental challenges posed by conventional food packaging materials.
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    Committee: Melvin Pascall (Advisor); Lynn Knipe (Committee Member); Ahmed Yousef (Committee Member) Subjects: Food Science; Packaging

  • 4. Benalcazar Bassante, Jose Development of Smart Tie-layers for Multilayer Packaging through Polyelectrolyte/Surfactant Coacervation

    Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2023, Chemical Engineering

    Multilayer plastics (MLPs) have become one of the most common food packaging materials. By combining multiple polymer types with distinct advantageous properties (e.g., water, light, or oxygen barrier properties), they extend the product shelf life while using less material. Yet, MLPs are challenging to recycle because their layers are difficult to separate, and this difficulty now presents a formidable sustainability challenge. To this end, we have developed new tie-layer materials through the complex coacervation (i.e., self-assembly) between the cationic polyelectrolyte, polyallylamine (PAH) and unsaturated, anionic fatty acids (either oleic acid or linoleic acid). Akin to the liquifying effects of double bonds in cis-unsaturated fats, the double bonds in these fatty acid tails imparted the otherwise-flaky PAH/surfactant complex precipitates with either moldable semisolid or liquid (coacervate) properties. These coacervates were prepared in two different solvents (water and ethanol) and were capable of (1) adhering two dissimilar plastic layers, (2) dissociating during recycling, thus enabling facile separation of MLP layers for further processing, and (3) as a bonus, serving as oxygen scavengers. These complexes exhibited tunable rheological properties, which ranged from viscous liquids (when solvated in ethanol) to putty-like semisolids (when formed in water) and coincided with solvent-dependent changes in their microstructure, where replacing water with ethanol led to a disruption of their lamellar order. Moreover, when prepared as low-viscosity dispersions of submicron coacervate droplets suspended in ethanol, these coacervates could be easily spread onto plastic substrates and (on partial drying) formed adhesive films that could bond dissimilar plastic layers, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), with fewer defects and higher adhesion strengths than those achieved by spreading macro (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Yakov Lapitsky (Committee Chair); Maria Coleman (Committee Member); Joseph Lawrence (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Packaging

  • 5. Huan, Wei The Effect of Glycerol and Green Tea Extract on The Morphology, Mechanical and Barrier Properties of Low Methoxyl Pectin Based Edible Films

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2022, Food Science and Technology

    Pectin has the potential to be used as food packaging materials based on its natural properties such as mechanical strength and barrier properties. Due to the sustainable, non-toxic and biodegradable characteristics of pectin, many research have been focused on the development of pectin films and improvement of their properties by adding plasticizers, crosslinking agents and active compounds. In this study, the effect of glycerol and green tea extract (GTE) concentrations on the mechanical, morphologies, barrier and antioxidant properties of pectin films were investigated. The effect of different concentrations of glycerol (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40% w/w of pectin) on the thicknesses, mechanical strengths, storage/loss moduli, glass transition temperatures (Tg), chemical structures, crystallinity structures, moisture contents and gas permeabilities of low methoxyl pectin films enriched with 1% CaCl2 (w/w of pectin) were investigated and reported in Chapter 2. The mechanical strength of the films was tested from the results of tensile testing. The thicknesses, percent elongations and moisture contents increased with increasing concentrations of glycerol in the pectin films, whereas the tensile strength, Tg, and elastic and storage moduli increased with increasing glycerol contents. The FTIR results showed increasing ester and hydrogen bond formations with increased concentrations of glycerol in the pectin. The XRD results revealed that the crystallinity of the films decreased as a result of increasing glycerol concentrations, while the oxygen and water vapor barrier properties decreased due to the higher concentrations of glycerol. These results showed that glycerol can be used for the relaxation of the polymeric chains of pectin while reducing its tensile strength, stiffness and gas barrier properties. The effects of green tea extract (GTE) concentrations (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% w/w of pectin) on the thicknesses, mechanical strength, storage/loss moduli, glass transiti (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Melvin Pascall (Advisor); Lynn Knipe (Committee Member); Hua Wang (Committee Member) Subjects: Food Science; Materials Science; Packaging

  • 6. ABEDSOLTAN, HOSSEIN Catalysts with Increased Surface Affinity for Chemical Recycling of PET Waste

    Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2022, Engineering

    Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used in packaging and textile industries such as in productions of water bottles and packaging of soft drinks. As the PET products have short lifetimes, they turn into waste rapidly. Since the market for PET products has been constantly expanding, the rate of PET waste has been increased. This may negatively affect the environment and living species. In addition, PET is produced from fossil fuels, a limited resource that should be reserved to decrease the adverse effects of its applications on the environment. Therefore, recycling has been proposed as a resolution to PET waste. Chemical recycling can decompose PET to the associated oligomers and monomers. This may provide an alternative resource for reproduction of PET and subsequently PET products. In this dissertation, hydrolysis was studied- a technique for chemically recycling of PET waste. In chemical recycling, the factors affecting the rate of PET decomposition are PET shape, PET size, reaction temperature, reaction pressure, catalyst type, catalyst concentration, and surface wetting. Few studies are reported on surface wetting. So, the main interest of this dissertation was to explore the effect of surface wetting on the rate of PET decomposition in hydrolysis reactions. In this dissertation, series of catalysts were introduced that could increase the rate of PET decomposition due to the better surface wetting of PET particles occurring with the solutions of these catalysts during the hydrolysis of PET. This effect was explored by applying a shrinking core model to interpret the kinetics data of TPA yield for calculations of reaction rate constants. These constants were correlated to the partition coefficient and distribution coefficient values of catalysts for the octanol/water system to indirectly study the PET/water system in hydrolysis. This revealed the role of functional group in catalyst structure as a determining factor for the hydrophobicity of catalyst solution (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Maria R. Coleman (Committee Chair); G. Glenn Lipscomb (Committee Member); Defne Apul (Committee Member); Constance A. Schall (Committee Member); Dong-Shik Kim (Committee Member) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Chemistry; Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Science; Experiments; Materials Science; Mathematics; Mechanical Engineering; Organic Chemistry; Packaging; Plastics; Polymer Chemistry; Polymers; Sustainability

  • 7. Peters, Aaron My Hands, Your Eyes, Your Hands, Your Eyes

    Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Art

    This thesis paper is in correlation with the making and result of two projects named: My Hands, Your Eyes, Your Hands, Your Eyes and Broken Objects. Both projects are connected to a site and object determined process that values an open and conditional art practice. They locate themselves in the conditions of working with spaces, materials and objects that may be discarded or unnoticed as a way of reimagining of what we regard as important. This thesis paper describes the installation of My Hands Your Eyes, Your Hands, Your Eyes which was included in the 2022 Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition that occurred from February 15th to March 19th at Urban Arts Space in Columbus Ohio. This project explores the differences and ambiguities of art, design and architecture with a phenomenological and experiential installation using light, space, and reflection. It also reflects on the craft oriented and contemplative material processes of laminating cardboard, stained glasswork, and neon bending. Included are a selection of writings and photographs from Broken Objects, an on-going project where I solicit and mend objects for others. This project began by thinking about the cycle of disposal in my object making practice. It has grown into a collection of unique correspondences between myself and project participants that center around their objects in need of mending and the stories they generate. Both projects work to re-invent artistic modes and ways of making by reinvigorating objects, spaces, and conditions. I value the knowledge gained through working with one's hands by way of craft materials and processes. These projects create opportunities to work in craft and studio practices while focusing on communal and shared experiences.
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    Committee: Alison Crocetta (Advisor); Suzanne Silver (Committee Member); Michael Mercil (Committee Member) Subjects: Architectural; Architecture; Art History; Atmosphere; Civil Engineering; Communication; Conservation; Design; Energy; Experiments; Fine Arts; Folklore; Gases; Intellectual Property; Materials Science; Packaging; Personal Relationships; Spirituality; Surgery; Sustainability; Technology

  • 8. Liu, Jiqi Degradation of Bifacial & Monofacial, Double Glass & Glass-backsheet, Photovoltaic Modules with Multiple Packaging Combinations

    Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Materials Science and Engineering

    The annual installed capacity of solar energy has grown rapidly in recent years and reached 773.3 GW at the end of 2020, providing 3.1% of global electricity demand. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of solar energy has been continuously decreasing since 2009 and reached $0.037/kWh in 2020. Improving the reliability of photovoltaic (PV) modules and reducing their degradation rates are critical for further decreasing the LCOE and maintaining market competitiveness. The degradation of PV modules depends on their interaction with exposure conditions and is strongly influenced by their packaging materials and combinations. In recent years, modules using polyolefin elastomer (POE), double glass (DG) module architecture, or transparent backsheet have been gaining market share and have become strong competitors to conventional monofacial ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) glass-backsheet (GB) modules. However, the reliability performance data of these emerging packaging strategies were lacking. This work used statistical analysis to compare the degradation behaviors of sixteen module variants under two indoor accelerated exposures and 1.6 years of outdoor exposure. The two indoor accelerated exposures included modified damp heat (80 ℃, 85% relative humidity) and modified damp heat with full-spectrum light, for up to 2,520 hours. The EVA+GB modules with opaque rear encapsulant exhibited a significantly greater power loss, and the dominant degradation mechanism was identified as interconnection corrosion. The outdoor exposure location was in the Dfa climate zone (continental, no dry season, hot summer). Significant differences in the average power loss were identified between three module variants and the other two. The dominant power loss factor for most module variants was uniform current power loss, followed by power loss due to increased series resistance. This work developed a cross-correlation algorithm to quantify the similarity of degradation behaviors under differe (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Roger H. French (Committee Chair); Alp Sehirlioglu (Committee Member); Laura S. Bruckman (Committee Member); Yinghui Wu (Committee Member); Jennifer L. Braid (Committee Member); Xuanji Yu (Committee Member) Subjects: Materials Science; Packaging

  • 9. Singh, Manjeet Developing a Four-Point Bending Apparatus to Measure Bending Stiffness of Corrugated Board

    Master of Science, Miami University, 2021, Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering

    A four-point bending apparatus was developed to determine the bending stiffness of corrugated board. The apparatus was mounted on an Instron universal testing machine. The accuracy of the four-point bending measurements was evaluated using steel plates to determine the modulus of elasticity and compared to known values. Bending test were conducted on six different types of corrugated boards and bending stiffness per unit width for both machine direction (MD) and cross-machine direction (CD) were calculated. The influence of center span length on the stiffness measurement in the range of 8-inch to 14-inch was determined to be negligible. In addition, it was found that laser cut, and blade cut corrugated samples yielded the same bending stiffness measurements. Finally, the four-point bend tester was utilized to capture the moment versus curvature relationship of the board up to failure.
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    Committee: Douglas Coffin (Advisor); Jessica Sparks (Committee Member); Steven Keller (Committee Member) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; Packaging

  • 10. Colvin, Nathaniel Development of a Conformable Heat-Sealing Technology for Flexible Plastic Packaging

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2021, Welding Engineering

    In the consumer packaging industry, sealing is a crucial step for creating an airtight product unit for both flexible and semi-rigid packaging. Currently, rigid hot tool sealing is the most widely adapted sealing technology. Rigid hot tool sealing has many benefits, including fast seal times, good tool durability, and process simplicity. However, creating a continuous seal with rigid hot tool sealing is extremely sensitive to tool surface quality, parallelism, variations in material thickness, and film thickness transitions. In flexible packaging, the number of films in the thickness direction may vary based on location, depending on package layup. When a rigid hot tool is used to seal over film thickness transitions, high seal pressures must be utilized to produce intimate tool contact with the thinner film region(s). Even with high forces, thickness transitions are common locations for seal leaks. Additionally, excessive squeeze-out due to high pressure may occur, which can degrade the seal's mechanical properties. In the first phase of this work, various compliant technologies were evaluated theoretically and or experimentally. Using a decision analysis approach, the various complaint sealing methods were scored and ranked. Conformable resistive sealing was chosen for further exploration. Conformable resistive sealing relies on a constant temperature, flexible heating element backed by a compliant elastomer. Various flexible heating elements were analyzed for enhanced conformability. A thin metal ribbon, and a thin perforated metal ribbon demonstrated the best potential for a conformable heating element. In addition, FEA modeling was conducted to model temperature variation in non-linear geometries of resistive heating elements. Conformance testing was conducted to compare the necessary seal pressures for sealing over a 4 film to 8 film thickness transition for rigid hot tool sealing (rigid tool/conformable anvil and rigid tool/rigid anvil combinations) an (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Avraham Benatar PhD (Advisor); Boyd Panton PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Engineering; Materials Science; Packaging; Plastics; Polymers

  • 11. Merritt, Kelsey The In Between: An Indepth Look at Fashion Retail Waste

    MA, Kent State University, 2020, College of the Arts / School of Fashion

    The fashion industry is responsible for four percent of the world's waste which has led to several staggering problems including overflowing landfills and microplastics from fiber production penetrating waterways. The purpose of this research was to compare the attitudes of fashion retail merchandising professionals and their packaging and merchandising waste. By understanding these attitudes and the waste created in the entire retail supply chain, it provides businesses with possible solutions for addressing sustainability in their supply chain. This study utilized an explanatory sequential design method to examine behaviors, attitudes, and current practices of individuals working in the fashion industry and of retail consumers. Data was first collected through one-on-one qualitative interviews with individuals who have worked in their position in the fashion industry for more than a year. The data was analyzed which suggested themes and subsequent questions for a quantitative survey of fashion consumers and a larger number of retail professionals. The study revealed that consumers and retail workers are overwhelmed by the amount of waste created in the retail sector and have a strong desire to implement change. Furthermore, there is a need to integrate communication between corporate leadership and retail employees allowing them to voice their opinions and suggest solutions. Addressing these issues has revealed possible best practices for retailers to implement policies for properly disposing of retail and merchandising waste and investigate ways to reduce packaging from their products. The findings of this study extend the knowledge of sustainability in the fashion industry and how companies can implement them into their business model.
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    Committee: Noel Palomo-Lovinski (Advisor) Subjects: Design; Fine Arts; Packaging; Textile Research

  • 12. Meehl, Owen A First Study on the Suitability of Volume Holograms for use as Integral Security Features on Pharmaceuticals

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2020, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

    Counterfeit pharmaceuticals kill around 1 million people per year. While nations can decrease the danger posed to their citizens by instituting standards and institutional safeguards on pharmaceutical importation and production, presently there is no integral overt security feature that a consumer may use to determine the integrity of a drug prior to consumption. Counterfeit drugs have a global market value of up to $200-Billion and make up around ten percent of the global supply of pharmaceuticals. Developed nations have a one-percent rate of counterfeit drugs largely focused on pharmaceuticals which treat lifestyle diseases as well as performance and appearance enhancing substances. Most of these drugs are obtained by the consumer through self-importation and online purchase. Developing nations have a fifty to seventy percent rate of counterfeit drugs, which target life-saving products such as antibiotics, antimalarials, and HIV/AIDS antiretrovirals. These drugs are sold by roadside vendors and can even be found in hospital pharmacies. A hologram is a recording of the waves which are reflected or transmitted from an object using the scientific technique of interference. In this technique, two light sources (one from a laser and one from an object being imaged) are used to record an interference pattern. This interference pattern encodes all of the waves which came from the object being imaged and contains all of the optical information from the original object. Holographically reconstructed images display all of the features of the original object including parallax, three dimensionality, can be focused using a lens, and have a resolution comparable with the wavelength of light used in their production. As a result, they are extremely difficult to copy and are routinely used as an overt security feature on credit cards and several banknotes. The pharmaceutical industry uses many measures to prevent counterfeiting. These include security features (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Ann Christy (Advisor); Harris Kagan (Advisor); Melvin Pascall (Committee Member) Subjects: Agricultural Engineering; Criminology; Engineering; Optics; Packaging; Pharmaceuticals; Physics; Public Health

  • 13. Kolacz, Michelle Unpackaging Online Retail: Impact of Message Framing and Reference PoInts on Consumers' Choice of (Reduced) Packaging and Brand Attitude

    MFIS, Kent State University, 2020, College of the Arts / School of Fashion

    The fashion industry struggles to address the waste accompanying overconsumption. Packaging, an inherent component of purchases (particularly in online settings), poses a particular dilemma. Current endeavors to decrease the environmental harm of packaging may only be suited to particular companies and can be expensive and time consuming to develop. Furthermore, products or packaging marketed as environmentally friendly are often associated with a price premium. Without a perceived personal benefit, consumers often forgo their sustainable values, discouraging development of sustainable initiatives. Prospect Theory positions that individuals tend to take different action based on the gain or loss frame. Literature suggests that references interact with frames, producing different results. Therefore, this study uses a 2 (frame: gain/loss) x 2 (reference: personal/societal) x 2 (green consumer value: high/low) mixed method online experiment in which consumers were shown one of four message combinations and offered the choice of no poly bag and a polybag. Analysis revealed that while the message did not have a significant effect on packaging selection, 74.73% fewer polybags were used because the option was present. Multiple 3 way ANOVAs revealed that brand attitude and purchase intention were affected by frame; frame and reference interacted to affect attitude towards the packaging initiative and brand attitude; and that green consumer values acted as a moderator in certain cases. Overall, this study provides a starting strategy for packaging initiatives and outlines message architecture to better promote sustainable behavior and positive attitudes for customers with both low and high green consumer values.
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    Committee: Gargi Bhaduri Ph.D. (Advisor); Lawrence Marks Ph.D. (Committee Member); Noël Palomo-Lovinski M.F.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Environmental Management; Marketing; Packaging; Sustainability

  • 14. Dhuey, Elliot Investigation of Corrosion in Canned Tomatoes Processed by Retorting

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2019, Food Science and Technology

    This study investigated the presence of volatile and non-volatile compounds in canned processed tomatoes and how these compounds interacted with the Bisphenol A free epoxy-based lining of the cans to cause corrosion of the base metal and the migration of iron and tin compounds to the tomatoes. The tomatoes tested in this study were the Roma variety. They were sorted, washed, diced, and sealed in two-piece tinplated metal cans. These were processed by retorting at 250°F for 30 minutes then stored at 49°C for up to 50 days. Control samples were packaged and processed in glass jars. The presence and concentrations of the volatile and non-volatile compounds in the processed and unprocessed tomatoes were tested using Selected Ion Flow Tube – Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) and Ion Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (IC-MS) respectively. After removing the processed tomatoes from the cans, the linings were removed and analyzed for the volatile and non-volatiles as was mentioned before. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) paired with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) was used to confirm the presence of visual corrosion in the processed cans and to analyze its elemental composition. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform – Near Infrared (FT-NIR) was used to characterize changes to the polymeric morphology of the can lining after the retort processing. Also, Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to determine the rate and level of tin and iron migration from the metal can to the tomato product. The results of the SIFT analyses showed that the formation of dimethyl sulfide and other sulfide compounds in the tomatoes resulted from the thermal degradation of methyl methionine. These compounds diffused from the tomatoes to the lining of the cans and the XRD and FT-NIR analyses showed that they interacted with the polymer and led to the reformation of the oxirane ring of the epoxy and binding of water with the polymer lining. The (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Melvin Pascall (Advisor); Gerald Frankel (Committee Member); John Litchfield (Committee Member) Subjects: Food Science; Packaging

  • 15. Joshi, Anup Copolyesters and Terpolyesters of Polyethylene Terephthalate with Renewably Sourced Comonomers for Packaging Application

    Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2019, Chemical Engineering

    Owing to the overdependence on fossil fuels, global effort has been initiated to identify alternate renewable sources for PET Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a polyester of terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). As these efforts to make PET from renewably sourced TPA and EG make inroads, alternate renewably sourced comonomers need to be identified to modulate its properties depending on the needs of the application. The goal of this work was to develop polyesters of PET with two commercially viable, renewably sourced comonomers, namely, 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and isosorbide (ISB), and establish a fundamental understanding of the structure-property relationship for these polyesters. In the first part of this work, effect of copolymerization of PET with FDCA (described as PETF copolyesters) on the esterification kinetics was evaluated in detail. The presence of FDCA and esterified FDCA products during copolymerization enhanced the solubility of TPA in the reaction media and improved the esterification kinetics. The kinetics study revealed that the esterification step of PETF copolyesters can be performed at shorter times or lower temperatures to gain energy savings. Following this study, high molecular weight PETF copolyesters were synthesized and processed into continuous films. In the unoriented state, incorporation of furan units in the PET backbone reduced the crystallization rate and enhanced mechanical and barrier performance of PET. Improvement in the barrier properties was primarily attributed to the suppressed chain segment mobility due to the presence of rigid, non collinear furan ring. The PETF copolyester films were biaxially stretched to evaluate the effect of furan units on the orientation and strain induced crystallization of PET. Differential scanning calorimetric studies revealed that the furan units resulted in decreased strain induced crystallization upon orientation. However, even with lower crystallinity values, PETF cop (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Maria Coleman (Committee Chair); Joseph Lawrence (Committee Co-Chair); Saleh Jabarin (Committee Member); Matthew Liberatore (Committee Member); Sridhar Viamajala (Committee Member); G. Gregory Benge (Committee Member) Subjects: Packaging; Polymer Chemistry; Polymers

  • 16. Feng, Jingxing Transport Phenomena in Polymeric Blends and Multilayer Films

    Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Macromolecular Science and Engineering

    This work targeted to unveil the processing-structure-property relationships of four polymeric systems with diverse transport properties. The first and the second chapters concentrated on a through-pore membrane derived from polypropylene (PP) and polyamide 6 (Nylon 6) blends. The other three chapters discussed the adjustable gas barrier properties in regards to the morphologies of polymer blends and multilayer films. Among all the chapters, gas and liquid transport properties were proved as an effective identifier for the morphology. The change in transport phenomena was strongly correlated with the shift in the structure. In Chapter One and Chapter Two, porous membranes were produced from biaxial orientation of polymer blends comprising PP, Nylon 6, and polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride (PPgMA). During biaxial orientation, the continuous PP domains cavitated while the dispersed Nylon 6 domains remained rigid and spherical. The effect of blend composition on cavitation was analyzed and a ternary diagram generated to identify the composition range for through-pore formation. The membranes were found to have adjustable porosity up to 62% with nanoscale size pores. The membranes show very high filtration efficiency on separating 50 nm Latex microbeads from water suspensions. In Chapter Three, the compatibilization effect of linear low density polyethylene grafted maleic anhydride (LLDPEgMA) and high density polyethylene grafted maleic anhydride (HDPEgMA) on high density polyethylene (HDPE) /Nylon 6 blend system was investigated. HDPEgMA was identified as a better compatibilizer than LLDPEgMA for the HDPE/Nylon 6 blend system. In Chapter Four, multilayer films comprising polystyrene (PS)/polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and PS/polycaprolactone (PCL) alternating nanolayers with varied layer thickness were fabricated by multilayer coextrusion. The continuous layers started to break up into nanosheets and nanodroplets during the coextrusion process when the no (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Eric Baer (Committee Chair); Andrew Olah (Committee Member); David Schiraldi (Committee Member); Ya-Ting Liao (Committee Member) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; Packaging; Plastics; Polymers

  • 17. Zekriardehani, Shahab Evaluation of Microstructure and Free Volume in Polyesters caused By Orientation and Antiplasticizers

    Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2017, Chemical Engineering

    Polyethylene terephthalate is a semicrystalline polymer that has been widely used in the packaging industry due to its excellent processability, good mechanical properties, excellent transparency, and acceptable barrier properties. However, packaging industry needs increased shelf life and improved permeability of carbon dioxide and oxygen to make PET suitable for keeping a wider range of products for a longer time. Over the past decades, a number of methods have been employed and yet a great deal of research is being conducted in both academia and industry to further enhance the barrier properties of PET. Recent research works show that using antiplasticizers is an effective way to enhance the barrier properties of PET by lowering the free volume and consequently reducing the permeability. Dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and dimethyl isophthalate (DMI) were chosen as the additives for this work, since they show high compatibility with PET based on their solubility parameters. In addition of incorporation of antiplasticizers, strain induced crystallization is a common method to enhance the barrier properties of PET which is rapid, does not affect the transparency, and results in a two-fold barrier improvement. In this work, a detailed study on the microstructure of PET upon strain induced crystallization was performed. In the first phase of this work, PALS measurement was used as a complementary technique to study the change in average free volume and free volume distribution. Presence of RAF and MAF, free volume of each phase, and solubility of each phase was reported for the first time and finally the effect of these parameters on the permeability of CO2, O2, and He was discussed. In the second phase of this work, two additives were chosen and incorporated into PET via extrusion. Occurrence of any chemical reaction between Pet and the additives was investigated using NMR and the concentration of the additives was quantified by TGA. Change in the microstructure (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Saleh Jabarin (Committee Co-Chair); Maria Coleman (Committee Co-Chair); Joseph Lawrence (Committee Member); Matthew Liberatore (Committee Member); Yong Wah Kim (Committee Member) Subjects: Packaging; Polymers

  • 18. venoor, varun Investigation of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/Natural Rubber blends and Polystyrene/Polybutadiene Silica Nano-Composites

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2017, Chemical Engineering

    Increased use of bio-based polymers and rubbers could help decrease our dependency on fossil fuel feedstocks. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) is a semicrystalline polymer. PHBV gets its importace from being biocompatible and biodegradable. Virgin PHBV is a brittle thermoplastic with high water and oxygen transmission rates. Also, PHBV has poor thermal properties above 160ºC, thus limiting its packaging application. It has been previously demonstrated that improved bioplastic properties (increased softness and flexibility) can be achieved by blending natural high viscosity rubber (gel) extracted from natural rubber, with PHBV. These blended materials proved suitable for making TV trays and blown films. However, commercial sources of high viscosity natural rubber were found to no longer exist. The preliminary objective of this work was to manufacture peroxide cured high viscosity natural rubber matched to that of natural rubber gel so that the bioplastic-rubber blend could be scaled up to commercially meaningful volumes. A new organic peroxide cure system was sourced, which is completely consumed during an initial heating step and so can be used to induce controlled and complete crosslinking. Hence, organic peroxide cured matched viscosity natural rubber (MVNR) was developed to achieve properties comparable to that of high viscosity rubber (Hevea gel). Different lodgings of peroxide such as 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 phr (parts per hundred rubber) were considered. Rheological and mechanical testing's were conducted on each of the peroxide cured natural rubber samples. 2phr peroxide (Luperox101XL45) cured natural rubber (SMR-L) at 180oC was found to have higher complex viscosity than Hevea gel. This matched viscosity natural rubber is referred as MVNR. Our next step was to incorporate this MVNR into a PHBV matrix. Dynamic vulcanization effectively dispersed and vulcanized the elastomeric (MVNR) phase within the thermoplastic (PHBV) matrix. Such systems (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Koelling Kurt PhD (Advisor); Cornish Katrina PhD (Committee Member); Vodovotz Yael PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Packaging; Plastics; Polymer Chemistry; Polymers

  • 19. Ramanathan, Arun Kumar Dynamic response of a shipping container rack and suspended automotive parts under random excitation: Experimental, Computational and Analytical Studies

    Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2017, Mechanical Engineering

    Shipping containers are exposed to complex dynamic loading conditions during transport via truck, rail, and air. The loading conditions are further complicated by contact gap nonlinearities between the cart and ground, cart holders and suspended parts, and between neighboring suspended parts. This study focuses on developing a modeling strategy to simulate a container cart with parts undergoing random vibration tests based on standard road profiles. Initially, the linear system response to a random excitation profile of the cart structure is examined in frequency domain and correlated with experimental measurements. The linear system predictions lacked the required modeling fidelity to capture the nonlinear dynamic behavior observed during the testing as the container is loaded. Thus, the nonlinear response is then simulated in time domain using the explicit integration method with contact-driven boundary conditions using a commercially available finite element software. The total run time is determined to be prohibitively long for the time domain formulation, say over 5 seconds with a time step size of 0.3 microsec. Finally, a dynamic substructuring strategy is employed and implemented using super elements in the commercial finite element code. This particular method captured the dynamic amplification of the cart, maintained the contact nonlinearities, and reduced the computational burden. Further, a minimal order lumped model of the dynamic system is developed to understand the physics of the problem. Both lumped and finite element models consistently captured the nonlinear random vibration phenomenon and predicted the overall acceleration levels within 20% of measurements.
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    Committee: Rajendra Singh (Advisor); Jason Dreyer (Committee Member); Scott Noll (Committee Member) Subjects: Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Packaging

  • 20. Miranda, Michael Bio Based Active Barrier Materials and Package Development

    Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2016, Chemical Engineering

    The food and packaging industries are interested in approaches to reduce the permeability of oxygen in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to extend the shelf-life of product. This has led to considerable research in barrier improvement including the use of active scavenger that permanently bind oxygen. The purpose of this work is to investigate the use of renewably sourced unsaturated fatty acids as scavengers to reduce the O¬2 permeability in PET. Specifically fatty acids were characterized and incorporated within PET using both blended and reactive extrusion to analyze the impact on thermal-mechanical and oxygen transport properties. Oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid are renewably resourced unsaturated fatty acids that are being investigated as active scavenger. Utilization of scavenger capacity and kinetics of oxidation are two key parameters that must be considered while selecting a scavenger. The O¬2 uptake capacities and the utilization of scavenger sites analysis were used to determine the most appropriate scavenger used to make a copolymer with PET. Linoleic acid was chosen due to its higher utilization capacity and relatively fast kinetics the cost was also taken into account. Thus linoleic acid was used in preparation of PET/Scavenger system. The effect of addition of unsaturated fatty acid on the thermal, mechanical properties and morphology of PET, were analyzed by preparing blends of PET/linoleic acid of loading of (0.25-2 weight %). The presence of the scavenger were analyzed using end group analysis where an increase in carboxyl end group was determined and NMR to obtain the peaks for the fatty acid. The appropriate method to determine molecular weight was also established. Effects of permeation through amorphous and biaxial oriented films with and without linoleic acid were investigated. The bottles were produced in two different ways (i) reactive extruded bottle and (ii) blended bottles (0.5% weight loading of Linoleic acid). The mechanical pro (open full item for complete abstract)
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    Committee: Maria Coleman (Committee Chair); Saleh. A. Jabarin (Committee Co-Chair); Sridhar Vimajala (Committee Member); Yakov Lapitsky (Committee Member); Young- Wah Kim (Committee Member) Subjects: Chemical Engineering; Gases; Packaging; Polymers
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