Background. Most of the current models for experimental burns pose difficulties in ensuring consistency and standardization.Aim of Study. We aimed to develop an automated, reproducible technique for experimental burns using steam-based heat transfer.Methods. The system developed for steam exposure was based on a novel, integrated, computer-controlled design. Three groups of rats were exposed to steam for 1, 3, and 7 seconds. The lesions were evaluated after 20 minutes, 48 hours, and 72 hours after burn induction.Results. One-second steam application produced a superficial second-degree burn; three-second application induced deep second-degree burn; and seven-second application led to a third-degree burn.Conclusion. The high level of automation of our integrated, computer-controlled system makes the difference between our system and other models, by ensuring the control of the duration of exposure, temperature, and pressure and eliminating as many potential human generated errors as possible. The automated system can accurately reproduce specific types of burns, according to histological assessment. This model could generate the reproducible data needed in the study of burn pathology and in order to assess new treatments.

This paper prepared composites under the free membranes form that are based on thermoplastic polymers of the type of polyurethane (TPU) and polyolefin (TPO), which are blended in the weight ratio of 2:1, and ceramic nanoparticles (CNs) such as BaSrTiO₃ and SrTiO₃. The structural, optical, and conductive properties of these new composite materials are reported. The X-ray diffraction studies highlight a cubic crystalline structure of these CNs. The main variations in the vibrational properties of the TPU:TPO blend induced by CNs consist of the following: (i) the increase in the intensity of the Raman line of 1616 cm⁻¹; (ii) the down-shift of the IR band from 800 to 791 cm⁻¹; (iii) the change of the ratio between the absorbance of IR bands localized in the spectral range 950–1200 cm⁻¹; and (iv) the decrease in the absorbance of the IR band from 1221 cm⁻¹. All these variations were correlated with a preferential adsorption of thermoplastic polymers on the CNs surface. A photoluminescence (PL) quenching process of thermoplastic polymers is demonstrated to occur in the presence of CNs. The anisotropic PL measurements have highlighted a change in the angle of the binding of the TPU:TPO blend, which varies from 23.7° to ≈49.3° and ≈53.4°, when the concentration of BaSrTiO₃ and SrTiO₃ CNs, respectively, is changed from 0 to 25 wt. %. Using dielectric spectroscopy, two mechanisms are invoked to take place in the case of the composites based on TPU:TPO blends and CNs, i.e., one regarding the type of the electrical conduction and another specifying the dielectric–dipolar relaxation processes.