Conductive polypyrrole (PPy) was synthesized using a chemical polymerization method in aqueous solution. A series of reactions were carried out with different reaction times of 240 mins and 20 mins. All results were compared to find the highest conductivity and yield. The formation of PPy was verified with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis which has detected the C-N and pyrrole stretching peaks at 1462 cm^-1 and 1169 cm^-1, respectively, while the x-ray diffraction (XRD) study has shown a broad halo pattern around 25 ̊ related to PPy. The PPy particles sizes of 5-20 microns were measured from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) image. It was found that in the presence of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBSNa) as surfactant, the highest conductivity value of 3.18 S/cm and yield of 68% were achieved at 20 mins reaction time and temperature of 0 °C.

Fiber-reinforced composites are among the recognized competing materials in various engineering applications. Ramie and pineapple leaf fibers are fascinating natural fibers due to their remarkable material properties. This research study aims to unveil the viability of hybridizing two kinds of lignocellulosic plant fiber fabrics in polymer composites. In this work, the hybrid composites were prepared with the aid of the hot compression technique. The mechanical, water-absorbing, and thickness swelling properties of ramie and pineapple leaf fiber fabric-reinforced polypropylene hybrid composites were identified. A comparison was made between non-hybrid and hybrid composites to demonstrate the hybridization effect. According to the findings, hybrid composites, particularly those containing ramie fiber as a skin layer, showed a prominent increase in mechanical strength. In comparison with non-hybrid pineapple leaf fabric-reinforced composites, the tensile, flexural, and Charpy impact strengths were enhanced by 52.10%, 18.78%, and 166.60%, respectively, when the outermost pineapple leaf fiber layers were superseded with ramie fabric. However, increasing the pineapple leaf fiber content reduced the water absorption and thickness swelling of the hybrid composites. Undeniably, these findings highlight the potential of hybrid composites to reach a balance in mechanical properties and water absorption while possessing eco-friendly characteristics.

The elimination of mercury, low energy consumption, and low heat make the ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) system emerge as a promising alternative to conventional UV-mercury radiation coating. Hence, a series of hydrophobic coatings based on urethane acrylate oligomer and fluorinated monomer via UV-LED photopolymerisation was designed in this paper. The presence of fluorine component at 1160 cm⁻¹, 1235 cm⁻¹, and 1296 cm⁻¹ was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy. A considerably high degree C=C conversion (96–98%) and gel fraction (95–93%) verified the application of UV-LED as a new technique in radiation coating. It is well-accepted that fluorinated monomer can change the surface wettability as the water contact angle of the coating evolved from 88.4° to 121.2°, which, in turn, reduced its surface free energy by 70.5%. Hence, the hydrophobicity of the coating was governed by the migration of the fluorine component to the coating surface as validated by scanning electron and atomic force microscopies. However, above 4 phr of fluorinated monomer, the transparency of the cured coating examined by UV-visible spectroscopy experienced approximately a 16% reduction. In summary, the utilisation of UV-LED was a great initiative to develop green aspect in photopolymerisation, particularly in coating technology.

In this paper, dissimilar joining of 316L stainless steel to low carbon steel was carried out using gas metal arc welding (GMAW) and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Samples were welded using AWS: ER309L welding electrode for GMAW and AWS: ER316L welding electrode for GTAW process. Determination of mechanical properties and material characterization on the welded joints were carried out using the Instron tensile test machine and an optical microscope respectively. The cross section area of the welded joint consists of three main areas namely the base metal (BM), heat affected zone (HAZ), and weld metal (WM). It was found that, the yield and tensile strengths of welded samples using ER316L filler metal were slightly higher than the welded sample using ER309L welding electrode. All welded samples fractured at low carbon steel base metal indicating that the regions of ER316L stainless steel base metal, ER316L filler metal and heat affected zone (HAZ) have a higher strength than low carbon steel base metal. It was also found that ER316L welding electrode was the best filler to be used for welding two dissimilar metals between carbon and stainless steel.

In polymer chemistry, polyol usually used as starting materials for polyurethane (PU) production in which upon reacted with isocyanate will affect the physical and chemical properties of the obtained PU. Polyols that are mostly derived from petrochemical resources are facing issues such as depletion of petroleum sources as well as the increasing in market price. Ring opening reaction (ROR) of epoxidized palm oil (EPO) had been carried out using isopropanolamine (IPA) to impart polyol with amine functionality. The effect of reaction time on the opening of oxirane ring was investigated. FTIR spectra showed that the oxirane ring opening of EPO can occur at 6 hours reaction time, corresponding to the deacreasing intensity of oxirane COO twin band at 824-830 cm-1. The OH value of the amine- functionalized-polyol was calculated at around 240-253 mg KOH/g. By prolonging the reaction time the OH value has slightly reduced. Mass spectroscopy analysis revealed that the polyol has a molecular weight in the range of oligo-polyols (400 – 500 Da).