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The Pittsburg Micropolitan Area Economic Report, Quarter 3, 2024
Get PDFThe Pittsburg Micropolitan Area Economic Report is created by the Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) at Pittsburg State University
HIGHLY FLAME-RETARDANT BIO-BASED FOAMS USING CASTOR OIL AND MELAMINE-BASED INTUMESCENT FLAME RETARDANTS
Get PDFOne of the considerable forms of polyurethanes (PUs) with significant potential for insulation and energy efficiency is rigid foam, which is mostly utilized in the construction, refrigeration, and automobile sectors. However, RPUFs are quite combustible and may ignite and spread flames rapidly. As an economical, environmentally friendly, and effective alternative to non-halogenated flame retardants (FRs), nitrogen-based chemical substances are used to reduce the flammability of PU foam. It is demonstrated by research that the ideal choice for incorporating flame-retardant compounds with rigid polyurethane foams is based on melamine derivatives, which majorly contain nitrogen in their structure. Adding melamine and its derivatives to rigid foam enhances its thermal stability and efficiency to prevent fire spread. This thesis aims to incorporate environmentally friendly components into the castor oil polyol, which is utilized to make rigid polyurethane foams. In addition to these, castor oil is inedible and has many functionalized chemical groups that can be used to create polyurethane even without modification. The limited load-bearing capability and lack of thermal stability of RPUFs derived from castor oil restrict their industrial application. These limitations were addressed in two ways: (i) by adding additional hydroxyl groups using standard chemistry methods - the crosslinking density was increased; and (ii) by adding three environmentally friendly FRs - the thermal stability of polyurethane foams was improved. Based on test conclusions, 210 kPa of compression strength, 95% closed cell content, and an apparent density of 37.50 kg/m3 were observed in the manufactured castor oil-based polyurethane foams without FRs. Even after the addition of FRs, the structural integrity of the foam remains the same indicating the better compatibility of FRs and the castor oil-based PU matrix. As the flame-retardant proportion increased, it also raised flame-retardancy and thermal stability. While rigid polyurethane foams based on castor oil and FRs based on nitrogen showed good mechanical properties and relatively poor thermal stabilities, rigid polyurethane foams based on castor oil and FRs based on phosphorus and nitrogen demonstrated good thermal qualities but relatively poor mechanical characteristics. Nitrogen and phosphorous-based rigid polyurethane foams containing castor oil perform better flame retardancy. This work illustrated that FRs based on nitrogen and phosphorus can lower the flammability of polyurethanes derived from castor oil without significantly altering their physical properties
CASTOR OIL-BASED POLYURETHANE ADHESIVES: EFFECT OF CROSS-LINKER ON THE BOND STRENGTH
Get PDFAdhesives are important for binding diverse materials, promoting structural integrity and functional versatility in countless daily life applications. An enormous obstacle remains in the development of polyurethane (PU) adhesives exhibiting excellent bonding strength. Designing a chain extender with appropriate molecular structures is critical to improving the bonding strength of PU-based adhesives. In this work, PU-based adhesive was prepared using castor-oil-based polyol (COP) and diisocyanate. The bonding strength of the adhesive was improved by adding chain extenders such as N, N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl) thiophene-2,5-dicarboxamide (ETP) and N, N-Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-terephthalamide (ETAM). The modified adhesive showed high bonding strength after the addition of chain extenders due to the presence of the dicarboxamide group, which served as a center for hydrogen bonding. The bonding strength of PU adhesive increased to 7.22 and 9.68 MPa from 5.0 MPa after the addition of 7.5 wt.% of ETP and 5.0 wt.% of ETAM, respectively. The bonding strength of the adhesives was tested on both wood (oak) and metal (stainless steel) coupons. The bonding strength of 9.68 MPa on oak wood and 6.73 MPa on stainless steel coupon was observed for the 5.0 wt.% of ETAM-based PU adhesive. The bonding failure was observed to be due to wood failure. The reason behind the good bonding is noncovalent bonds which are formed between the functional group of the PU molecular chain and the surface of the substrate. In addition, no major changes in Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy after keeping these adhesives in different solvents were observed. Good crosslinking is also confirmed by studying the gelling and swelling data of the adhesives
Action Clothes for American Women Display
No full textA display case in Special Collections for the Nelly Don Exhibit. Inside are photos from the Home Economics department at KSTC (now Pittsburg State) and Edith Head dress designs.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/nellydonlecture/1127/thumbnail.jp
Pretty Practical Aprons Display
No full textA display case in Special Collections for the Nelly Don Exhibit. Inside are books and advertisements related to fashion and Nelly Don.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/nellydonlecture/1129/thumbnail.jp
McCray Stage - Renovation
No full textMcCray stage during renovation. The plaster is up and the scaffolding is gone. People move parts.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/mccraybuilding/1037/thumbnail.jp
McCray Print
No full textBlack and white print of McCray Hall looking at the front entrancehttps://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/mccraybuilding/1055/thumbnail.jp
McCray Front Entrance
No full textBlack and white photo of McCray\u27s front entrance, the trees are full and tiny flowers dot the lawnhttps://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/mccraybuilding/1072/thumbnail.jp
McCray - Hallway
No full textBlack and white photo of one of the practice room hallways in McCrayhttps://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/mccraybuilding/1109/thumbnail.jp
Evaluation Of Implementing Clinical Partnerships for Fourth Semester Bachelor Of Science in Nursing (BSN) Students and Employers on Perception of Readiness to Practice
Get PDFAn Abstract of the Scholarly Project by
Gwendolyn K Chrisenbery MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Abstract
Today’s new graduate nurses are entering a complex and constantly evolving healthcare environment. Nursing education has not kept up with the changing environment, resulting in graduate nurses not being ready to practice at graduation. To better prepare graduate nurses for practice, education methods must evolve with the changing demands of healthcare (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021). Utilizing clinical partnerships between universities and healthcare facilities to provide clinical experience to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students could provide opportunities for learning that better prepare the graduate nurse for practice (Bowles et al., 2020). Twenty-one new graduate nurses from the Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) BSN Spring 2024 graduating cohort were surveyed on their perception of readiness to practice at graduation, satisfaction with Adult Health IV clinical, and feedback on how the clinical could be improved. The new graduate nurse’s direct supervisors were also sent a survey to assess the graduate nurse’s readiness to practice at graduation. The hypothesis was that data would support the use of clinical partnerships in preparing graduate nurses to be ready to practice at graduation and drive the creation of more opportunities for students to participate in clinical partnerships. Analysis of the data collected did not show a statistically significant difference in the perception of readiness to practice at graduation or the overall satisfaction with Adult Health IV clinical between the groups