Newly commercialized PEDOT:PSS products CLEVIOS PH1000 and FE-T, among the most conducting of polymers, show unexpectedly higher Seebeck coefficients than older CLEVIOS P products that were studied by other groups in the past, leading to promising thermoelectric (TE) power factors around 47 μW/m K(2) and 30 μW/m K(2) respectively. By incorporating both n and p type Bi(2)Te(3) ball milled powders into these PEDOT:PSS products, power factor enhancements for both p and n polymer composite materials are achieved. The contact resistance between Bi(2)Te(3) and PEDOT is identified as the limiting factor for further TE property improvement. These composites can be used for all-solution-processed TE devices on flexible substrates as a new fabrication option.

This review covers sonochemical fabrication of polymer nanocomposites. In addition to its application to the synthesis of various polymeric systems, due to its powerful efficiency, sonochemistry has been widely used not only as the assistant of dispersion for nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes (CNT) and organophillic clay, but also as a special initiator to enhance polymerization for fabrication of polymer nanocomposites with CNT and metallic nanoparticles. Recent developments in the preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotube/polymer nanocomposites with polystyrene and PMMA, magnetic particle/CNT composites and polymer/clay nanocomposites along with their physical characteristics and potential engineering applications will be introduced. Physical characterizations include morphological, thermal, and rheological properties under either an applied electric or magnetic field.

Starch, protein and lipids, the major components in lotus seeds, affected taste and cooking properties of the food. The chemical compositions, gelatinization properties, crystal structure of the starch, compositions of fatty acids and soluble protein of lotus seeds, stored for 24 months, 12 months and as fresh were studied. The overall starch, protein and lipid contents in lotus seeds remained unchanged during storage, but structural changes occurred. The contents of amylose and free fatty acid increased significantly during prolonged storage, but the solubility of protein decreased dramatically. The increases of onset temperature, peak temperature and gelatinization enthalpy of lotus seed starch were also studied by a differential scanning calorimetry. Its content especially for disulfide bonds, increased from 63.24 to 95.59 μ mol/g. All changes had significant correlation with storage time and ultimately denatured the sensory quality of selected aged lotus seeds. The study could be conductive to fresh lotus seed discrimination from stale seed, and dynamic monitoring of lotus seed, by determination chemical deterioration of lotus seeds during storage. Practical Applications This study is helpful to discriminate fresh lotus seed from stale seed, and explain aging mechanism, and put forward the improvement measures of lotus seed storage conditions.