The crystallization kinetics of poly(ethy1ene terephthalate) was studied using constant cooling rate, isothermal and quenching experiments. A non-isothermal crystallization kinetics equation based on a single mechanism was used to analyze the data. Different mechanisms of crystallization at low, intermediate, and high cooling rates were hypothesized based on deviation of the experimental data from the single mechanism model.

The atomic force microscope (AFM), apart from its conventional use as a microscope, is also used for the characterization of the local mechanical properties of polymers. In fact, the elastic characterization of purely elastic materials using this instrument can be considered as a well-assessed technique while the characterization of the viscoelastic mechanical properties remains the challenge. In particular, one finds the mechanical behavior changing when performing indentations at different loading rates, i.e. on different time scales. Moreover, this apparent viscoelastic behavior can also be due to complex contact mechanics phenomena, with the onset of plasticity and long-term viscoelastic features which cannot be identified by the force curve alone. For this reason, a viscoelastic characterization, and thus the study of the effects of indentation rate and temperature, was done on model materials where such additional phenomena are not observed. Another time dependence originating from the instrument itself has also been identified and decoupled. In fact, the viscoelastic behavior has been found to be reproducible even if one changes the experimental set-up as far as the preliminary determinations concerning AFM nanoindentations are well performed. The effects of temperature and time scales on the mechanical behavior have also been undertaken. A check on time–temperature superposition is also attempted through the WLF equation and the apparent activation energies for the elementary motions in the rubbery and in the glass transition regions are in good agreement with the expected values.

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The residual imprint left behind by the AFM nanoindentation of polymers has been seldom studied in the past. In this work, the evolution of indentations at room temperature performed on a semicrystalline poly(ethylene) in a broad range of experimental conditions is presented. The study shows that the recovery after 24 h is substantial, although not complete. Moreover, the dynamics of the recovery process is not seen to depend on the magnitude of the applied load for the nanoindentation, but instead on the rate of the indentation used. This points out that viscoelastic processes are minimized when performing fast nanoindentations, while at low loading rates there seems to be a residual viscoelastic energy stored in the system. Although, the recovery process involves complex displacements and bending of crystalline lamellae, which is difficult to model theoretically, the present work attempts to quantify the magnitudes as well as the directions of such displacements for indentations involving from two to seven lamellae.

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False banana /Ensete ventricosum [Welw.] Cheesman/ is exploited as a food crop in Ethiopia where it represents an important staple food. The plant is harvested and large amounts of biomass residues are originated, mainly from the pseudo stem (i.e., fiber bundles obtained from the leaf sheaths after being scrapped to produce starchy food) and the inflorescence stalk. These materials were studied in relation to their summative chemical composition, composition of lignin, lipophilic and polar extracts. Moreover, their structural characteristics, in view of their valorization, were scrutinized. The analytical studies were performed with the aid of FTIR, GC/MS, Py-GC/MS and SEM. The fiber bundles are aggregates of mainly long and slender fibers with low ash, extractives and lignin contents (3.8%. 4.4% and 10.5% respectively) and high holocellulose and α-cellulose contents (87.5% and 59.6% respectively). The hemicelluloses in the fibers are mostly highly acetylated xylans and the lignin is of the H-type (H:G:S, 1:0.7:0.8). This lignin composition is in line with the FTIR peaks at 1670 cm-1 and 1250 cm-1.The inflorescence stalk has high ash content (12.3% in the main stalk and 24.6% in fines) with a major proportion of potassium, high extractives (25.9%), and low lignin and α-cellulose contents (5.8% and 17.9% respectively). The stalk includes numerous starch granules in the cellular structure with the predominant presence of parenchyma. The potential valorization routes for these materials are clearly different. The fiber bundles could be used as a fiber source for paper pulp production with the possibility of a prior hemicelluloses removal while the inflorescence stalk has nutritional value for food and fodder. Furthermore, it can also be used for sugar fermentation products.

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