Thermal properties of flax fiber scoured by different methods

Thermal properties of flax roves untreated and treated were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravity analyzer (TGA) in order to understand their thermal behavior in more detail and to evaluate the effect of scouring processing on the thermal behavior. Flax roves were treated with six kinds of methods including biological scouring, one bath, two bath, bleaching, alkali scouring and industry chemical scouring as standards. Results showed that all treatments improved thermal stability of flax roves. The results indicated that glass transition temperature (Tg) decreased after scouring besides the sample by directly bleaching. It is more difficult to determine the endothermic peak of flax treated by chemical scouring in industry because it takes a very flat course. A distinct endothermic peak was observed for the untreated flax rove, while a distinct exothermic peak in different temperature interval was revealed for other four treated flax rove samples. For TGA analysis, thermal degradation of flax roves studied consists of three regions of the initial, main, and char decomposition, and the third stage consists of secondary weight loss and carbonization for flax roves with biological scouring, one-bath and two-bath. Besides, different residue left indicates that the bio-scoured flax roves are lost with volatile products and does not contribute to char formation. These results provide valuable preferences for mechanism and top value added application of bio-scouring in flax roves.

EFFECT OF HIGH MAGNETIC FIELD ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF MELT-SPUN FE-PT-B AMORPHOUS ALLOY

The crystallization of melt-spun Fe - Pt - B amorphous alloy with a thickness of 20 µm in steady high magnetic field (HMF) was investigated. The intensity of the applied magnetic field is 0-10 T along with the ribbons annealed at temperature ranging from 673 K to 873 K. The direction of the performed magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction of surface velocity of the Cu wheel. The thermal magnetic properties of the samples were obtained by the thermal gravity analyzer with a magnet attached to the outside of the furnace filled with flowing inert gas. The phase transformations of Fe - Pt - B amorphous alloy on heating with and without the steady HMF were studied by X-ray diffractometry together with the melt-spun ribbon. The average grain size of the samples annealed in HMF was about 10 nm calculated from the XRD patterns. The HMF was thought to be effective on the refinement of nanograins which were produced by the crystallization of the amorphous ribbon during the annealing process.