Fabrication, characterization and environmental monitoring of polymer-based materials for biomedical and structural applications

Polymers are versatile materials utilized for variety of applications. In biomedical field, luminescence quenching based optical oxygen sensors encapsulated in polymeric substances are gaining attention for early detection of surface wounds associated with tissue oxygen. A simple and low-cost fabrication technique was developed to produce sensor arrays for continuous two-dimensional oxygen tension measurement. Sensor patch along with smart phone-based readout technique is being evaluated as a smart bandage. The environmental concerns and limited petroleum supply demand for replacing petroleum-based polymers with renewable bio-based sources while maintaining comparable properties. A sustainable and green approach was adopted to synthesize soy polyol-derived rigid polyurethane foam for structural and thermal insulation applications. The focus was to investigate the effect of different additives on synthesis of these foams and their mechanical and thermal properties. Its potential for use in structural insulated panel for energy-efficient and modular building construction is being evaluated. The emission of hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is of great concern when the recycled materials such as rubber and motor oil are used as processing aids with asphalt pavement materials for road construction. To monitor the potential environmental risks, a portable gas chromatography (GC) was employed in the development of a rapid and sensitive detection method for on-site monitoring of toxic VOCs, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX). The method was applied for on-line monitoring of BTEX gas emission during the hot-mix-asphalt processing with recycled materials --Abstract, page iv