Degradation in seawater of structural adhesives for hybrid fibre-metal laminated materials

The adhesives used for applications in marine environments are subject to particular chemical conditions, which are mainly characterised by an elevated chlorine ion content and intermittent wetting/drying cycles, among others.These conditions can limit the use of adhesives due to the degradation processes that they experience. In this work, the chemical degradation of two different polymers, polyurethane and vinylester, was studied in natural seawater under immersion for different periods of time.The diffusion coefficients and concentration profiles of water throughout the thickness of the adhesiveswere obtained.Microstructural changes in the polymer due to the action of water were observed by SEM, and the chemical degradation of the polymer was monitored with the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The degradation of the mechanical properties of the adhesive was determined by creep tests withMixed Cantilever Beam (MCB) specimens at different temperatures. After 180 days of immersion of the specimens, it was concluded that the J-integral value (depending on the strain) implies a loss of stiffness of 51% and a decrease in the failure load of 59% for the adhesive tested.

Schizosaccharomyces selective differential media

This study discusses the optimisation of a selectiv e and differential medium which would facilitate the isolation of Schizosaccharomyces (a genus with a low incidence compared to other microorganisms) to select individuals from this genus for industrial purposes, especially in light of the recent approval of the use of yeasts from this genus in the wine industry by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, or to detect the presence of such yeasts, for those many authors who consider them food spoilers. To this end, we studied various selective differential agents based on the main thephysiological characteristics of this species, such as its high resistance to high concentrations of sugar, sulfur dioxide, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, acetic acid or malo ethanolic fermentation. This selective medium is based on the resistance of the genus to the antibiotic actidione and its high resistance to inhibitory agents such as benzoic acid compared to possible microorganisms which can give rise to false positive results. Malic acid was used as a differential fact or due to the ability of this genus to metabolise it to ethanol, which allows detecting of the degradation of this compound. Lastly, the medium was successfully used to isolate strains of Schizosaccharomyces pombe from honey.