@article{li_zambrano_wang_marquez_2022, title={How China's Foreign Waste Ban Will Reshape the US Recycling Supply Chain: Economic and Environmental Considerations towards a Circular Economy Oriented Paper Recycling Industry}, volume={17}, ISSN={["1930-2126"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85134501507&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.15376/biores.17.2.3178-3201}, abstractNote={Until recently, China was the largest scrap and unsorted waste importer in the world. Chinese industries sorted the imported wastes and recovered plastic, paper, textiles, and metals, using them as raw materials for manufacturing processes. Since 2013, the Chinese government has imposed measures to ban the import of wastes, the latest one being the “National Sword” policy (fully deployed in January 2021), banning the import of unsorted and recycled wastes. As a result, collecting wastes and recyclables and sending them to China is no longer an option; this has drastically affected the recycling industry supply chain with considerable consequences. This study analyzed the development of Chinese foreign policies on the export of paper waste materials from the U.S. and their specific impact on the recovered paper recycling industry. The economic and environmental consequences of the policy on the U.S. paper recycling industry were analyzed using three scenarios: landfilling (as a baseline), incineration, and recycling. The CO2 emissions were estimated and then compared. It was found that recycling would result in the largest reduction in greenhouse gases. Although recycling was the best evaluated scenario, it has the greatest costs; therefore, possible solutions towards adding value to paper wastes were analyzed.}, number={2}, journal={BIORESOURCES}, author={Li, Yali and Zambrano, Franklin and Wang, Yuhan and Marquez, Ronald}, year={2022}, month={May}, pages={3178–3201} }
 @misc{pawlak_frazier_vera_wang_gonzalez_2022, title={Review: The Softness of Hygiene Tissue}, volume={17}, ISSN={["1930-2126"]}, DOI={10.15376/biores.17.2.Pawlak}, abstractNote={The hygiene tissue industry has an extensive global market that is quickly growing. Market research has indicated that softness is one of consumers’ most highly desired properties. For certain hygiene tissue products (specifically bath tissue), this property can influence prices. A better understanding of the science of softness would allow companies to engineer soft tissue more economically and efficiently. Softness is a subjective perception related to physical aspects that make it challenging to express and measure. Human handfeel panel testing, which ranks the specimens through physical tests, has been recognized as the most reliable method to measure tissue softness. Much effort has been expanded in correlating the panel test results with some measurable properties. In this regard, equipment has been recently developed by combining several different mechanical, surface, and acoustic properties to characterize softness. In comparison with panel tests, these instruments (e.g., tissue softness analyzer) have been found to give equivalent softness metrics. A combination of materials selection and manufacturing operations are used to create softer tissue sheets. This paper reviews the sensation of softness as perceived by the human touch, techniques for measuring softness, the influence of fiber on softness, manufacturing techniques, and additives used for softness enhancement.}, number={2}, journal={BIORESOURCES}, author={Pawlak, Joel J. and Frazier, Ryen and Vera, Ramon E. and Wang, Yuhan and Gonzalez, Ronalds}, year={2022}, month={May}, pages={3509–3550} }
 @article{zambrano_wang_zwilling_venditti_jameel_rojas_gonzalez_2021, title={Micro- and nanofibrillated cellulose from virgin and recycled fibers: A comparative study of its effects on the properties of hygiene tissue paper}, volume={254}, ISSN={0144-8617}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117430}, DOI={10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117430}, abstractNote={This study aims to understand the effect of micro- and nanofibrillated cellulose (MNFC) on the tensile index, softness, and water absorbency of tissue paper. MNFC was produced from four different fiber sources. The results show that MNFC acts as an effective strength enhancer at the expense of a reduced water absorbency and softness. The impact of the fiber source on MNFC manufacturing cost and the trade-off with performance was also investigated. MNFCs produced from southern bleached hardwood kraft, northern bleached softwood kraft, and deinked pulp exhibited similar performance trends with the MNFC from the deinked pulp having a significantly lower cost. This suggests that MNFCs with similar degrees of fibrillation may be used interchangeably regardless of the fiber source, revealing the possibility to minimize MNFC manufacturing costs based on fiber selection. MNFC produced from bleached Eucalyptus kraft showed the lowest degree of fibrillation and the lowest strength improvements among the MNFCs evaluated.}, journal={Carbohydrate Polymers}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Zambrano, Franklin and Wang, Yuhan and Zwilling, Jacob D. and Venditti, Richard and Jameel, Hasan and Rojas, Orlando and Gonzalez, Ronalds}, year={2021}, month={Feb}, pages={117430} }
 @article{gong_wang_zhang_huang_wang_2020, title={Preparation and Characterization of Soybean Oil-based Flame Retardant Rigid Polyurethane Foams Containing Phosphaphenanthrene Groups}, volume={17}, ISSN={["1875-6255"]}, DOI={10.2174/1570178617666200224104336}, abstractNote={

A phosphaphenanthrene groups containing soybean oil based polyol (DSBP) was synthesized
by epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) and 9,10-dihydro-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide
(DOPO). Soybean oil based polyol (HSBP) was synthesized by ESO and H2O. The chemical structure
of DSBP and HSBP were characterized with FT-IR and 1H NMR. The corresponding rigid polyurethane
foams (RPUFs) were prepared by mixing DSBP with HSBP. The results revealed apparent density
and compression strength of RPUFs decreased with increasing the DSBP content. The cell structure
of RPUFs was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) which displayed the cells as spherical
or polyhedral. The thermal degradation and flame retardancy of RPUFs were investigated by thermogravimetric
analysis, limiting oxygen index (LOI), and UL 94 vertical burning test. The degradation
activation energy (Ea) of first degradation stage reduced from 80.05 kJ/mol to 37.84 kJ/mol with 80
wt% DSBP. The RUPF with 80 wt% DSBP achieved UL94 V-0 rating and LOI 28.3. The results
showed that the flame retardant effect was mainly in both gas phase and condensed phase.
}, number={10}, journal={LETTERS IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY}, author={Gong, Qirui and Wang, Niangui and Zhang, Kaibo and Huang, Shizhao and Wang, Yuhan}, year={2020}, pages={760–771} }
 @article{wang_zambrano_venditti_dasmohapatra_de assis_reisinger_pawlak_gonzalez_2019, title={Effect of Pulp Properties, Drying Technology, and Sustainability on Bath Tissue Performance and Shelf Price}, volume={14}, ISSN={["1930-2126"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85075253887&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.15376/biores.14.4.9410-9428}, abstractNote={The relationship between the types of pulp, the tissue making technologies, and shelf price of bath tissue was evaluated for the North American market. Twenty-four market tissue samples (representing approximately 80% of the current market offering) were sourced and analyzed along with their nationwide price information. Pulp composition, drying technologies, market share, sustainability advertising, and tissue properties were evaluated. Tissue properties, including softness, ball burst strength, water absorbency, density, tensile strength, and tensile modulus were measured. Among all the drying technologies, creped through-air dry (CTAD) and creped through-air dry belt (CTADB) seemed to improve tissue softness most. The UCTAD maximized tissue bulk by drying the tissue web solely using a through-air (TAD) cylinder. Tissue samples with freeness between 575 to 650 mL seemed to have their properties improved more significantly through advanced drying technologies. It was found that the retail prices of these bath tissues were directly related to softness, bulkiness, water absorbency, and basis weight. A mathematical model was conducted to predict the retail price of bath tissue (based on product performance and attributes). This paper also identified the effect of “sustainability” on the retail price.}, number={4}, journal={BIORESOURCES}, author={Wang, Yuhan and Zambrano, Franklin and Venditti, Richard and Dasmohapatra, Sudipta and De Assis, Tiago and Reisinger, Lee and Pawlak, Joel and Gonzalez, Ronalds}, year={2019}, month={Nov}, pages={9410–9428} }
 @article{wang_de assis_zambrano_pal_venditti_dasmohapatra_pawlak_gonzalez_2018, title={Relationship between human perception of softness and instrument measurements}, volume={14}, ISSN={1930-2126 1930-2126}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.15376/biores.14.1.780-795}, DOI={10.15376/biores.14.1.780-795}, abstractNote={Softness, as a subjective perception, is difficult to define and quantify. For decades, panel tests have been used to judge differences in the softness of hygiene tissue samples. Panel tests can be a time-consuming and expensive process. A number of protocols have been developed to quantify the physical properties of tissues associated with softness. The Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA) by Emtec has gained popularity in characterizing the physical properties of tissues associated with softness. The instrument was designed with softness in mind and attempts to simulate the touch of the human hand. There is currently no comprehensive study that compares the results from a TSA and human panel. In this work, panel tests were used to validate the performance of the TSA with bath tissue. It was determined that one component of the TSA measurements (TS7) linearly correlated with the panel results. Among all of the algorithms available for use with the TSA, the TP2 algorithm most accurately predicted the panel scores. The TSA performed better in predicting the softness of the samples that were dried with a conventional wet press or creped-through air-dryer.}, number={1}, journal={BioResources}, publisher={BioResources}, author={Wang, Yuhan and de Assis, Tiago and Zambrano, Franklin and Pal, Lokendra and Venditti, Richard and Dasmohapatra, Sudipta and Pawlak, Joel and Gonzalez, Ronalds}, year={2018}, month={Dec}, pages={780–795} }
 @article{zhang_hong_wang_wang_2018, title={Flame retardant polyurethane foam prepared from compatible blends of soybean oil-based polyol and phosphorus containing polyol}, volume={135}, ISSN={["1097-4628"]}, DOI={10.1002/app.45779}, abstractNote={ABSTRACTA phosphorus containing polyether polyol (THPO‐PO) was synthesized by polymerization between tris(hydroxymethyl) phosphine oxide (THPO) and propylene oxide (PO). A soybean oil‐based polyol(SBP) was synthesized from epoxidized soybean oil by ring‐opening reaction with lactic acid. The corresponding polyurethane foams (PUFs) were prepared by mixing SBP with THPO‐PO. The density of these foams decreased as the content of THPO‐PO increased. The yield strength of PUFs was observed to be decreased firstly and then increased with the addition of THPO‐PO. Microphotographs of PUFs were examined by scanning electron microscope which displayed the cells as spherical or polyhedral. The thermal degradation and fire behavior of PUFs were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, limiting oxygen index (LOI), and UL‐94 test. Although the thermal stability of PUFs were decreased with increasing THPO‐PO percentage, the flame retardancy of PUFs were improved. The LOI value increased to 27.5 with 40% THPO‐PO. THPO‐PO in sequence worked in inhibiting flame and forming phosphorus‐rich char layer, thus endowing PUFs with the increased flame‐retardant performance. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 45779.}, number={5}, journal={JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE}, author={Zhang, Kaibo and Hong, Yongbo and Wang, Niangui and Wang, Yuhan}, year={2018}, month={Feb} }