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This study aims to investigate the behavior of the green biomass-derived copper (lignin/silica/fatty acids) complex, copper lignin/silica/fatty acids (Cu-LSF) complex, when incorporated into the nonpolar ethylene propylene diene (EPDFM) rubber matrix, focusing on its reinforcing and antioxidant effect on the resulting EPDM composites.

The structure of the prepared EPDM composites was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and the dispersion of the additive fillers and antioxidants in the EPDM matrix was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Also, the rheometric characteristics, mechanical properties, swelling behavior and thermal gravimetric analysis of all the prepared EPDM composites were explored as well.

Results revealed that the Cu-LSF complex dispersed well in the nonpolar EPDM rubber matrix, in thepresence of coupling system, with enhanced Cu-LSF-rubber interactions and increased cross-linking density, which reflected on the improved rheological and mechanical properties of the resulting EPDM composites. From the various investigations performed in the current study, the authors can suggest 7–11 phr is the optimal effective concentration of Cu-LSF complex loading. Interestingly, EPDM composites containing Cu-LSF complex showed better antiaging performance, thermal stability and fluid resistance, when compared with those containing the commercial antioxidants (2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline and N-isopropyl-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine). These findings are in good agreement with our previous study on polar nitrile butadiene rubber.

The current study suggests the green biomass-derived Cu-LSF complex to be a promising low-cost and environmentally safe alternative filler and antioxidant to the hazardous commercial ones.

Personal Protective Equipment plays an inevitable part in the current scenario of pandemics in the world. A novel coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus-2 (SARS-Cov 2), began as an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019, and quickly spread worldwide. It quickly escalated into an international public health crisis. This opened up the high demand for the innovation and research of new materials in the Personal Protective Equipment industry.

PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar were searched for relevant literature regarding personal protective equipment and the information was organized in a systematic way.

There are no adequate number of studies taken up in the field of use of textiles in medical applications especially with PPEs.

This structured review will generate a sense of the significance of using PPE for controlling pandemics and also awaken need for additional research and innovations in this area.

The authorities of the management should take timely intervention in choosing the right material for their PPE in their hospitals. Hence health care professionals teams have an inevitable role in preventing the adverse environmental impact due to the inadvertent disposal of PPEs.

There is a lack of systematic way of disposing contaminated single-use face masks in a safe, environmentally acceptable manner. The dumping of single-use PPE in domestic garbage has had an adverse effect on the environment. Mismanaged plastic waste endangers the health of ecosystems by polluting marine and terrestrial environments, posing a significant risk of ingestion or injury to animals and contaminating habitats.

This review article provides an in-depth review of the use of different materials in PPE and challenges regarding its long-term use and implications on the environment.

This study aims to explore the serendipitous discovery of integrated reporting (IR) by Alpha, an Italian small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). Alpha piqued the curiosity when the authors discovered that it experimented with IR alongside other management accounting practices, such as the Balanced Scorecard. As the authors reflected on Alpha’s experiences, the authors had to opportunistically develop a new framework to understand the change that was taking place at Alpha fully. Thus, the authors developed the serendipitous drift framework. This study contributes to addressing the gap between management accounting research that sees change as a planned, ordered process versus research that sees it as an unmanageable drift.

The authors ground the research on a qualitative methodology based on a single case study. This methodology allows us to focus on understanding what has happened at Alpha to discover new themes and provide theoretical generalisations. The authors developed the framework using middle-range thinking and fleshed it out using empirical findings from the case study. Middle-range thinking implies going back and forth between the theory and the empirical material. Therefore, the authors develop the serendipitous drift framework from prior theories and use it to inform the empirical study. In turn, the empirical material collected in Alpha helps refine and flesh out the serendipitous drift framework. The framework explains how Alpha leveraged serendipity to steer change towards favourable outcomes for them.

The authors find that the search for change undertaken by Alpha’s managers was non-specific but purposeful. Their dispositions were sagacious enough to recognise the potential value found in management accounting practices, such as IR and the Balanced Scorecard. They chanced upon new and unforeseen practices through trial and error, iteration, internal engagement and networking.

Overall, the results indicate that Alpha’s managers shaped the disorder of management accounting changes, even though it followed unexpected, uncertain and messy paths. Indeed, appropriate informal controls can act as a frame of reference for choosing, adapting and implementing new management accounting practices to shape the disorder. Informal controls can both guide and bound the experimentation process towards desirable outcomes.

The authors contribute to management accounting change theory by developing a framework rooted in serendipity and drifting theories. The framework identifies how searching, sagacity and chance are essential for making positive, unexpected discoveries. Therefore, the authors provide novel insights on how and why IR and other management accounting practices are eventually translated and adopted in the case company. Moreover, the serendipitous drift framework has the potential to help managers frame cultural controls to actively seek opportunities for valuable serendipitous eureka moments through networking and experimentation.

Industries worldwide have been striving to serve the increasing demand of consumers alongside providing importance to environmental issues. Yet, there are concern-raising changes on the planet, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting in a temperature rise. India remains a vital party of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. Henceforth, the paper aims to study the increased emissions of GHG in Puducherry, an Indian Union Territory that faces tremendous pressure owing to its denser population.

The research is designed as a case study conducted in a tyre manufacturing unit in Puducherry. The industrial sector was chosen, as it is the largest contributor (78%) of the total GHG emissions. Case studies were chosen to analyse the GHG emissions and the effects of implementing the policies and imposing interventions over time. The identified areas of improvement, proposed changes and the implemented ones with the results over a three-year period have been discussed.

The present study’s GHG inventorisation for Puducherry paved the way for preparing mitigation and adaptation plans. A total of 21 and 48 changes were incorporated to conserve fuel and power, respectively. A significant 11% reduction in power consumption and 1,113,008/litres of furnace oil was achieved. This translates to 5,115 tCO₂ and 3,306 tCO₂, respectively.

This research will help to improve the importance of climate change management in the manufacturing sector, and it will pave the way for achieving effective sustainable practices.

Such case studies could cumulatively impact the policy directives/ interventions on GHG emissions. Though this seems a small leap, putting them into practice at firm levels would contribute significantly towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

This study aims to probe the applicability of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) functionalized ionic liquids (ILs) as additives in lithium complex grease (LCG) by researching the corrosion inhibiting, rheological and tribological performances.

Electrochemical tests such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization curves were used on Gamry electrochemical workstation to research the corrosion inhibition properties of ILs in 1.0 M HCl corrosive solution. The rheological properties of different grease samples were tested on a rheometer. The tribological properties were investigated on SRV-V oscillating reciprocating friction and wear tester. Scanning electron microscope, X-ray spectrometer and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer were used to characterize the lubricating mechanism.

The 2-MBT functionalized ILs have excellent corrosion inhibition properties. When used as additives in LCG, they both exhibited enhancing effects on thermostability, colloid stability and structural recoverability, and furthermore, outstanding friction-reducing and antiwear properties were also obtained. Surface analysis indicated that the superior lubricating performances of 2-MBT functionalized ILs were mainly ascribed to the formation of tribochemical products on wear tracks, including organic compounds with C–O bond, Fe₂O₃ and FeS₂.

The 2-MBT-based ILs synthesized in this study were multifunctional additives with excellent corrosion inhibiting and tribological properties, which would have a very broad application prospect in lubricating grease industry.