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Fadiel AAM, Mohammed NS, Rahman ABA, Ali EAB, Abu-Lebdeh T, Petrescu FIT. Effect of Fly Ash on Mechanical Properties of Polymer Resin Grout. Biomimetics (Basel) 2023; 8:392. [PMID: 37754143 PMCID: PMC10526269 DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics8050392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
High-strength grout is specified to increase the bond between grout and bar in grouted connections and to ensure that the forces in the bars can be transferred to the surrounding material accordingly. Although polymer grout is fast setting and rapid in strength development, the use of polymer mortar in grouted connections is still limited because of the lack of information and familiarity practitioners have regarding the product. The goal of this work is to investigate the mechanical characteristics and performance of polyester grout containing fly ash that can be used as an infill material for grouted connections. This study focused on the composition of polymer grout, which typically consists of a binder, hardener, and filler. In this particular case, the binder was made of unsaturated polyester resin and hardener, while the filler was fine sand. The aim of the research was to investigate the potential benefits of incorporating fly ash as an additional filler in polymer resin grout and examine the mechanical properties of polymer resin grout. To this end, varying amounts of fly ash were added to the mix, ranging from 0% to 32% of the total filler by volume, with a fixed polymer content of 40%. The performance of the resulting grout was evaluated through flowability, compression, and splitting tensile tests. The results of the experiments showed that, at a fly ash volume of 28%, the combination of fine sand and fly ash led to an improvement in grout strength; specifically, at this volume of fly ash, the compressive and tensile strengths increased by 24.7% and 124%, respectively, compared to the control mix. However, beyond a fly ash volume of 28%, the mechanical properties of the grout started to deteriorate. Due its superior properties in terms of compressive and flexural strengths over all examined mixes, the PRG-40-28 mix is ideal for use in the infill material for mechanical connections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashraf A. M. Fadiel
- Department of Civil Engineering, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, El-Bieda P.O. Box 919, Libya; (A.A.M.F.); (N.S.M.)
| | - Nuria S. Mohammed
- Department of Civil Engineering, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, El-Bieda P.O. Box 919, Libya; (A.A.M.F.); (N.S.M.)
| | - Ahmad Baharuddin Abdul Rahman
- Department of Structure and Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru 81310, Johor, Malaysia;
| | - Esam Abu Baker Ali
- Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru 81310, Johor, Malaysia;
| | - Taher Abu-Lebdeh
- Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina A and T State University, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA;
| | - Florian Ion Tiberiu Petrescu
- “Theory of Mechanisms and Robots” Department, National University of Science and Technology POLYTECHNIC Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei Street 313, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
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Jin Y, Petrescu FIT, Wang Y, Li X, Li Y, Shi G. Spiropyran-Based Soft Substrate with SPR, Anti-Reflection and Anti-NRET for Enhanced Visualization/Fluorescence Dual Response to Metal Ions. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 16:ma16103746. [PMID: 37241374 DOI: 10.3390/ma16103746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The photoluminescence of modified spiropyran on solid surfaces is poor, and the fluorescence intensity of its MC form is weak, which affects its application in the field of sensing. In this work, a PMMA layer containing Au nanoparticles and a spiropyran monomolecular layer are coated on the surface of a PDMS substrate with inverted micro-pyramids successively by means of interface assembly and soft lithography, and the overall structure is similar to insect compound eyes. The anti-reflection effect of the bioinspired structure, the SPR (surface plasmon resonance) effect of the Au nanoparticles and the anti-NRET (non-radiation energy transfer) effect of the PMMA isolation layer raise the fluorescence enhancement factor of the composite substrate vs. the surface MC form of spiropyran to 5.06. In the process of metal ion detection, the composite substrate can achieve both colorimetric and fluorescence response, and the detection limit for Zn2+ can reach 0.281 μM. However, at the same time, the lack of the ability to recognize specific metal ions is expected to be further improved by the modification of spiropyran.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuebo Jin
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | | | - Yuan Wang
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Xin Li
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Ying Li
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Gang Shi
- The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
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Li X, Petrescu FIT, Danzeng Q, Zhu H, Li Y, Shi G. A Bioinspired Ag Nanoparticle/PPy Nanobowl/TiO 2 Micropyramid SERS Substrate. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:4104. [PMID: 36432388 PMCID: PMC9698954 DOI: 10.3390/nano12224104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, the micropyramid structure was transferred to the TiO2 substrate by soft imprinting. Then, the PPy nanobowls were assembled onto the surface of the TiO2 micropyramids through the induction of the PS template. Finally, a layer of Ag nanoparticles was deposited on the surface of PPy nanobowls to form a novel Ag nanoparticle/PPy nanobowl/TiO2 micropyramid SERS substrate. Its structure is similar to the bioinspired compound eyes. This substrate exhibited excellent antireflection, ultra-sensitivity, excellent uniformity, and recyclability. The concentration of R6G molecules can be detected as low as 10-9 mol/L, and the Raman enhancement factor can reach 3.4 × 105. In addition, the excellent catalytic degradation performance of the substrate ensures recyclability. This work proves that the micropyramid structure can be applied to other SERS materials besides silicon by the above methods, which broadens the selection range of composite SERS materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Li
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education; School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | | | - Qupei Danzeng
- Department of Tibetan medicine; University of Tibetan Medicine, Lhasa 540100, China
| | - Haiyan Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education; School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Ying Li
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education; School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Gang Shi
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education; School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
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Wei Z, Arshad N, Hui C, Irshad MS, Mushtaq N, Hussain S, Shah M, Naqvi SZH, Rizwan M, Shahzad N, Li H, Lu Y, Wang X. Interfacial Photothermal Heat Accumulation for Simultaneous Salt Rejection and Freshwater Generation; an Efficient Solar Energy Harvester. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:nano12183206. [PMID: 36144992 PMCID: PMC9503468 DOI: 10.3390/nano12183206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 09/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Water scarcity has emerged as an intense global threat to humanity and needs prompt attention from the scientific community. Solar-driven interfacial evaporation and seawater desalination are promising strategies to resolve the primitive water shortage issue using renewable resources. However, the fragile solar thermal devices, complex fabricating techniques, and high cost greatly hinder extensive solar energy utilization in remote locations. Herein, we report the facile fabrication of a cost-effective solar-driven interfacial evaporator and seawater desalination system composed of carbon cloth (CC)-wrapped polyurethane foam (CC@PU). The developed solar evaporator had outstanding photo-thermal conversion efficiency (90%) with a high evaporation rate (1.71 kg m-2 h-1). The interfacial layer of black CC induced multiple incident rays on the surface allowing the excellent solar absorption (92%) and intensifying heat localization (67.37 °C) under 1 kW m-2 with spatially defined hydrophilicity to facilitate the easy vapor escape and validate the efficacious evaporation structure using extensive solar energy exploitation for practical application. More importantly, the long-term evaporation experiments with minimum discrepancy under seawater conditions endowed excellent mass change (15.24 kg m-2 in consecutive 8 h under 1 kW m-2 solar irradiations) and promoted its operational sustainability for multi-media rejection and self-dissolving potential (3.5 g NaCl rejected from CC@PU surface in 210 min). Hence, the low-cost and facile fabrication of CC@PU-based interfacial evaporation structure showcases the potential for enhanced solar-driven interfacial heat accumulation for freshwater production with simultaneous salt rejection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhou Wei
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-Constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
| | - Naila Arshad
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU), Xi’an 710049, China
| | - Chen Hui
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-Constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
| | - Muhammad Sultan Irshad
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-Constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, College of Mechatronics and Control Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Naveed Mushtaq
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-Constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
| | - Shahid Hussain
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
| | - Matiullah Shah
- Department of Physics, University of Wah, Wah Cantonment 47040, Pakistan
| | - Syed Zohaib Hassan Naqvi
- Department of Electronics Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila 47080, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Rizwan
- Department of Physics, University of Wah, Wah Cantonment 47040, Pakistan
| | - Naeem Shahzad
- CE Wing, MCE, National University of Sciences and Technology Risalpur Campus, Risalpur 430062, Pakistan
| | - Hongrong Li
- Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU), Xi’an 710049, China
| | - Yuzheng Lu
- School of Electronic Engineering, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China
- Correspondence: (Y.L.); (X.W.); Tel./Fax: +86-278-866-1729 (X.W.)
| | - Xianbao Wang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-Constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
- Correspondence: (Y.L.); (X.W.); Tel./Fax: +86-278-866-1729 (X.W.)
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Yang J, Petrescu FIT, Li Y, Song D, Shi G. A Novel Bio-Inspired Ag/3D-TiO 2/Si SERS Substrate with Ordered Moth-like Structure. NANOMATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:3127. [PMID: 36144914 PMCID: PMC9501013 DOI: 10.3390/nano12183127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 08/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
This paper reports a novel method to fabricate a bio-inspired SERS substrate with low reflectivity, ultra-sensitivity, excellent uniformity, and recyclability. First, double layers of polystyrene spheres with different particle sizes were assembled on the surface of a silicon wafer to act as a moth-like template. Second, through the template sacrifice method, the TiO2 film with a three-dimensional moth-like eye structure was induced by the double-layer polystyrene spheres in the previous step, and its microscopic morphology showed a high degree of order. Finally, Ag nanoparticles were assembled on the TiO2 film to form a bio-inspired SERS substrate. This ordered bio-inspired structure can not only reduce reflection, but also reinforce the uniformity of hotspot density, which helps to improve the sensitivity and uniformity of the Raman signal. This bio-inspired SERS substrate can detect R6G molecules at a concentration as low as 1.0 × 10-10 mol/L, and its enhancement factor (EF) can reach 6.56 × 106. In addition, the composite of Ag and TiO2 can realize the photocatalytic degradation of R6G and then realize the recyclability of the SERS substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingguo Yang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | | | - Ying Li
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Dandan Song
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Gang Shi
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biotechnology Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
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Santoro S, Avci AH, Politano A, Curcio E. The advent of thermoplasmonic membrane distillation. Chem Soc Rev 2022; 51:6087-6125. [PMID: 35789347 DOI: 10.1039/d0cs00097c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Freshwater scarcity is a vital societal challenge related to climate change, population pressure, and agricultural and industrial demands. Therefore, sustainable desalination/purification of salty/contaminated water for human uses is particularly relevant. Membrane distillation is an emerging hybrid thermal-membrane technology with the potential to overcome the drawbacks of conventional desalination by a synergic exploitation of the water-energy nexus. Although membrane distillation is considered a green technology, efficient heat management remains a critical concern affecting the cost of the process and hindering its viability at large scale. A multidisciplinary approach that involves materials chemistry, physical chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials and polymer science is required to solve this problem. The combination of solar energy with membrane distillation is considered a potentially feasible low-cost approach for providing high-quality freshwater with a low carbon footprint. In particular, recent discoveries about efficient light-to-heat conversion in nanomaterials have opened unprecedented perspectives for the implementation of sunlight-based renewable energy in membrane distillation. The integration of nanofillers enabling photothermal effects into membranes has been demonstrated to be able to significantly enhance the energy efficiency without impacting on economic costs. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview on the state of the art, the opportunities, open challenges and pitfalls of the emerging field of solar-driven membrane distillation. We also assess the peculiar physicochemical properties and synthesis scalability of photothermal materials, as well as the strategies for their integration into polymeric nanocomposite membranes enabling efficient light-to-heat conversion and freshwater.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Santoro
- University of Calabria - Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Cubo 44 A, Via Pietro Bucci, 87036 Rende CS, Italy.
| | - Ahmet H Avci
- University of Calabria - Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Cubo 44 A, Via Pietro Bucci, 87036 Rende CS, Italy.
| | - Antonio Politano
- Department of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, via Vetoio, 67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Efrem Curcio
- University of Calabria - Department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Cubo 44 A, Via Pietro Bucci, 87036 Rende CS, Italy.
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