The strength and hydraulic conductivity characteristics of sewage sludge ash and natural soil mixtures - a sustainable alternate landfill liner material.

This paper examines the feasibility of the natural soil and sewage sludge ash (SSA) mixtures, which satisfy the criteria to be used as landfill liners. The effect of SSA content on hydraulic conductivity and strength characteristics of natural soil and SSA mixtures has been investigated through a series of laboratory tests. The results demonstrate that mixtures exhibit an increase in both hydrodynamic diffusion coefficient and strength with the increasing SSA content.

Upconversion luminescence and optical thermometry behaviors of Yb and Ho co-doped GYTO crystal.

Optical thermometry based on the upconversion (UC) luminescence intensity ratio (LIR) has attracted considerable attention because of its feasibility for achievement of accurate non-contact temperature measurement. Compared with traditional UC phosphors, optical thermometry based on UC single crystals can achieve faster response and higher sensitivity due to the stability and high thermal conductivity of the single crystals. In this study, a high-quality 5 at% Yb and 1 at% Ho co-doped GdYTaO single crystal was grown by the Czochralski (Cz) method, and the structure of the as-grown crystal was characterized.