Tailoring the porosity of chemically activated carbons derived from the HTC treatment of sewage sludge for the removal of pollutants from gaseous and aqueous phases.

The management of sewage sludge is currently an open issue due to the large volume of waste to be treated and the necessity to avoid incineration or landfill disposal. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) has been recognized as a promising thermochemical technique to convert sewage sludge into value-added products. The hydrochar (HC) obtained can be suitable for environmental application as fuel, fertilizer, and sorbent.

Novel Sustainable Composites Based on Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) and Seagrass Beach-CAST Fibers: Performance and Degradability in Marine Environments.

In order to produce sustainable, bio-based and highly biodegradable materials, composites based on poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and fibers of (PO), a dominant Mediterranean seagrass, were produced by simple melt mixing and characterized in terms of thermal stability, morphology and rheological/mechanical properties. In view of their potential application in marine environments, degradation of the developed composites was evaluated under simulated and real marine environmental conditions for 1 year. Using 10 wt % of acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC) as a plasticizer, smooth processing was achieved for up to 30 wt % of PO fibers, despite the reduction of the melt fluidity observed with increasing fiber loading.

Manufacturing Technology of Ceramic Pebbles for Breeding Blanket.

An open issue for the fusion power reactor is the choice of breeding blanket material. The possible use of Helium-Cooled Pebble Breeder ceramic material in the form of pebble beds is of great interest worldwide as demonstrated by the numerous studies and research on this subject. Lithium orthosilicate (Li₄SiO₄) is a promising breeding material investigated in this present study because the neutron capture of Li-6 allows the production of tritium, 6Li (n, t) 4He.