Mortars for Conservation of Late 19th and Early 20th Century Buildings-Combination of Natural Cements with Air Lime.

With the availability of commercial Natural cements (NC) for the conservation purposes raises a fundamental question about the compatibility between historic and repair mortars. The properties of Natural cements are dependent on the geological location of the raw material extraction and also on the production parameters, both having an impact on the final properties of the mortars produced from each distinct. Therefore, the significance of preservation of 19th and 20th century heritage and selection of the proper binder compatible with the original materials necessitate the study of existing NCs, that nowadays are produced by several manufacturers.

Microalgae as Contributors to Produce Biopolymers.

Biopolymers are very favorable materials produced by living organisms, with interesting properties such as biodegradability, renewability, and biocompatibility. Biopolymers have been recently considered to compete with fossil-based polymeric materials, which rase several environmental concerns. Biobased plastics are receiving growing interest for many applications including electronics, medical devices, food packaging, and energy.