Cement-Based Composites Containing Oxidized Graphene Nanoplatelets: Effects on the Mechanical and Electrical Properties.

Graphene nanoplatelets can improve the electrical and mechanical properties of cement matrix composites. The dispersion and interaction of graphene in the cement matrix appears to be difficult due to its hydrophobic nature. By introducing polar groups, graphene oxidation improves the level of dispersion and interaction with the cement.

A First Assessment of Carbon Nanotubes Grown on Oil-Well Cement via Chemical Vapor Deposition.

In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized on an oil-well cement substrate using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The effect of synthesis process on cement was investigated in depth. In this regard, FE-SEM, RAMAN and X-Ray spectroscopy were used to characterize the cement before and after the synthesis process to reveal the modifications to the cementitious matrix and some unique morphological features of CNTs.

Zero standby power crop water-stress detector leading to the optimization of water usage and yield.

Agricultural sensors are powerful tools to optimize crop productivity while conserving natural resources. Here we report a crop water-stress detector based on a plasmonically-enhanced micromechanical photoswitch capable of detecting water content in leaves that is lower than a predetermined threshold without consuming electrical power when the leaf is healthy. The detection mechanism exploits the energy in a specific narrow-spectral band of solar radiation reflected off leaves that is strongly correlated to the water content in plants.

Comparative Insight into the Interfacial Phase Evolutions during Solution Treatment of Dissimilar Friction Stir Welded AA2198-AA7475 and AA2198-AA6013 Aluminum Sheets.

In the current research, dissimilar friction stir welded (FSW) sheets of AA2198-AA7475 and AA2198-AA6013 were solution treated at 460-580 °C for 1 h. Annealing at 580 °C led to complete degradation of both dissimilar weldments from the AA2198 side. According to the microstructure inspection, solution treatment triggered abnormal grain growth within the stir zone (SZ), and applying higher treatment temperatures enhanced the fraction of transformed grains.

Cementitious composite materials for thermal energy storage applications: a preliminary characterization and theoretical analysis.

The lack of robust and low-cost sorbent materials still represents a formidable technological barrier for long-term storage of (renewable) thermal energy and more generally for Adsorptive Heat Transformations-AHT. In this work, we introduce a novel approach for synthesizing cement-based composite sorbent materials. In fact, considering the number of available hygrosopic salts that can be accommodated into a cementitious matrix-whose morphological properties can be also fine-tuned-the new proposed in situ synthesis paves the way to the generation of an entire new class of possible sorbents for AHT.