Sol-Gel processing of silica nanoparticles and their applications

Recently, silica nanoparticles (SNPs) have drawn widespread attention due to their applications in many emerging areas because of their tailorable morphology. During the last decade, remarkable efforts have been made on the investigations for novel processing methodologies to prepare SNPs, resulting in better control of the size, shape, porosity and significant improvements in the physio-chemical properties. A number of techniques available for preparing SNPs namely, flame spray pyrolysis, chemical vapour deposition, micro-emulsion, ball milling, sol-gel etc. have resulted, a number of publications. Among these, preparation by sol-gel has been the focus of research as the synthesis is straightforward, scalable and controllable. Therefore, this review focuses on the recent progress in the field of synthesis of SNPs exhibiting ordered mesoporous structure, their distribution pattern, morphological attributes and applications. The mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) with good dispersion, varying morphology, narrow size distribution and homogeneous porous structure have been successfully prepared using organic and inorganic templates. The soft template assisted synthesis using surfactants for obtaining desirable shapes, pores, morphology and mechanisms proposed has been reviewed. Apart from single template, double and mixed surfactants, electrolytes, polymers etc. as templates have also been intensively discussed. The influence of reaction conditions such as temperature, pH, concentration of reagents, drying techniques, solvents, precursor, aging time etc. have also been deliberated. These MSNPs are suitable for a variety of applications viz., in the drug delivery systems, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), biosensors, cosmetics as well as construction materials. The applications of these SNPs have also been briefly summarized.     

Mechanically strong and stiff supramolecular polymers enabled by fiber reinforced long-chain alkane matrix

Fiber-reinforced-concrete (FRC) mechanism refers short discrete fibers that are uniformly distributed and randomly oriented, which offers an effective way to improve the mechanical performance of concrete. In the design of supramolecular polymers, an analogous concept of FRC appears to have been considered very rarely-although fibrous structure has been frequently observed/generated during the supramolecular polymerization. In this work, we apply the alkane thermosets, octadecane (C₁₈H₃₈) and tetracosane (C₂₄H₅₀), taking the role of “concrete”, and the low-molecular-weight monomer with long alkyl chains as the essential “fiber” component, to fabricate the “fiber reinforced supramolecular polymer”. Very much like FRC mechanism in material science, the resulting fiber reinforced supramolecular polymer thus exhibit unusually high mechanical strength and stiffness, which is unprecedented in the conventional supramolecular strategy.     

Diseño automático de tableros óptimos de puentes de carretera de vigas artesa prefabricadas mediante algoritmos meméticos híbridos

This paper deals with the minimum cost automatic design of precast bridge decks made of U-beams and an upper slab. It uses a hybrid memetic algorithm that combines the population search of solutions by genetic algorithms and a search by variable neighborhood. This algorithm is applied to a bridge made of two isostatic U-beams of 20-40 m of span and a width of 12 m. This example has 40 discrete variables. The evaluation module takes into account the service and ultimate limit states usually considered for these structures, i.e. flexure, shear, torsion, cracking, deflections, etc. The use of the memetic algorithm requires its previous calibration. Each of the heuristics is run 12 times, obtaining information about the minimum and average values, as well as the scatter. The parametric study showed a good correlation for the cost, the number of strands and the steel and concrete quantities with the span length. Savings have been found between 8 and 50% compared to other structures really executed. The presented procedure allows the practical application to the real design and its adaptation to the precast process.     

硅胶-氰丙基复合固相萃取柱分离原油中饱和烃及芳烃组分

探讨了硅胶-氰丙基(SiO2/C3-CN,(1 g/0.5 g,6 mL))复合固相萃取柱分离与净化原油中饱和烃和芳烃组分的方法。结果表明:SiO2/C3-CN复合固相萃取柱较单一硅胶(SiO2)小柱的分离效果好,仅使用4.5 mL正己烷和4.5 mL正己烷-二氯甲烷(1∶1)洗脱即可实现饱和烃和芳烃组分的完全分离与满意回收(回收率分别为98%和99%);而单一硅胶小柱存在低环数芳烃化合物(如萘及其甲基系列、苊等)与饱和烃组分的共洗脱现象。通过对原油实物样品的测定,饱和烃和芳烃组分在硅胶-氰丙基复合柱上经正己烷、正己烷-二氯甲烷(体积比1∶1)的洗脱行为与标准混合液完全一致,该方法实用可靠、流程简单、试剂消耗少、精密度良好(RSD为4.2%～8.5%),适用于石油样品中饱和烃和芳烃组分的定量分析。     

Development of a manual method for the determination of mineral oil in foods and paperboard

So far the majority of the measurements of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) were obtained from on-line high performance liquid chromatography–gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (on-line HPLC–GC–FID). Since this technique is not available in many laboratories, an alternative method with more easily available tools has been developed. Preseparation on a small conventional liquid chromatographic column was optimized to achieve robust separation between the MOSH and the MOAH, but also to keep out the wax esters from the MOAH fraction. This was achieved by mixing a small portion of silica gel with silver nitrate into highly activated silica gel and by adding toluene into the eluent for the MOAH. Toluene was also added to the MOSH fraction to facilitate reconcentration and to serve as a keeper preventing loss of volatiles during solvent evaporation. A 50 μl volume was injected on-column into GC–FID to achieve a detection limit for MOSH and MOAH below 1 mg/kg in most foods.     

混凝土搅拌车搅拌筒磨损数值分析

混凝土运输过程中搅拌筒的磨损一直是一种常见潜在危害,磨损严重时会导致叶片失效,对搅拌的质量和出料匀质性产生影响。通过实验获取搅拌筒内部的磨损费时费力,因此有必要采取一种数值分析方法对搅拌筒的磨损进行预测并提出改进。本文采用摩擦磨损实验的方法来标定颗粒与搅拌筒之间的Archard磨损常数,采用JKR接触模型表征混凝土的流动性能,采用离散元方法(DEM)对搅拌筒筒体及叶片磨损进行预测分析。通过法向接触能量与切向接触能量的对比,证明搅拌筒中的磨损主要为伴有冲击作用的磨粒磨损,搅拌车搅拌筒中搅拌叶片顶部的磨损较为严重。针对磨损比较严重的叶片顶部进行改进,采用T型耐磨结构等改进叶片结构,叶片顶部结构改进后搅拌筒使用寿命能得到明显提升。     

Fracture characteristics of concrete subjected to impact loading

This paper takes concrete as a four-phase composite made of the intact matrix and three mutually perpendicular groups of penny-shaped micro-cracks. The intact matrix is assumed to be elastic,homogeneous and isotropic,and the micro-cracks are penny-shaped. Combined with the failure mechanism of concrete subjected to impact loading,a dynamic constitutive model for concrete is developed based on Mori-Tanaka's average stress concept and Eshelby's equivalent inclusion theory. Experimental results show that concr...     

Hydrothermal formation of tobermorite studied by in situ X‐ray diffraction under autoclave condition

Hydrothermal formation of tobermorite from a pre‐cured cake has been investigated by transmission X‐ray diffraction (XRD) using high‐energy X‐rays from a synchrotron radiation source in combination with a newly designed autoclave cell. The autoclave cell has a large and thin beryllium window for wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction; nevertheless, it withstands a steam pressure of more than 1.2 MPa, which enables in situ XRD measurements in a temperature range of 373 to 463 K under a saturated steam pressure. Formation and/or decomposition of several components has been successfully observed during 7.5 h of reaction time. From the intensity changes of the intermediate materials, namely non‐crystalline C–S–H and hydroxylellestadite, two pathways for tobermorite formation have been confirmed. Thus, the newly developed autoclave cell can be used for the analyses of reaction mechanisms under specific atmospheres and temperatures.     

Análise da confiabilidade de estruturas de concreto armado com uma metodologia para inclusão de efeitos estocásticos de propriedades dos materiais

In this paper, special emphasis is given to the inclusion of uncertainties in the evaluation of structural behaviour aiming at a better representation of the system characteristics and the quantification of the importance of these uncertainties in the project. It deals with the structural reliability analysis problem accounting the effect of spatial variability of material properties. To this end it is proposed a finite element model to represent the behaviour of reinforced concrete for short and long-term loads, which includes the main features observed in this material. It was developed a model for the generation of multidimensional non-Gaussian stochastic fields for the material properties that is independent of the finite element mesh. First, an example of a two-dimensional non-Gaussian stochastic field generation in a square steel plate is presented. Latter, the reliability analysis is performed to a limit state function based on prescribed values of mid-span displacements on a simply-supported reinforced beam. Finally, the influence of long-term effects on the reliability of a reinforced concrete beam is studied considering the effect of steel reinforcement corrosion.