Flexural behavior of reinforced-concrete sandwich composites

An experimental investigation was carried out to examine the flexural behavior of rectangular sandwich composites and to determine appropriate structural applications for such constructions. The sandwich cores were composed of nonpermeated, expanded aluminum honeycomb and the facings consisted of concrete mortar. Appropriate theories that predict the behavior of such composites were presented and compared to experimental data. All specimens had facing thicknesses of 1 in., core thicknesses of 1 in., 2 in. and 3 in.; core-cell size of 1/8 in. and 3/8 in.; while four different core foil gages were considered for each cell size. The lower facing was either plain concrete mortar or reinforced with steel wires. The large cell-size specimen displayed better bond characteristics and produced better and more stable experimental data. Reasonable agreement was found between the observed and computed flexural stresses. The deflections at midspan were in good agreement with the theoretically predicted deflections in all of the specimens, with or without reinforcement. Regardless of cell size, density, core thickness or reinforcement, the observed midspan and quarterspan deflections of the top facing were approximately twice the deflections at the corresponding locations on the lower facing. The ultimate loads increased as the core thickness and the core density increased. The influence of flexural rigidity of the core can be neglected.     

Effect of axial loads on concrete-mortar sandwich composites

Experimental investigations were conducted to examine the behavior of concrete sandwich composites under compressive and tensile loads. The sandwich cores were composed of nonpermeated, expanded aluminum honeycomb and the facings consisted of concrete mortar. Appropriate theories that predict the behavior of such composites were presented and compared with experimental data. All specimens had facing thicknesses of 1 in. (25.4 mm), core thicknesses of 1, 2 and 3 in. (25.4, 50.8 and 76.2 mm); core-cell size of 1/8 and 3/8 in. (3.2 and 9.5 mm); while four different core foil gages were considered for each size. The facings were either plain concrete mortar or reinforced with steel wires. The large-core-cell-size specimen displayed better bond characteristics and produced more consistent experimental data. The ultimate strengths of both compressive and tensile specimens were not affected by the core-cell size, core thickness, or core density. Axial compressive loads were carried by the facing area while tensile loads were by the reinforcements in the facings. The buckling waves were developed due to the wrinkling of the facings. The buckling waves in the two facings were independent of each other and the overall wave pattern was antisymmetrical.     

Plasmonic Colloidosomes as Three‐Dimensional SERS Platforms with Enhanced Surface Area for Multiphase Sub‐Microliter Toxin Sensing

Colloidosomes are robust microcapsules attractive for molecular sensing because of their characteristic micron size, large specific surface area, and dual‐phase stability. However, current colloidosome sensors are limited to qualitative fluorogenic receptor‐based detection, which restrict their applicability to a narrow range of molecules. Here, we introduce plasmonic colloidosome constructed from Ag nanocubes as an emulsion‐based 3D SERS platform. The colloidosomes exhibit excellent mechanical robustness, flexible size tunability, versatility to merge, and ultrasensitivity in SERS quantitation of food/industrial toxins down to sub‐femtomole levels. Using just 0.5 μL of sample volumes, our plasmonic colloidosomes exhibit >3000‐fold higher SERS sensitivity over conventional suspension platform. Notably, we demonstrate the first high‐throughput multiplex molecular sensing across multiple liquid phases.     

Crude Cellulase from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch by Trichoderma asperellum UPM1 and Aspergillus fumigatus UPM2 for Fermentable Sugars Production

Cellulase is an enzyme that converts the polymer structure of polysaccharides into fermentable sugars. The high market demand for this enzyme together with the variety of applications in the industry has brought the research on cellulase into focus. In this study, crude cellulase was produced from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) pretreated with 2 % NaOH with autoclave, which was composed of 59.7 % cellulose, 21.6 % hemicellulose, and 12.3 % lignin using Trichoderma asperellum UPM1 and Aspergillus fumigatus UPM2. Approximately 0.8 U/ml of FPase, 24.7 U/ml of CMCase and 5.0 U/ml of β-glucosidase were produced by T. asperellum UPM1 at a temperature of 35 °C and at an initial pH of 7.0. A 1.7 U/ml of FPase, 24.2 U/ml of CMCase, and 1.1 U/ml of β-glucosidase were produced by A. fumigatus UPM2 at a temperature of 45 °C and at initial pH of 6.0. The crude cellulase was best produced at 1 % of substrate concentration for both T. asperellum UPM1 and A. fumigatus UPM2. The hydrolysis percentage of pretreated OPEFB using 5 % of crude cellulase concentration from T. asperellum UPM1 and A. fumigatus UPM2 were 3.33 % and 19.11 %, with the reducing sugars concentration of 1.47 and 8.63 g/l, respectively.