Abstract: Thermal insulating composites help to reduce the total power consumption in a building by creating a barrier between external and internal environment. Such composites can be used in the roofing tiles or wall panels for exterior surfaces. This study purposes to develop lightweight cement-based composites for thermal insulating applications. Waste materials like silica fume (an industrial by-product) and fly ash cenosphere (FAC) (hollow micro-spherical shells obtained as a waste residue from coal fired power plants) were used as partial replacement of cement and lightweight filler, respectively. Moreover, aerogel, a nano-porous material made of silica, was also used in different dosages for improved thermal insulating behavior, while poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers were added for enhanced toughness. The raw materials including binders and fillers were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis techniques in which various physical and chemical properties of the raw materials were evaluated like specific surface area, chemical composition (oxide form), and pore size distribution (if any). Ultra-lightweight cementitious composites were developed by varying the amounts of FAC and aerogel with 28-day unit weight ranging from 1551.28 kg/m3 to 1027.85 kg/m3. Excellent mechanical and thermal insulating properties of the resulting composites were obtained ranging from 53.62 MPa to 8.66 MPa compressive strength, 9.77 MPa to 3.98 MPa flexural strength, and 0.3025 W/m-K to 0.2009 W/m-K as thermal conductivity coefficient (QTM-500). The composites were also tested for peak temperature difference between outer and inner surfaces when subjected to heating (in a specially designed experimental set-up) by a 275W infrared lamp. The temperature difference up to 16.78 oC was achieved, which indicated outstanding properties of the developed composites to act as a thermal barrier for building envelopes. Microstructural studies were carried out by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) for characterizing the inner structure of the composite specimen. Also, the hydration products were quantified using the surface area mapping and line scale technique in EDS. The microstructural analyses indicated excellent bonding of FAC and aerogel in the cementitious system. Also, selective reactivity of FAC was ascertained from the SEM imagery where the partially consumed FAC shells were observed. All in all, the lightweight fillers, FAC, and aerogel helped to produce the lightweight composites due to their physical characteristics, while exceptional mechanical properties, owing to FAC partial reactivity, were achieved.
Abstract: The reduction of water content in crude oil emulsions reduces pipeline corrosion potential and increases the productivity. Chemical emulsification of crude oil emulsions is one of the methods available to reduce the water content. Presence of demulsifier causes the film layer between the crude oil emulsion and water droplets to become unstable leading to the acceleration of water coalescence. This research has been performed to study the improvement performance of a chemical demulsifier by silica nanoparticles. The silica nano-particles have been synthesized by sol-gel technique and precipitation using poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) and poly ethylene glycol (PEG) as surfactants and then nano-particles are added to the demulsifier. The silica nanoparticles were characterized by Particle Size Analyzer (PSA) and SEM. Upon the addition of nanoparticles, bottle tests have been carried out to separate and measure the water content. The results show that silica nano-particles increase the demulsifier efficiency by about 40%.
Abstract: Polymer nanocomposites represent a new class of materials in which nanomaterials act as the reinforcing material in composites, wherein small additions of nanomaterials lead to large enhancements in thermal, optical and mechanical properties. A boost in these properties is due to the large interfacial area per unit volume or weight of the nanoparticles and the interactions between the particle and the polymer. Micro sized particles used as reinforcing agents scatter light, thus reducing light transmittance and optical clarity. Efficient nanoparticle dispersion combined with good polymer–particle interfacial adhesion eliminates scattering and allows the exciting possibility of developing strong yet transparent films, coatings and membranes. This paper aims at synthesising zinc oxide nanoparticles which are reinforced in poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer. The mechanical properties showed that the tensile strength of the PVA nanocomposites increases with the increase in the amount of nanoparticles.
Abstract: Polymeric microreactors have emerged as a new
generation of carriers that hold tremendous promise in the areas of
cancer therapy, controlled delivery of drugs, for removal of
pollutants etc. Present work reports a simple and convenient
methodology for synthesis of polystyrene and poly caprolactone
microreactors. An aqueous suspension of carboxylated (1μm)
polystyrene latex particles was mixed with toluene solution followed
by freezing with liquid nitrogen. Freezed particles were incubated at
-20°C and characterized for formation of voids on the surface of
polymer microspheres by Field Emission Scanning Electron
Microscope. The hollow particles were then overnight incubated at
40ºC with unfunctionalized quantum dots (QDs) in 5:1 ratio. QDs
Encapsulated polystyrene microcapsules were characterized by
fluorescence microscopy.
Likewise Poly ε-caprolactone microreactors were prepared by
micro-volcanic rupture of freeze dried microspheres synthesized
using emulsification of polymer with aqueous Poly vinyl alcohol and
freezed with liquid nitrogen. Microreactors were examined with Field
Emission Scanning Electron Microscope for size and morphology.
Current study is an attempt to create hollow polymer particles which
can be employed for microencapsulation of nanoparticles and drug
molecules.