{"title":"The Relation between Environmental Risk Analysis and the Use of Nanomaterials in the Built Environment Sector: A Circular Economy Perspective","authors":"Mariarosaria Angrisano, F. Fabbrocino","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2301005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2301005","url":null,"abstract":"Nowadays, the challenge of climate change and “ecological transition” is substantially an “energy challenge” for every city, which is supposed to become as “energetically self-sufficient” as possible. The construction sector is one of the main contributors to the effects of climate change, starting from the production of materials to the use phase of buildings to their demolition. Recent innovations in sustainable/circular design are related to using “new materials.\" According to this perspective, nanomaterials are becoming an increasingly widespread practice in various sectors. Nanomaterials are considered very innovative materials able to solve different problems related to buildings' structural and energy efficiency due to their small size. However, the future challenge is to understand whether these materials can be considered “green\" from their production stage since risks to human health have been found in both the manufacturing and use and disposal stages. In this regard, an abacus of the most commonly used nanomaterials in the construction industry is defined. Simultaneously, were identified the negative environmental impacts related to the use of these materials, to propose possible solutions to reduce/mitigate them. Therefore, from this analysis, it emerged that a possible solution could be to move to the “industrial biosynthesis process” for producing nanomaterials, according to the circular economy principles. However, this process must always be combined/supported by “Environmental Risk Analysis (ERA),\" an evaluation tool capable of identifying and mitigating the adverse negative environmental impacts. The paper concludes with the consideration that new materials for the built environment should be functional and \" beautiful,\" particularly when they are to be used for reuse projects in historic buildings.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47412273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
António A. L. Ferreira, P. Delgado, Helena Parauta, Charles Löwenström, J. O. Almeida
{"title":"Influence of Wetting-Drying Cycles on Wood Behaviour of Coastal Pedestrian Walkways","authors":"António A. L. Ferreira, P. Delgado, Helena Parauta, Charles Löwenström, J. O. Almeida","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2301004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2301004","url":null,"abstract":"In the context of inspection and maintenance actions for beach walkways in the North of Portugal, some samples of wood used in their construction were collected – the Pinus sylvestris wood, widely applied in the country. The sustainability of the beach walkways over natural coastal areas is very dependent on their material durability. One of the main problems of the timber used to build those structures is its behavior under wet-drying cycles. For that reason, this work aimed to simulate the effects of weathering on the long-term bending behavior of pinewood. Weathering slab samples with two decades of service life and new, unused slabs were subjected to wetting–drying cycles and tested between each wetting or drying phase. As the bending test characterizes one of the most representative efforts in pedestrian boardwalk slabs, the bending module of rupture was used as an indicator to characterize the resistance of timber. Thus, in this study, the samples' density, dimensional stability, and mechanical strength were determined at the end of each batch of cycle repetitions. The tests were carried out before and after a set of wetting-drying cycles caused by immersion in water and placement into an oven at 80°C to simulate environmental exposure. Thus, it was intended to simulate the use in service through the realization of successive wetting-drying cycles in a laboratory environment and to evaluate its influence on the density, dimensional stability, and mechanical strength of the pine wood tested. The extreme conditions used in the laboratory pretend to accelerate the degradation of samples and simulate, in a relatively short period, what would need years to occur in service. The results showed that the wood that had never been in service is more susceptible to bending resistance variations with cycles than the one already in service. Thus, after a few wet-drying cycles, the wood without any service life tends to approximate, in terms of bending behavior, to the one with two decades of service. This indicates that the method used could satisfy the need to obtain predictions for long-time behavior in a relatively short period.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41569472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Application of Finite Element Method for Mechanical Characterization of Wood and Reconstituted Lignocellulosic-Based Composites – A Review","authors":"A. Alade, A. Ibrahim","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2301003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2301003","url":null,"abstract":"Performance evaluations of wood and other lignocellulosic-based composites involve complex scenarios of several factors such as material heterogeneity and geometry that often leads to complicated, expensive, and time-consuming experimental procedures. Hence, the application of computational modeling and simulation is desirable to mitigate these biocomposites’ performance testing challenges. This review paper, therefore, presents an outlook on the finite element method (FEM) application in probing performance characteristics of wood and solid wood-based composites as well as reconstituted wood and other lignocellulosic-based composites. Notwithstanding the complex nature of wood and other lignocellulosic biomass, the feasibility of FEM application in characterizing their performances has been favorably demonstrated. Going forward, broader applications of FEM combined with the design of experiments would further establish developing protocols. More exploration of FEM-based parametric and optimization studies would facilitate comprehensive, cost-efficient, and swift biocomposites design and performance optimization processes thereby enhancing their acceptance and implementation in target applications.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45066379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Acknowledgment to Reviewers of <i>Recent Progress in Materials</i> in 2022","authors":"Recent Progress in Materials Editorial Office","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2301002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2301002","url":null,"abstract":"The editors of <em>Recent Progress in Materials</em> would like to express their sincere gratitude to the following reviewers for assessing manuscripts in 2022. We greatly appreciate the contribution of expert reviewers, which is crucial to the journal's editorial process. We aim to recognize reviewer contributions through several mechanisms, of which the annual publication of reviewer names is one. Reviewers receive a voucher entitling them to a discount on their next LIDSEN publication and can download a certificate of recognition directly from our submission system. Additionally, reviewers can sign up to the service Publons (https://publons.com) to receive recognition. Of course, in these initiatives we are careful not to compromise reviewer confidentiality. Many reviewers see their work as a voluntary and often unseen part of their role as researchers. We are grateful to the time reviewers donate to our journals and the contribution they make.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":"256 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135500079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Performance of Grouted Coupler Embedded in Reinforced Concrete ABC Bridge Pier at Vehicle Impact","authors":"Suman Roy","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2301001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2301001","url":null,"abstract":"Increased occurrence of dynamic loading on bridge piers caused by seismic, blast and vehicular impact incidences have been increasingly reported. Statistical data shows that while seismic and blast have received significant attention in the literature, whereas the frequency of occurrence of vehicular impact is remarkably higher but contemplating little consideration. With the newer construction methods like accelerated bridge construction (ABC) and its response against vehicle impact performance needs an additional study before widespread use. Static and dynamic performances of the coupler are investigated. A representative circular RC bridge with circular cross-section is considered and hollow cylindrical splice-sleeves filled up with concrete grout is embedded in the foundation. Finite element model (FEM) of single grouted coupler is developed based on the manufacturer data. Apportioned load through load ratio is considered and applied to the individual coupler. Numerical simulations are also performed using commercial finite element software package, ANSYS. This research is led by mesh independent studies to precisely accomplish sensitivity analyses. The results from numerical simulations are compared with the corresponding analytical solution. Stress-strain resulted from conservative dynamic simulation are plotted followed by integrity analyses to capture material performance at high deformation. Quasi-static strain rates are utilized for steel re-bars with connected coupler and validated with the finite element (FE) results to determine dynamic impact factor (DIF) of steel. This is further validated through utilizing experimental data from published journal. This study instills a good agreement by providing valuable information to aid in the selection of appropriate coupler connections, addressing material properties at various performance level, and contributes useful guidelines for the researchers, practitioners, and structural engineers.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47345182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Review of Various Treatment Methods for the Removal of Dyes from Textile Effluent","authors":"C. Kathing, Geeta Saini","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2204028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2204028","url":null,"abstract":"Wastewater generated by the textile industry has been a major environmental concern for a long. Production of fiber involves various steps and uses a lot of chemicals, dyes, and water. Therefore, the effluent produced from the textile industry needs proper purification before discharging into the water body. The current review summarizes various physical and chemical methods like ion exchange, coagulation-flocculation, membrane separation, membrane distillation, oxidation, ozonation, etc., for wastewater treatment. Along with this, adsorption methods, the various adsorbents used to purify wastewater, and the mechanism involved in adsorption have also been discussed. The biological method utilizes various microbes (bacteria, fungi, algae, and yeast) as a whole and the enzymes (laccase and azoreductase) secreted by them for wastewater treatment, which have been considered more feasible than physical and chemical methods. The adsorption and biological methods are better than other techniques due to their ability to degrade diverse classes of dye, less accumulation of harmless sludge, and cost-effective and safer approach for the disposal of textile effluent. While physical and chemical methods are expensive and generate toxic sludge, which is difficult to decompose.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43038918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recycled Wastewater Usage: A Comprehensive Review for Sustainability of Water Resources","authors":"J. Chand, S. Jha, Sameer Shrestha","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2204026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2204026","url":null,"abstract":"Water recycling is a potential tool for reducing the dependency on traditional water sources, which would eventually reduce the likelihood of volumetric restrictions and their impacts on the water sector. Therefore, exploration, development, and use of alternative water sources are required for sustainable development. Scientific studies on the efficient and economical use of nontraditional water sources developed using the recycling process have attracted the attention of agriculturists, planners, and engineers for the last two decades. Recycled wastewater types, including greywater, sewage, stormwater, and industrial wastewater, have been discussed in this study. This article reviewed various forms of recycled wastewater, especially wastewater from treated sewage, and their effects on human health and irrigated environment. In addition, the necessity of exploration and usage of alternative sources of water in agriculture over traditional sources has also been reviewed. Legislations and guidelines of three major countries regarding the water recycling process and subsequent use have also been presented. The key finding of this article is that the agriculture and water recycling industry can only be connected sustainably when recycled wastewater complies with agronomical, environmental, and sanitary requirements. Because of the rapid advancements in wastewater recycling technologies, water recycling and recycled water usage have great potential to manage the increasing burden on freshwater resources. Finally, the sustainable use of recycled wastewater is crucial to minimize the negative effects on agriculture, the environment, and human health.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43728357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Shukla, Vincent Zhang, Xiaojun Shen, Victor Villapun, S. Cox, Phillip Swanson
{"title":"Biocompatibility and Surface Integrity of Zirconia Ceramics Treated by Laser-plasma Driven Shock-waves","authors":"P. Shukla, Vincent Zhang, Xiaojun Shen, Victor Villapun, S. Cox, Phillip Swanson","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2204025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2204025","url":null,"abstract":"This is a multi-disciplinary paper focused on the preliminary results of deploying laser shock treatment (LST) to ZrO2 ceramics. This work has significance in several industrial sectors for components that will benefit from strengthening. These components are, namely: dental implants; cutting and drawing tools; valves, bearings, pressure vessels, heat exchangers and high-performance scissors and knives, where modification of hard, brittle materials properties such as that of a ZrO2, can yield a performance boost. To elucidate the influence of LST on ZrO2 ceramics, an Nd: YAG laser was used, exhibiting (operating at discrete) laser energies of 17 mJ, 85 mJ and 170 mJ, a 2 mm spot size, a pulse repetition rate of 5 Hz and pulse duration of 10 ns was deployed at 532 nm wavelength. Investigation of ZrO2 ceramic surface integrity revealed a transition from a crack-free topology to a surface dominated by fractures, as the laser energy increased from 85 mJ to 170 mJ. Residual stresses obtained by incremental hole drilling (IHD) were measured to be tensile in the upper layer and the sub-surface layer. However, compression of -595 MPa was found in the sub-surface of the ZrO2 ceramic to a depth of 350 µm after LST, particularly in the transverse direction. Biological analysis metabolic activity measurements, indicated a rise in activity for all samples as the contact time increased (24 h, 3 d and 7 d). The as-received surface revealed a more limited change in metabolism, retaining similar biochemical levels during the first 3 days followed by a slight increase after a week of cultivation, bringing about significant increase in activity in all LST surfaces, relative to the as-received condition. This suggested that a ZrO2 LST exhibited enhanced cell response, particularly, after 7 days of contact-time. The overall outcome of this introductory paper, not only showed that ZrO2 ceramics, can be laser shock treated/peened, to induce some possible beneficial mechanical and physical effects, microstructural and surface topography changes, but also showed that LST can facilitate improvement in cell response to the ZrO2 ceramic. This opens-up, new prospects for treatment of ZrO2 based ceramics for biological applications such as tooth implant screws, where avoiding fractures from mechanical loading, strength enhancement, as well as biocompatibility are all important.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45515352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Werheni Ammeri, W. Hassen, I. Mehri, Nesrine Khelifi, A. Hassen
{"title":"Pentachlorophenol Effect on Auxin Production by Pseudomonas fluorescens GU059580 and Its Application in Wastewater Bioremediation","authors":"R. Werheni Ammeri, W. Hassen, I. Mehri, Nesrine Khelifi, A. Hassen","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2204024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2204024","url":null,"abstract":"Bioaugmentation by Pseudomonas strains is widely used for the removal of pollutants in wastewater. In this study, we aimed to determine the removal of pentachlorophenol (PCP, 800 mg·L–1) in secondary wastewater by the bioaugmentation process. We determined the effects of using three surfactants, namely sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyl-tri-methyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB), and Tween 80 for PCP removal. We determined the effect of the role of PCP surfactant for the biofilm and auxin production of the selected bacterial strain of P. fluorescens GU059580. High-performance liquid chromatography and spectroscopic analysis were used to determine PCP removal and bacterial growth, respectively. Biofilm production was determined using 96-well polystyrene plates, and auxin production was determined using spectrophotometric measurement at 535 nm. The results showed the removal of PCP from wastewater by P. fluorescens GU059580 is about 90.12%. The PCP removal from wastewater showed an improvement of about 96.5% after the addition of Tween 80, whereas significant biofilm formation was found in the mineral liquid medium supplemented with PCP and Tween 80, with a value of 3.78. The highest concentration of auxin was found in the presence of PCP without surfactants, showing a value of 1.7 mg·L–1. To conclude, P. fluorescens GU059580 can be used in bioreactors or some specific wastewater treatment processes for bioremediation.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46196282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Smoliński, Cáceres Cabana Edgar, R. Borovik, Oleksandr Beshta Jr, G. Pivnyak, O. Beshta
{"title":"Application of the Extrapolation Method in Battery Diagnostics for Electric Vehicles","authors":"A. Smoliński, Cáceres Cabana Edgar, R. Borovik, Oleksandr Beshta Jr, G. Pivnyak, O. Beshta","doi":"10.21926/rpm.2204023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21926/rpm.2204023","url":null,"abstract":"In a lithium-ion battery, the crossing of its charging–discharging curves represents an unambiguous current capacity. The reproduction of a complete charging–discharging cycle defines the maximum possible charge for a current battery state. When obtaining of the curves experimentally, one should consider the duration of polarization or depolarization. It is reported that the battery capacity depends considerably on the value of the battery’s internal resistance as this value defines the location of the actual charging–discharging curves relative to the nominal curves, i.e., the point of their crossing shifts. The present study aimed to develop a diagnostic algorithm for the batteries of electric vehicles for a complete charge–discharge cycle, considering the processes of polarization and depolarization. The mathematical expressions for determining the internal resistance and the complete charge of the battery were obtained. The novelty of the present study is in the fact that by applying extrapolation to a simple electrical model of a lithium-ion battery, the degree of degradation and the current charge could be predicted without the requirement of lengthy experimental procedures.","PeriodicalId":87352,"journal":{"name":"Recent progress in materials","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68397341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}