Strain Monitoring of Concrete Using Carbon Black-Based Smart Coatings.

Given the challenges we face of an ageing infrastructure and insufficient maintenance, there is a critical shift towards preventive and predictive maintenance in construction. Self-sensing cement-based materials have drawn interest in this sector due to their high monitoring performance and durability compared to electronic sensors. While bulk applications have been well-discussed within this field, several challenges exist in their implementation for practical applications, such as poor workability and high manufacturing costs at larger volumes. This paper discusses the development of smart carbon-based cementitious coatings for strain monitoring of concrete substrates under flexural loading. This work presents a physical, electrical, and electromechanical investigation of sensing coatings with varying carbon black (CB) concentrations along with the geometric optimisation of the sensor design. The optimal strain-sensing performance, 55.5 ± 2.7, was obtained for coatings with 2 wt% of conductive filler, 3 mm thickness, and a gauge length of 60 mm. The results demonstrate the potential of applying smart coatings with carbon black addition for concrete strain monitoring.

New Materials and Technologies for Durability and Conservation of Building Heritage.

The increase in concrete structures' durability is a milestone to improve the sustainability of buildings and infrastructures. In order to ensure a prolonged service life, it is necessary to detect the deterioration of materials by means of monitoring systems aimed at evaluating not only the penetration of aggressive substances into concrete but also the corrosion of carbon-steel reinforcement. Therefore, proper data collection makes it possible to plan suitable restoration works which can be carried out with traditional or innovative techniques and materials. This work focuses on building heritage and it highlights the most recent findings for the conservation and restoration of reinforced concrete structures and masonry buildings.

Green Synthesis of Metal Oxides Semiconductors for Gas Sensing Applications.

During recent decades, metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) have sparked more attention in various applications and industries due to their excellent sensing characteristics, thermal stability, abundance, and ease of synthesis. They are reliable and accurate for measuring and monitoring environmentally important toxic gases, such as NO2, NO, N2O, H2S, CO, NH3, CH4, SO2, and CO2. Compared to other sensing technologies, MOS sensors are lightweight, relatively inexpensive, robust, and have high material sensitivity with fast response times. Green nanotechnology is a developing branch of nanotechnology and aims to decrease the negative effects of the production and application of nanomaterials. For this purpose, organic solvents and chemical reagents are not used to prepare metal nanoparticles. On the contrary, the synthesis of metal or metal oxide nanoparticles is done by microorganisms, either from plant extracts or fungi, yeast, algae, and bacteria. Thus, this review aims at illustrating the possible green synthesis of different metal oxides such as ZnO, TiO2, CeO2, SnO2, In2O3, CuO, NiO, WO3, and Fe3O4, as well as metallic nanoparticles doping.

Carbonaceous admixtures in cementitious building materials: Effect of particle size blending on rheology, packing, early age properties and processing energy demand.

Application of biochar, produced from locally generated wastes, as admixture in cement is a strategy to upcycle biomass waste and produce durable building materials. This research explores the influence of particle size and porosity of biochar, prepared from coconut shell and wood waste, added at 2 wt% of cement, on rheology, setting time, hydration and early age strength of cement mortar. For each biochar type, three particle size gradations are explored - coarser biochar (d50 = 45-50 µm) (obtained by sieving), finer biochar (d50 = 10-18 µm) (obtained by ball milling) and combination of coarser and finer biochar (d50 = 15-25 µm). Experimental findings suggest that combination of coarser and finer biochar improves workability and rheological properties of binder pastes compared to that with (only) coarser biochar. Depending on biochar type, hydration and rate of setting are accelerated compared to control. Inclusion of finer biochar and combination of finer and coarser biochar improve packing density and degree of hydration of pastes compared to coarser biochar and control, leading to 12-19% enhancement in compressive strength at 7-day age. Micro-structural investigations show that the macro-pores of coarser biochar can be filled with dense hydration products, although some macro-pores may remain unfilled. This offsets improvement in strength that can be achieved through enhancement in packing density. The approach of blending coarser and finer biochar reduces the energy demand and cost associated with ball-milling by 23-37% and SGD 2.30-4.80 per ton respectively compared to only finer (ball-milled) biochar per cubic meter of concrete. Overall, the findings from this research demonstrate that blending of biochar of different particle size distributions can enhance physical properties of cement-based materials, while reducing associated energy consumption.

Experimental Evaluation of Tensile Performance of Aluminate Cement Composite Reinforced with Weft Knitted Fabrics as a Function of Curing Temperature.

Cement composites (CC) are among the composites most widely used in the construction industry, such as a durable waterproof and fire-resistant concrete layer, slope protection, and application in retaining wall structures. The use of 3D fabric embedded in the cement media can improve the mechanical properties of the composites. The use of calcium aluminate cement (CAC) can accelerate the production process of the CC and further contribute to improving the mechanical properties of the cement media. The purpose of this study is to promote the use of these cementitious composites by deepening the knowledge of their tensile properties and investigating the factors that may affect them. Therefore, 270 specimens (three types of stitch structure, two directions of the fabric, three water temperature values, five curing ages, with three repetitions) were made, and the tensile properties, absorbed energy, and the inversion effects were evaluated. The results showed that the curing conditions of the reinforced cementitious composite in water with temperature values of 7, 23, and 50 °C affect the tensile behavior. The tensile strength of the CCs cured in water with a temperature of 23 °C had the highest tensile strength, while 7 and 50 °C produced a lower tensile strength. The inversion effect has been observed in CC at 23 °C between 7 and 28 days, while this effect has not occurred in other curing temperature values. By examining three commercial types of stitches in fabrics and the performance of the reinforced cementitious composites in the warp direction, it was found that the structure of the "Tuck Stitch" has higher tensile strength and absorbed energy compared to "Knit stitch" and "Miss Stitch". The tensile strength and fracture energy of the CC reinforced with "Tuck Stitch" fabric in the warp direction, by curing in 23 °C water for 7 days, were found to be 2.81 MPa and 1.65 × 103 KJ/m3, respectively. These results may be helpful in selecting the design and curing parameters for the purposes of maximizing the tensile properties of textile CAC composites.

Evaluation of Methodologies for Assessing Self-Healing Performance of Concrete with Mineral Expansive Agents: An Interlaboratory Study.

Self-healing concrete has the potential to optimise traditional design approaches; however, commercial uptake requires the ability to harmonize against standardized frameworks. Within EU SARCOS COST Action, different interlaboratory tests were executed on different self-healing techniques. This paper reports on the evaluation of the effectiveness of proposed experimental methodologies suited for self-healing concrete with expansive mineral additions. Concrete prisms and discs with MgO-based healing agents were produced and precracked. Water absorption and water flow tests were executed over a healing period spanning 6 months to assess the sealing efficiency, and the crack width reduction with time was monitored. High variability was reported for both reference (REF) and healing-addition (ADD) series affecting the reproducibility of cracking. However, within each lab, the crack width creation was repeatable. ADD reported larger crack widths. The latter influenced the observed healing making direct comparisons across labs prone to errors. Water absorption tests highlighted were susceptible to application errors. Concurrently, the potential of water flow tests as a facile method for assessment of healing performance was shown across all labs. Overall, the importance of repeatability and reproducibility of testing methods is highlighted in providing a sound basis for incorporation of self-healing concepts in practical applications.

Sol-gel-entrapped pH indicator for monitoring pH variations in cementitious materials.

Sensors for pH evaluation of concrete were made by a sol-gel process with alizarin yellow as pH indicator. The optical absorbance was measured with a visible spectrophotometer coupled with optical fibers. Results showed that the sensors had good reversibility, reproducibility, and fast response time.

Role of Natural Stone Wastes and Minerals in the Alkali Activation Process: A Review.

This review aims to provide a comprehensive assessment concerning alkali activation of natural stone wastes and minerals. In particular, the structure of the review is divided into two main sections in which the works dealing with alumino-silicate and carbonatic stones are discussed, respectively. Alumino-silicate stones are generally composed of quartz and feldspars, while carbonatic stones are mainly made of calcite and dolomite. The role of these minerals in the alkali activation process is discussed, attesting their influence in the development of the final product properties. In most of the works, authors use mineral additions only as fillers or aggregates and, in some cases, as a partial substitution of more traditional raw powders, such as metakaolin, fly ash, and granulated blast furnace slag. However, a few works in which alumino-silicate and carbonatic stone wastes are used as the main active components are discussed as well. Not only the raw materials, but also the entire alkali activation process and the curing conditions adopted in the literature studies here reviewed are systematically analyzed to improve the understanding of their effect on the physical, mechanical, and durability properties of the final products and to eventually foster the reuse of natural stone wastes for the purposes of sustainability in different applications.

Preparation and Characterization of Polypropylene/Carbon Nanotubes (PP/CNTs) Nanocomposites as Potential Strain Gauges for Structural Health Monitoring.

Polypropylene/carbon nanotubes (PP/CNTs) nanocomposites with different CNTs concentrations (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 wt%) were prepared and tested as strain gauges for structures monitoring. Such sensors were embedded in cementitious mortar prisms and tested in 3-point bending mode recording impedance variation at increasing load. First, thermal (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA)), mechanical (tensile tests) and morphological (FE-SEM) properties of nanocomposites blends were assessed. Then, strain-sensing tests were carried out on PP/CNTs strips embedded in cementitious mortars. PP/CNTs nanocomposites blends with CNTs content of 1, 2 and 3 wt% did not show significant results because these concentrations are below the electrical percolation threshold (EPT). On the contrary, PP/CNTs nanocomposites with 5 and 7 wt% of CNTs showed interesting sensing properties. In particular, the best result was highlighted for the PP/CNT nanocomposite with 5 wt% CNTs for which an average gauge factor (GF) of approx. 1400 was measured. Moreover, load-unload cycles reported a good recovery of the initial impedance. Finally, a comparison with some literature results, in terms of GF, was done demonstrating the benefits deriving from the use of PP/CNTs strips as strain-gauges instead of using conductive fillers in the bulk matrix.

Behaviour of Pre-Cracked Self-Healing Cementitious Materials under Static and Cyclic Loading.

Capsule-based self-healing is increasingly being targeted as an effective way to improve the durability and sustainability of concrete infrastructures through the extension of their service life. Assessing the mechanical and durability behaviour of self-healing materials after damage and subsequent autonomous repair is essential to validate their possible use in real structures. In this study, self-healing mortars containing cementitious tubular capsules with a polyurethanic repairing agent were experimentally investigated. Their mechanical behaviour under both static and cyclic loading was analysed as a function of some factors related to the capsules themselves (production method, waterproof coating configuration, volume of repairing agent stored) or to the specimens (number, size and distribution of the capsules in the specimen). Their mechanical performances were quantified in terms of recovery of load-bearing capacity under static conditions and number of cycles to failure as a function of the peak force under cyclic conditions. Positive results were achieved, with a maximum load recovery index up to more than 40% and number of cycles to failure exceeding 10,000 in most cases, with peak force applied during cyclic loading at least corresponding to 70% of the estimated load-bearing capacity of the healed samples.

Carbon-Based Materials for Humidity Sensing: A Short Review.

Humidity sensors are widespread in many industrial applications, ranging from environmental and meteorological monitoring, soil water content determination in agriculture, air conditioning systems, food quality monitoring, and medical equipment to many other fields. Thus, an accurate and reliable measurement of water content in different environments and materials is of paramount importance. Due to their rich surface chemistry and structure designability, carbon materials have become interesting in humidity sensing. In addition, they can be easily miniaturized and applied in flexible electronics. Therefore, this short review aims at providing a survey of recent research dealing with carbonaceous materials used as capacitive and resistive humidity sensors. This work collects some successful examples of devices based on carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon black, carbon fibers, carbon soot, and more recently, biochar produced from agricultural wastes. The pros and cons of the different sensors are also discussed in the present review.

Waste Coffee Ground Biochar: A Material for Humidity Sensors.

Worldwide consumption of coffee exceeds 11 billion tons/year. Used coffee grounds end up as landfill. However, the unique structural properties of its porous surface make coffee grounds popular for the adsorption of gaseous molecules. In the present work, we demonstrate the use of coffee grounds as a potential and cheap source for biochar carbon. The produced coffee ground biochar (CGB) was investigated as a sensing material for developing humidity sensors. CGB was fully characterized by using laser granulometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the Brunnauer Emmett Teller (BET) technique in order to acquire a complete understanding of its structural and surface properties and composition. Subsequently humidity sensors were screen printed using an ink-containing CGB with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) acting as a temporary binder and ethylene glycol monobutyral ether, Emflow, as an organic vehicle so that the proper rheological characteristics were achieved. Screen-printed films were the heated at 300℃ in air. Humidity tests were performed under a flow of 1.7 L/min in the relative humidity range 0⁻100% at room temperature. The initial impedance of the film was 25.2 0.15 MΩ which changes to 12.3 MΩ under 98% humidity exposure. A sensor response was observed above 20 % relative humidity (RH). Both the response and recovery times were reasonably fast (less than 2 min).

Novel calcium phosphate/PCL graded samples: Design and development in view of biomedical applications.

Scaffolds for bone tissue engineering require a combination of bioactivity and bioresorption at the sample surface and high mechanical properties in the bulk. This work presents a novel calcium phosphate (CaP)/polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold with graded composition and porosity fraction. The scaffold is made of (i) a dense hydroxyapatite (HA)/ß-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP) core, (ii) a macroporous HA/ß-TCP transition layer and (iii) a macroporous PCL/(HA/ß-TCP) external layer. The ceramic layers were fabricated by gel-casting whereas the outer composite layer was obtained by a solvent casting/particle leaching process. The microstructure, phase composition and biodegradation of the scaffolds were characterized. The gradient of porosity was clearly obtained whereas the gradation of phase composition was less pronounced. An in vitro dissolution test was performed by immersing the scaffolds in a TRIS solution. The results showed a dissolution phenomenon with possible differentiated mechanisms in the different layers, in relation with the targeted multi-functionality.

New ZnO-Based Glass Ceramic Sensor for H2 and NO2 Detection.

In this study, a glass ceramic with a nominal composition 58ZnO:4Bi2O3:4WO3:33.3B2O3 was synthesized by melt quenching technique. A gas sensor was then manufactured using a ZnO sol-gel phase as a permanent binder of the glass-ceramic to an alumina substrate having interdigitated electrodes. The film sensitivity towards humidity, NH3, H2 and NO2 was studied at different temperatures. X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), field emission- scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) were used to characterize the prepared material. Though the response in the sub-ppm NO2 concentration range was not explored, the observed results are comparable with the latest found in the literature.

Environmentally-Friendly Dense and Porous Geopolymers Using Fly Ash and Rice Husk Ash as Raw Materials.

This paper assesses the feasibility of two industrial wastes, fly ash (FA) and rice husk ash (RHA), as raw materials for the production of geopolymeric pastes. Three typologies of samples were thus produced: (i) halloysite activated with potassium hydroxide and nanosilica, used as the reference sample (HL-S); (ii) halloysite activated with rice husk ash dissolved into KOH solution (HL-R); (iii) FA activated with the alkaline solution realized with the rice husk ash (FA-R). Dense and porous samples were produced and characterized in terms of mechanical properties and environmental impact. The flexural and compressive strength of HL-R reached about 9 and 43 MPa, respectively. On the contrary, the compressive strength of FA-R is significantly lower than the HL-R one, in spite of a comparable flexural strength being reached. However, when porous samples are concerned, FA-R shows comparable or even higher strength than HL-R. Thus, the current results show that RHA is a valuable alternative to silica nanopowder to prepare the activator solution, to be used either with calcined clay and fly ash feedstock materials. Finally, a preliminary evaluation of the global warming potential (GWP) was performed for the three investigated formulations. With the mix containing FA and RHA-based silica solution, a reduction of about 90% of GWP was achieved with respect to the values obtained for the reference formulation.

In vitro toxicity of carbon nanotubes, nano-graphite and carbon black, similar impacts of acid functionalization.

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and nano-graphite (NG) are graphene-based nanomaterials which share exceptional physicochemical properties, but whose health impacts are unfortunately still not well understood. On the other hand, carbon black (CB) is a conventional and widely studied material. The comparison of these three carbon-based nanomaterials is thus of great interest to improve our understanding of their toxicity. An acid functionalization was carried out on CNT, NG and CB so that, after a thorough characterization, their impacts on RAW 264.7 macrophages could be compared for a similar surface chemistry (15 to 120 µg·mL(-1) nanomaterials, 90-min to 24-h contact). Functionalized nanomaterials triggered a weak cytotoxicity similar to the pristine nanomaterials. Acid functionalization increased the pro-inflammatory response except for CB which did not trigger any TNF-α production before or after functionalization, and seemed to strongly decrease the oxidative stress. The toxicological impact of acid functionalization appeared thus to follow a similar trend whatever the carbon-based nanomaterial. At equivalent dose expressed in surface and equivalent surface chemistry, the toxicological responses from murine macrophages to NG were higher than for CNT and CB. It seemed to correspond to the hypothesis of a platelet and fiber paradigm.

Setup of Extruded Cementitious Hollow Tubes as Containing/Releasing Devices in Self-Healing Systems.

The aim of this research is to produce self-healing cementitious composites based on the use of cylindrical capsules containing a repairing agent. Cementitious hollow tubes (CHT) having two different internal diameters (of 2 mm and 7.5 mm) were produced by extrusion and used as containers and releasing devices for cement paste/mortar healing agents. Based on the results of preliminary mechanical tests, sodium silicate was selected as the healing agent. The morphological features of several mix designs used to manufacture the extruded hollow tubes, as well as the coatings applied to increase the durability of both core and shell materials are discussed. Three-point bending tests were performed on samples produced with the addition of the above-mentioned cementitious hollow tubes to verify the self-healing effectiveness of the proposed solution. Promising results were achieved, in particular when tubes with a bigger diameter were used. In this case, a substantial strength and stiffness recovery was observed, even in specimens presenting large cracks (>1 mm). The method is inexpensive and simple to scale up; however, further research is needed in view of a final optimization.

Strontium-doped hematite as a possible humidity sensing material for soil water content determination.

The aim of this work is to study the sensing behavior of Sr-doped hematite for soil water content measurement. The material was prepared by solid state reaction from commercial hematite and strontium carbonate heat treated at 900 °C. X-Ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used for microstructural characterization of the synthesized powder. Sensors were then prepared by uniaxially pressing and by screen-printing, on an alumina substrate, the prepared powder and subsequent firing in the 800-1,000 °C range. These sensors were first tested in a laboratory apparatus under humid air and then in an homogenized soil and finally in field. The results evidenced that the screen printed film was able to give a response for a soil matric potential from about 570 kPa, that is to say well below the wilting point in the used soil.

Ba-Doped Iron Oxide as a New Material for NO2 Detection.

Various compositions of barium-doped hematite between pure hematite (α-Fe2O3) and pure barium hexaferrite (BaFe12O19) were synthesized by solid state reaction. The XRD analyses confirmed the progressive evolution of the two crystalline phases. Tests as humidity sensors show that the electrical resistance of samples containing high proportions of hexaferrite phase is strongly influenced. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses under air or argon revealed an intrinsic semiconducting behavior for hematite and samples doped with 3 and 4 wt % equivalent BaO. The samples containing higher proportions of barium exhibited an extrinsic semiconducting behavior characterized by a variation of the conductivity with the oxygen partial pressure. This study allowed us to define the percolation threshold of the barium hexaferrite crystalline phase in the hematite matrix. The value was estimated to hematite doped with 5 wt % BaO, i.e., 36 wt % of barium hexaferrite phase. EIS analyses under various NO2 partial pressures confirmed the sensitivity of these materials. The linearity of the response was particularly evident for the 5, 10 and 14 wt % samples.