Curing Assessment of Concrete with Hyperspectral Imaging.

The curing of concrete significantly influences the hydration process and its strength development. Inadequate curing leads to a loss of quality and has a negative effect on the durability of the concrete. Usually, the effects are not noticed until years later, when the first damage to the structure occurs because of the poor concrete quality. This paper presents a non-destructive measurement method for the determination of the curing quality of young concrete. Hyperspectral imaging in the near infrared is a contactless method that provides information about material properties in an electromagnetic wavelength range that cannot be seen with the human eye. Laboratory tests were carried out with samples with three different curing types at the age of 1, 7, and 27 days. The results showed that differences in the near infrared spectral signatures can be determined depending on the age of the concrete and the type of curing. The data was classified and analyzed by evaluating the results using k-means clustering. This method showed a high level of reliability for the differentiation between the different curing types and concrete ages. A recommendation for hyperspectral measurement and the evaluation of the curing quality of concrete could be made.

Localisation and characterisation of incipient brown-rot decay within spruce wood cell walls using FT-IR imaging microscopy.

Spruce wood that had been degraded by brown-rot fungi (Gloeophyllum trabeum or Poria placenta) exhibiting mass losses up to 16% was investigated by transmission Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) imaging microscopy. Here the first work on the application of FT-IR imaging microscopy and multivariate image analysis of fungal degraded wood is presented and the first report on the spatial distribution of polysaccharide degradation during incipient brown-rot of wood. Brown-rot starts to become significant in the outer cell wall regions (middle lamellae, primary cell walls, and the outer layer of the secondary cell wall S1). This pattern was detected even in a sample with non-detectable mass loss. Most significant during incipient decay was the cleavage of glycosidic bonds, i.e. depolymerisation of wood polysaccharides and the degradation of pectic substances. Accordingly, intramolecular hydrogen bonding within cellulose was reduced, while the presence of phenolic groups increased.

Determination of the weight percentage gain and of the acetyl group content of acetylated wood by means of different infrared spectroscopic methods.

The weight percentage gain (WPG) and the acetyl group content of wood due to acetylation with acetic anhydride have been analyzed by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR). Band height ratios (BHR) (1240/1030 (1230/1030) and 1745/1030 (1740/1030)) of the bands at 1745 (1740), 1240 (1230), and 1030 cm-1 were calculated from FTIR-KBr and FTIR-ATR (attenuated total reflection) spectra. The good linear correlation with a coefficient of determination of about 0.94 over a range from 0 to 27% WPG existing between BHRs and WPG and acetyl group content, respectively, requires only a few samples to calibrate FTIR. Partial least-squares regression models based on second derivatives of the NIR spectra in the wavenumber range from 6080 to 5760 cm-1 resulted in a R2 value of 0.99, number of PLS components (rank) between 3 and 5, root-mean-square error of cross-validation between 0.6 and 0.79%, and a residual prediction deviation up to 10. Although a wide range of input parameters (i.e., various wood species and different procedures of acetylation) was used, highly satisfactory results were obtained. Both FTIR and NIR spectroscopic means fulfill the need for determining the WPG and the acetyl content of acetylated wood. By reason of its additional potential for on-line process control, the NIR method may even outperform the FTIR method.

Qualitative and quantitative changes of beech wood degraded by wood-rotting basidiomycetes monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic methods and multivariate data analysis.

Beech wood (Fagus sylvatica L.) veneers were cultivated with white and brown rot fungi for up to 10 weeks. Fungal wood modification was traced with Fourier transform near infrared (FT-NIR) and Fourier transform mid infrared (FT-MIR) methods. Partial least square regression (PLSR) models to predict the total lignin content before and after fungal decay in the range between 17.0% and 26.6% were developed for FT-MIR transmission spectra as well as for FT-NIR reflectance spectra. Weight loss of the decayed samples between 0% and 38.2% could be estimated from the wood surface using individual PLSR models for white rot and brown rot fungi, and from a model including samples subjected to both degradation types.

Characterization of the crystalline structure of cellulose using static and dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy.

The cellulose structure is a factor of major importance for the strength properties of wood pulp fibers. The ability to characterize small differences in the crystalline structures of cellulose from fibers of different origins is thus highly important. In this work, dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy has been further explored as a method sensitive to cellulose structure variations. Using a model system of two different celluloses, the relation between spectral information and the relative cellulose Ialpha content was investigated. This relation was then used to determine the relative cellulose Ialpha content in different pulps. The estimated cellulose I allomorph compositions were found to be reasonable for both unbleached and bleached chemical pulps. In addition, it was found that the dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy technique had the potential to indicate possible correlation field splitting peaks of cellulose Ibeta.

Load distribution in native cellulose.

The properties of cellulose materials are dependent on interactions between and within the cellulose chains. To investigate the deformation behavior of cellulose and its relation to molecular straining, sheets with fibers oriented preferably in one direction were studied by dynamic FT-IR spectroscopy. Celluloses with different origins (spruce pulp, Cladophora cellulose, cotton linters) were used. The sheets were stretched sinusoidally at low strains and small amplitudes while being irradiated with polarized infrared radiation. The cellulose fibers showed mainly an elastic response. The cellulose fibers showed mainly an elastic response. The glucose rings and the C-O-C bridges connecting adjacent rings, as well as the O(3)H.O(5) intramolecular hydrogen bonds are the components mainly deformed under stress, whereas the O(2)H.O(6) intramolecular hydrogen bonds play a minor role. The load distribution was also found to be different in the different allomorphic forms of cellulose I, namely, I(alpha) and I(beta).

Enhanced formation of extracellular laccase activity by the white-rot fungus Trametes multicolor.

The white-rot fungus Trametes multicolor MB 49 has been identified as an excellent producer of the industrially important enzyme laccase. The formation of extracellular laccase could be considerably stimulated by the addition of Cu(II) to a simple, glycerol-based culture medium. In this study, optimal concentrations of copper were found to be 0.5-1 mM, which were added during the growth phase of the fungus. Other medium components important for laccase production are the carbon and nitrogen sources employed. When using an optimized medium containing glycerol (40 g/L), peptone from meat (15 g/L), and MgSO4 x 7H2O and stimulating enzyme formation by the addition of 1.0 mM Cu, maximal laccase activities obtained in shake-flask cultures were approx 85 U/mL. These results, however, could not be scaled up to a laboratory fermentor cultivation. Laccase production by T. multicolor decreased considerably when the fungus was grown in a stirred-tank reactor, presumably because of damage of the mycelia caused by shear stress and/or changes in the morphology of the fungus.