Room-temperature pulsed CVD-grown SiO₂ protective layer on TiO₂ particles for photocatalytic activity suppression

This work presents a novel chemical vapor deposition (CVD) approach that enables the deposition of ultrathin and conformal SiO₂ layers on TiO₂ anatase nanoparticles at room temperature using SiCl₄ and air containing water without the use of a catalyst. The morphology of the CVD-grown SiO₂ layers was...

Uptake of heavy metal ions in layered double hydroxides and applications in cementitious materials: Experimental evidence and first-principle study

The uptake mechanism of heavy metal ions in layered double hydroxides (LDHs) is investigated in this paper via solid-solution exchange experiments and first principle study. The uptake capacities of C-LDHs for heavy metal ions from solutions are experimentally investigated and the structures of LDHs doped with various heavy metal ions are...

Adaptive leader-follower synchronization over heterogeneous and uncertain networks of linear systems without distributed observer

A challenging task in network synchronization is steering the network toward a coherent solution, when the dynamics of the constituent systems are heterogeneous and uncertain. In this situation, synchronization can be achieved via adaptive protocols (with adaptive feedback gains or adaptive coupling gains, or both). However, as state-of-the...

Experimental study on evacuation behaviour of passengers in a high-deck coach: A Chinese case study

High-deck coaches form an essential component of mass transportation systems in China. Safe evacuation from high-deck coaches is facing dire challenges. However, evacuation behaviour from high-deck coaches has not been deeply understood yet. In this study, a novel conceptual framework is firstly proposed to capture the evacuation behaviour of...

An experimental and numerical investigation of coarse aggregate settlement in fresh concrete under vibration

Fresh concrete needs vibration to compact, fill the mould and reach a dense state. During the compaction process, coarse aggregates (CAs) tend to settle, affecting the homogeneity and eventually the long-term durability of hardened concrete. In this study, a 3-D, multi-phase numerical model for fresh concrete is developed for better...

Open Experimental Data-Sets to Reveal Behavioural Insights of High-Deck Coach Evacuations

Numerous evacuation performance data for the utilization in evacuation modelling and simulations have been established for the conventional/widely studied scenarios, such as building evacuation scenarios. However, such data are typically scarce for a new scenario in literature — evacuation from high-deck coaches. This paper fulfills this gap...

Unravelling key factors controlling vivianite formation during anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge

As a product of phosphorous recovery from anaerobic digestion (AD) of waste activated sludge (WAS), vivianite has received increasing attention. However, key factors controlling vivianite formation have not yet been fully addressed. Thus, this study was initiated to ascertain key factors controlling vivianite formation. A simulation of...

Modeling Pedestrian Tactical and Operational Decisions Under Risk and Uncertainty: A Two-Layer Model Framework

Pedestrian tactical choices and operational movement in evacuations essentially pertain to decision-making under risk and uncertainty. However, in microscopic evacuation models, this attribute has been greatly overlooked, even lacking a methodology to delineate the related decision characteristics (bounded rationality and risk attitudes), let...