Systematic Study of the Nanostructures of Exfoliated Polymer Nanocomposites

High-performance bioinspired materials have shown rapid development over the last decade. Examples are brick-and-mortar hierarchical structures, which are often achieved via solvent evaporation. Although good properties are claimed, most systems are composed of stacked or intercalated platelets. Exfoliation is a crucial step to give ultimate...

Affine Deformation and Self-Assembly Alignment in Hydrogel Nanocomposites

Tailoring the order in hierarchical structures is a key goal of bioinspired nanocomposite design. Recently, nacre-like materials have been developed by solvent evaporation methods that are scalable and attain advanced functionalities. However, understanding the alignment mechanisms of 2D fillers, nanosheets, or platelets remains challenging....

Nanocellulose recovery from domestic wastewater

Wastewater solids could be an attractive source of secondary raw cellulose, mainly originating from toilet paper. Cellulose can be recovered through sieving of raw wastewater, return sludge, or excess sludge. In particular, a large fraction of cellulose (13–15%) can be found in the excess sludge of the aerobic granular sludge produced by the...

Forming Anisotropic Crystal Composites: Assessing the Mechanical Translation of Gel Network Anisotropy to Calcite Crystal Form

The promise of crystal composites with direction-specific properties is an attractive prospect for diverse applications; however, synthetic strategies for realizing such composites remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that anisotropic agarose gel networks can mechanically "mold" calcite crystal growth, yielding anisotropically structured,...

A comparison between chemical cleaning efficiency in lab-scale and full-scale reverse osmosis membranes: Role of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)

Chemical cleaning is vital for the optimal operation of membrane systems. Membrane chemical cleaning protocols are often developed in the laboratory flow cells (e.g., Membrane Fouling Simulator (MFS)) using synthetic feed water (nutrient excess) and short experimental time of typically days. However, full-scale Reverse Osmosis (RO) membranes...

Reprintable paste-based materials for additive manufacturing in a circular economy

The circular economy requires high-value material recovery to enable multiple product lifecycles. This implies the need for additive manufacturing to focus on the development and use of low-impact materials that, after product use, can be reconstituted to their original properties in terms of printability and functionality. We therefore...

Impact of metal ions on structural EPS hydrogels from aerobic granular sludge

Structural extracellular polymeric substances (structural EPS) can form stable hydrogels and are considered to be responsible for the stability of biofilms and aerobic granular sludge. Structural EPS were extracted from aerobic granular sludge and characterized for their gel-forming capacity with different alkaline earth and transition metal...

Pilot-scale assessment of urea as a chemical cleaning agent for biofouling control in spiral-wound reverse osmosis membrane elements

Routine chemical cleaning with the combined use of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) is carried out as a means of biofouling control in reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. The novelty of the research presented herein is in the application of urea, instead of NaOH, as a chemical cleaning agent to full-scale spiral-wound RO...

Enhanced biofilm solubilization by urea in reverse osmosis membrane systems

Chemical cleaning is routinely performed in reverse osmosis (RO) plants for the regeneration of RO membranes that suffer from biofouling problems. The potential of urea as a chaotropic agent to enhance the solubilization of biofilm proteins has been reported briefly in the literature. In this paper the efficiency of urea cleaning for RO...

Exploring the Structure, Properties, and Applications of Highly Ordered Bionanocomposites

Nature displays a multitude of fascinating materials, from beautiful colors of butterfly wings to the toughness of mullosc shells, which are formed in mild enviornmental conditions with commonly occuring materials, such as chitosan or calcium carbonate. These composite materials display an intricate interplay of biopolymers and minerals forming...

Rheological investigation of specific interactions in Na Alginate and Na MMT suspension

Here we report on a study of a rheological behavior of sodium alginate and montmorillonite suspension. We find that viscoelastic behavior of this suspension is dramatically affected with increasing volume fraction of montmorillonite platelets. Addition of montmorillonite generally leads to gel formation, which is attributed to interactions of...

Biobased Membrane

The present invention is in the field of a composition for forming a bio-compatible membrane applicable to building material, such as concrete, cement, etc., to a meth od of applying said composition for forming a bio-compatible membrane, a biocompatible membrane, use of said membrane for various purposes, and to building material comprising...

Using bio-based polymers for curing cement-based materials

Curing is the process of controlling the rate and extent of moisture loss from the surface of cement based materials. It is the final stage in the production of cement-based materials and it is the essential part for achieving continuous hydration of cement, while avoiding cracking due to drying shrinkage. Continuous cement hydration also...

Influence of compaction on chloride ingress

Experiences from practice show the need for more of an understanding and optimization of the compaction process in order to design a more durable concrete structure. Local variations in compaction are very often the reason for initiation of local damage and initiation of chloride induced corrosion. Poor compaction is often manifested locally in...