Sustainable Green Materials Research Articles

Sodium tert-butoxide as stable electrode material in aprotic electrolyte for high cycle stability organic sodium-ion batteries

Organic electrode material can be obtained from biomass through green process, so it is a sustainable green electrode material. However, the capacity attenuation problem of organic electrode seriously affects its application in the field of batteries. Desodiation state and sodiation state are the two corresponding states of electrode materials in redox reaction. The reason for this problem is that the reported desodiation state or sodiation state of organic electrode active unit cannot exist stably in aprotic electrolyte. Here, we report a new organic active unit sodium tert-butoxide (STB), which can exist stably in aprotic electrolyte to obtain high cycle stability. As the electrode of rechargeable batteries, the STB exhibits a capacity of 206 mAhg−1 at 35 mAg−1, 2.4 V. The battery runs more than 5000 cycles at 210 mAg−1, 135 mAhg−1, no capacity attenuation. The other two battery samples run more than 6500 cycles and 10000 cycles at 600 mAg−1, with the capacity retention 99% and 98%, respectively. STB provides a design basis for the development of organic electrode materials with high energy density and high cycle stability.

A feasibility study of using coffee cup waste as a building material - Life cycle assessment and multi-objective optimisation

With the scarcity of land and rapid drive towards sustainable development, numerous research studies are conducted on diverting waste from landfills. However, majority of these studies are focused on either experimental investigation of material characteristics or environmental impacts. Due to heavy virgin material usage, building material manufacturing industries are increasingly interested in using waste materials to partially or completely replace virgin materials from building materials. The cost of production is still a governing factor in decision making process concerning sustainable green material procurement. Disposable coffee cups contain a plastic liner and annually 60,000 kg of coffee cup waste end up in Australian landfills. Therefore, the current study presents a LCA feasibility study focused on shredded coffee cup waste as sand replacement in concrete and wood chip replacement in particleboard manufacture. The results indicate that sand replacement in concrete can improve environmental impact savings as compared to particleboard manufacture. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that percentage of sand replacement is highly sensitive to global warming potential (GWP) impact category and transport distance is highly sensitive to other environmental impacts. A multi-objective genetic optimisation is then conducted to obtain the cost-effective green mix designs for concrete samples. The results indicated that with 25% cost increase, emissions of CO2, NOx, CO and SO2 can be reduced by 10%, 38%, 2.5% and 43% respectively. These research findings are valuable for stakeholders determined to adopt cost-effective green building materials in their construction projects.

Integrating Nanomaterial and High‐Performance Fuzzy‐Based Machine Learning Approach for Green Energy Conversion

Biomass is a renewable and sustainable green energy material. It is made up of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose with considerable amount of water, extractives, and inorganic chemical compounds. The use of biomass materials and other biogenic wastes for energy recovery represents an eco‐friendly way. Biomass material selection is one of the most significant aspects for any energy conversion process, and it is a common outsourcing problem that includes material preparation, reactor performance, economic assessment, and calorific value of the products. Fuzzy systems can be quite useful in high‐performance computing during the selection of biomass materials. In each engineering process, material selection is a crucial step since each material is having its own set of characteristics. This study presents the application of type‐1 fuzzy set for the selection of suitable biomass material for yielding maximum bio‐oil. This study focuses on seven locally available materials such as rice straw (M‐1), sunflower shell (M‐2), hardwood (M‐3), wheat straw (M‐4), sugarcane bagasse (M‐5), corn cop (M‐6), and palm shell (M‐7). The study evaluated seven important properties of the materials such as lignin (P‐1), cellulose (P‐2), hemicellulose (P‐3), volatile matter (P‐4), fixed carbon (P‐5), moisture content (P‐6), and ash content (P‐7). The findings demonstrated that sugarcane bagasse (M‐5) is the best option for maximum bio‐oil yield. Furthermore, the potential of nanoscale catalysts in improving the yield of bio‐oil through real‐time experiments was studied. The findings of this work add to our understanding of the application of fuzzy‐based systems for energy applications.

Development of fibre reinforced green mortar made with waste brick material as fine aggregate for sustainable masonry construction

This paper considers waste brick fine particles as sustainable green construction materials and investigates the influence of mortar on the brick masonry strength. The waste brick powder particles between 4.75 mm and 0.15 mm size were prepared from waste brick bats as substitutes to the river sand. The mortar phase of the brick masonry was prepared by replacing the river sand with 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of waste brick fine grain materials. Mortar mix ratios 1:6 and 1:8 were selected and 12 mm layer of mortar was maintained to prepare test specimens. Compressive strength of brick masonry were calculated using masonry prism specimens for finding the impact of fine recycled brick aggregate (FRBA) used in masonry mortar. The masonry specimens were casted with two different types of bricks and the bricks were selected based on its strength. The impact of glass fibre on the strength enhancement of masonry strength was determined. The prism specimens were tested after the curing periods of 7, 28 and 56 days. The results of this study had evidenced that the replacement of river sand up to 30% is promising with waste brick material without affecting the load carrying capacity of brick masonry.

Performance Optimization and Characterization of Loess-Slag-Based Geopolymer Composite: A New Sustainable Green Material for Backfill

Performance Optimization and Characterization of Loess-Slag-Based Geopolymer Composite: A New Sustainable Green Material for Backfill

Fatigue and thermo-mechanical properties of chemically treated Morinda citrifolia fiber-reinforced bio-epoxy composite: A sustainable green material for cleaner production

Due to the environmental awareness, researchers are focusing to replace the synthetic with natural fibers. However, the use of natural fibers has certain limitations like limited to geographical location, hydrophobicity, and compatibility. To overcome these, the current research presents a new novel resource of natural fiber from Morinda citrifolia as a cleaner material and bridges the gap between the materials and sustainability. The fibers were subjected to chemical treatments like NaOH, silane, and nitric acid to improve its compatibility. Four different composites were developed, respectively using bio-epoxy resin to promote the bio-based concept. The physical, mechanical, thermal, viscoelastic, and morphological properties of the fibers and composites were analyzed and studied according to ASTM. The mechanical results revealed that the chemical treatments improved the tensile and flexural strength by 14.372% and 46.716%, respectively. Surface roughness plots showed improved roughness for NaOH and Nitric acid-treated fibers. The thermal stability of the silane and NaOH treated fibers was improved by 6.785% and 5.583% respectively. Lifetime of the best performed composite under dynamic loading is analyzed and studied through fatigue test. Finally, from the results, it was found that Morinda citrifolia fiber is a novel potential resource of sustainable raw material for reinforcement in polymer composites and can be used to develop lightweight structural applications.

Chemo-physico-mechanical characteristics of high-strength alkali-activated mortar containing non-traditional supplementary cementitious materials

The effect of non-traditional cement replacement materials as a replacement in the ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) - fly ash (FA) based alkali-activated mortar (AAM) was investigated. In AAM, GGBS was replaced with 20%, 30% and 40% of palm oil fuel ash (POFA), treated palm oil fuel ash (TPOFA), palm oil clinker powder (POCP) and bottom ash (BA) by weight. Microstructure of mortar was investigated using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The significant parameters investigated include the microstructures, alkali-activated material's reactivity, setting behavior and mechanical properties following ASTM standard. The potential of the pozzolanic binder materials was evaluated from the Chapelle test. The results indicated that among all the non-traditional SCMs, TPOFA achieved a satisfactory performance in all the investigations conducted. In case of AAM, 30% replacement of GGBS with TPOFA attained the highest 28-day compressive strength of 82.45 MPa. The formation of C–A–S–H gel was identified in GGBS based AAM. The results obtained from this study revealed that the TPOFA based AAM can be consider as a novel alternative sustainable green and environmental friendly material. In addition, the use of 30% of pozzolanic cementitious material can be used to replace GGBS in the development of AAM to develop high strength AAM in the range of 60–100 MPa.

CQDs/biochar from reed straw modified Z-scheme MgIn2S4/BiOCl with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance for carbamazepine degradation in water

The application of environmental-friendly and sustainable green materials in constructing photocatalysts to degrade pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) attracts more attention. Herein, biochar (BC) or biomass carbon quantum dots (CQDs) were used to modify MgIn2S4/BiOCl (MB) heterojunction photocatalyst with Z-scheme structure, and improved the photocatalytic degradation performance for carbamazepine (CBZ) in the aqueous solution. Both BC and CQDs could form electron transfer interface with MB heterojunction, resulting in the photodegradation rate of MgIn2S4/BiOCl/CQDs (MBC, 96.43%) and MgIn2S4/BiOCl/BC (MBB, 88.09%) to CBZ within 120 min visible-light irradiation, which were significantly higher than that of MB (65.84%). Moreover, photoelectrochemical and photoluminescence tests verified that CQDs could act as a bridge for storing and transferring electrons in the entire Z-scheme system. Thence, compared with MBB, MBC could produce more •OH and •O2− under the visible light, which was indicated by the results of radical quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance. Interestingly, under the natural sunlight, the photocatalytic performance of MBC to CBZ was even better than under laboratory conditions. In addition, the TOC removal efficiencies of MBB and MBC could reach 85.09% and 93.79% respectively, and ECOSAR program was utilized to further evaluate the eco-toxicity of CBZ and the intermediates towards fish, daphnid, and green algae, indicating that the photocatalytic process involving MBB and MBC showed outstanding toxicity reduction performance. Finally, compared with other composites, MBB and MBC showed higher photocatalytic performance and lower energy consumption, which would provide a green strategy for biochar materials in the photocatalytic treatment of PPCPs in water.

A Review on Utilizing the Marine Biorefinery Waste in Construction Raw Materials to Reduce Land Pollution and Enhance Green Environment

Abstract This research mainly concentrates on eco-friendly construction material. Production of cement and concrete industries release huge amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases which affect the environment and also there is a demand in construction material by man-made or nature. The construction sector finds an economic and eco-friendly cement replacement material to achieve the demand for green concrete that improve the energy conservation and better energy saving material. In marine Bio-refinery waste produce huge quantity of calcium carbonate, whose disposal is cause of major concern. Pre-eminent solution for this problem is utilizing the marine shell waste in cement and concrete. It revises the manufacturing process to reduce the raw material usage in production and adoptable material for global warming. Therefore, the researchers focus on marine waste sea shells as the replacement material in construction industry to save the energy and also give sustainable green material. As per the previous studies by the researchers to determine the chemical composition, specific gravity, water absorption, particle size distribution of seashells and also compressive, flexural and tensile strength of concrete. It shows the seashell is filler material that slightly increases the strength when compared to the conventional materials and therefore the sea shells are suitable for the construction field to manufacture the cement and concrete with eco-friendly manner.

Use of sustainable green materials in construction of green buildings for sustainable development

Sustainability in building construction is now major priority as it is having various advantages. The global trend is moving towards the sustainability and hence sustainable building construction has prime importance in the construction industry. Due to huge urbanization activities lot of environmental issues are originating. Building construction using sustainable materials will lead to reduction in the pollution and also improve the existing situation of environmental problems. This paper discusses the use of recycled design products in the construction industry. Affordable sustainable housing projects made from locally available construction materials are in high demand. It safeguards the natural ecosystem, economy, and energy. As a result, the report considers unique products that could fulfil the minimum requirements for sustainable building construction. The primary goal of this research is to do a comparative review to determine the viability of using recycled building materials instead of conventional building materials.

Application of Gene Expression Programming to Evaluate Strength Characteristics of Hydrated-Lime-Activated Rice Husk Ash-Treated Expansive Soil

Gene expression programming has been applied in this work to predict the California bearing ratio (CBR), unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and resistance value (R value or Rvalue) of expansive soil treated with an improved composites of rice husk ash. Pavement foundations suffer failures due to poor design and construction, poor materials handling and utilization, and management lapses. The evolution of sustainable green materials and optimization and soft computing techniques have been deployed to improve on the deficiencies being suffered in the abovementioned areas of design and construction engineering. In this work, expansive soil classified as A-7-6 group soil was treated with hydrated-lime activated rice husk ash (HARHA) in an incremental proportion to produce 121 datasets, which were used to predict the behavior of the soil’s strength parameters utilizing the mutative and evolutionary algorithms of GEP. The input parameters were HARHA, liquid limit ( w L ), (plastic limit w P , plasticity index I P , optimum moisture content ( w OMC ), clay activity (AC), and (maximum dry density (δmax) while CBR, UCS, and R value were the output parameters. A multiple linear regression (MLR) was also conducted on the datasets in addition to GEP to serve as a check mechanism. At the end of the computing and iterations, MLR and GEP optimization methods proposed three equations corresponding to the output parameters of the work. The responses validation on the predicted models shows a good correlation above 0.9 and a great performance index. The predicted models’ performance has shown that GEP soft computing has predicted models that can be used in the design of CBR, UCS, and R value for soils being used as foundation materials and being treated with admixtures as a binding component.

Study on the basic properties and mechanism of waste sludge solidified by magnesium phosphate cement containing different active magnesium oxide

Magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) containing different active magnesium oxides was used to solidify waste sludge. The fluidity, setting time, unconfined compressive strength, water resistance, shrinkage deformation, spontaneous imbibition, water absorption, thermal conductivity, leachate and particle shape and arrangement of the solidified body were studied and evaluated. Results showed that MPC can be used as a fast sludge curing agent. When the ratio of dead burnt magnesia to light burnt magnesia was 3:7, the strength was the highest. This suggested that appropriately reducing the reaction rate can quantitatively adjust struvite crystals and increase strength. The retarder reduced the reaction rate and increased the strength, which indirectly indicated that the strength was affected by the rate of formation of hydration products. The shrinkage mainly came from the dry shrinkage induced by the evaporation of water, the conversion of free water in the reaction into the bound water in the crystal, and the shrinkage induced by the heat released by the acid-base neutralization reaction. The unsaturated imbibition was mainly divided into the rapid imbibition stage, the unsteady imbibition stage and the equilibrium zone. Imbibition indexes have a linear relationship with the square root of time. For spontaneous imbibition height: the arrangement of regular hexagonal particles ≤ triangular arrangement < spherical arrangement. The equivalent diameters of different particle shapes and the corresponding pore shape correction factors were derived. This study provided a scientific basis for the feasibility of solidified waste sludge as a slope protection, landfill and sustainable green building material.

A peanut shell-derived economical and eco-friendly biochar catalyst for electrochemical ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions: combined experimental and theoretical study

The electrochemical conversion of N2 to NH3 under ambient conditions is a highly promising alternative to the energy-intensive Haber–Bosch process. As a catalyst for electrocatalytic N2 synthesis of NH3, biochar is a sustainable green material.

Development and characterization of hybrid composites from sustainable green materials

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), mechanical, physical and wettability properties of hybrid composites developed from sustainable green materials, jute fiber and wood particles that were manufactured by using the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding technique. The storage modulus, loss modulus and tan δ values of the hybrid composites were also determined to evaluate the DMTA performance. The results showed that the storage modulus of jute/polyester resin is superior to those of the jute–wood/polyester hybrid and wood/polyester up to the glass transition temperature (Tg). However, for temperature ranges higher than Tg, the stiffness of hybrid composites increased relatively. The Tgvalues from loss modulus and tan δ peaks support this effect of hybridization. Tests on mechanical properties showed that the jute/polyester specimens had a significant increase in tensile strength compared with the jute–wood/polyester hybrid and wood/polyester specimens. The results of tests of physical properties showed that the wood/polyester specimen had the lowest values of thickness swelling, water absorption and moisture content compared with the jute/polyester and jute–wood/polyester composites. The highest contact angle was obtained from composites made of wood/polyester. It could be concluded that the composites with enhanced performance could be used as novel green composites in various sectors.

Sustainable green materials for new construction

The development of green structures must begin with the decision and use of eco-obliging materials with related or favored features over standard structure materials. Building materials are commonly picked through handy, particular and budgetary necessities. In any case, with acceptability as a fundamental issue in the latest decades, the structure part, genuinely or in an indirect way causing a great piece of the yearly environmental debilitating, can take up the promise to add to viable progression by finding even more earth big-hearted methods for advancement and building. Among the orientation for courses of action is to be found in new material applications, reusing and reuse, acceptable formation of things or use of green resources, Careful assurance of eco-pleasing attainable structure materials may be the speediest way for engineers to start joining down to earth plan thoughts in structures. Generally, cost has been the fundamental idea when taking a gander at related materials or materials decided for near explanation. Before long, the expense of a structure part infers just the gathering and transportation costs, not social or environmental costs. Impressive exercises have been finished by the assessment arrange comprehensive, in order to discover elective sensible structure materials and low advancement strategies, which realize an undeniably acceptable and moderate improvement consenting to the comfort standards required today. Getting a handle on green structure materials is a respectable decision to meet to this objective. Thus, Selection of improvement materials that have least environmental loads is significant in the acceptable headway of a nation. The inspiration driving this paper is to highlight how reasonable structure material can add to lessen the impact of biological debasement, and make sound structures which can be affordable to the inhabitant similarly as our condition.

Investigation of toughening effect of biomass‐derived SiCB on basalt fiber‐reinforced unsaturated polyester composites

AbstractFiber‐reinforced polymer composites are outstanding lightweight structural materials, so that they are widely used in automotive, marine, medical, defense, and aerospace fields. However, when subjected to structural loads, they are prone to failure due to their inherent brittleness and the susceptibility to delamination, which can lead to the loss of the load‐bearing capacity of composite materials. This article proposes an effective solution of innovatively using the silicon carbon black, a kind of sustainable green biomass material derived from rice husks, to toughen the composites. When the content of silicon carbon black (SiCB) added to the composites is 1.5 wt%, the maximum values of flexural strength, bending energy absorption, and the mode II interlaminar fracture toughness values are 333 MPa, 6.10 J, and 1591 J/m2, respectively, corresponding to the improvement percentage of 138%, 120%, and 216%. The addition of SiCB significantly improved the bending properties and the mode II interlaminar fracture toughness of composites. The toughening mechanisms of SiCB were studied based on the fracture surface morphologies of the composites.

Ohmic heating curing of high content fly ash blended cement-based composites towards sustainable green construction materials used in severe cold region

Fly ash (FA) is a common solid waste in those countries which depend much on coal resources. The recycling of FA as a partial substitute for cement concrete is significant to reduce the pressure of land source and environmental protection. In this work, ohmic heating (OH) curing method was presented to cure FA/cement mortar (FA-CM) samples under severely low temperature. Results showed that the FA-CM samples with 20 wt% FA cured by 2 days OH curing at −20 °C (FA20-OH) possessed comparable mechanical properties compared with the FA-CM sample without FA cured by 3 days room temperature (RT) curing (FA0-RT), indicating the significant role of OH curing in promoting strength growth under severely low temperature. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) characterization revealed that OH curing could refine the pore structure, and FA20-OH samples showed comparable total porosity compared with FA0-RT sample. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicated that OH curing could effectively densify the microstructure of FA-CM samples compared with RT curing. Moreover, a higher Ca(OH)2 content and larger mean chain length were observed in FA20-OH sample from thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) analysis and 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements to further clarify the positive regulation of OH curing on hydration product and its chemical structure. This study provided insights into the sustainable utilization of FA in construction materials used in severe cold region.

Tensile and Flexural Analysis of a Hybrid Bamboo/Jute Fiber-reinforced Composite with Polyester Matrix as a Sustainable Green Material for Wind Turbine Blades

Recently, there has been a fast growth in research and investigation in the natural fibre composite due to the advantages of these materials, such us low environmental impact, low cost and good mechanical properties compared to synthetic fibre composites. Much effort has gone into increasing the mechanical performance and applications of natural fibes. This paper examines the mechanical properties of a novel hybrid baboo/jute/polyester composite with five different combination ratios to achieve optimum properties. Fibre mats were prepared using manual mat making machine to reduce porosity in the composite. Samples were prepared and tested as per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard. The result indicated that the hybrid composite with 10 % jute, 20 % bamboo and 70 % polyester shows highest tensile strength (yield strength of 72.03 MPa) compared to other combinations examined, and the hybrid composite with 0 % jute, 30 % bamboo and 70% polyester shows the highest flexural strength (133.9 MPa). The elongation of jute-reinforced composite was found to be the longest in the tensile test (2.98 mm).

Adaption of green composite in automotive part replacements: discussions on material modification and future patronage.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of green composite in automotive part replacement. Adaptation of lightweight materials in transport system has been an integral part of weight saving measures in car's component formation. The continuing rise in ambient temperature is a signal no scientist would ever ignore in the face of global warming and attendant water level surge. Reduction of body system of automobile vehicles has been ongoing for several years with huge patronage on synthetic materials. The sudden attention to green composite may not be unconnected with the environmental impact of vehicular materials after their life cycle. This has led to the improved properties of polymeric materials to replace ferrous and nonferrous metals in vehicle formation. In this paper, an in-depth study was undertaken on sustainable green materials limiting the scope on the plant fibre for automotive part replacement. Plant fibres are increasingly gaining momentum in view of their recyclability and environmental friendliness. It has been noted that nearly all automakers are exploring the recyclable or biodegradable materials for part replacement, making the green composite a material for the future. Part of the attracting properties of plant fibres is their relative high strength and stiffness with low cost and low CO2 emission. This is also, in addition, to their biodegradability and renewability. Further discussion in this paper centred on the difficulty in the modification of plant fibre for sustainable compatibility in part formations. Key of the conclusions drawn from this work indicates a promising future for plant fibres with enormous challenges relating to their chemical treatment.

Nanoscale insight on the durability of magnesium phosphate cement: a molecular dynamics study.

The sustainable green building material magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) is widely used in the fields of solidifying heavy metals and nuclear waste and repair and reinforcement. Magnesium potassium phosphate hexahydrate (MKP) is the main hydration product of MPC. The transport of water and ions in MKP nanochannels determines the mechanical properties and durability of MPC materials. Herein, the interface models of MKP crystals with sodium chloride solution in the [001], [010] and [100] direction were established by molecular dynamics. The interaction of the MKP interface with water and ions was studied and the durability of MPC in sodium chloride solution was explained at the molecular level. The results show that a large number of water molecules are adsorbed on the MKP crystal surface through hydrogen bonds and Coulomb interactions; the surface water molecules have the bigger dipole moment and the dipole vector of most of the water molecules points to the solid matrix, when the crystal surfaces of the three models all show hydrophilicity. In addition, plenty of sodium ions are adsorbed at the MKP interface, and some potassium ions are desorbed from the matrix. In the MKP[001] model, the amount of potassium ions separated from the matrix and diffused into the solution is the highest and the interface crystal is the most disordered. Due to the attack of water and ions, the K–Os bond loses its chemical stability and the order of the MKP crystal is destroyed, which explains the decline of MPC performance after the erosion of sodium chloride solution at the molecular level. Besides, in the three models, the Na–Cl ion bond is more unstable than the K–Cl ion bond due to the smaller radius of the sodium atom. The stability of ionic bonds in the models is as follows: MKP[010] > MKP[100] > MKP[001].