Polymers suspended in granular packings have a significant impact on water retention, which is important for soil irrigation and the curing of building materials. Whereas the drying rate remains constant during a long period for pure water due to capillary flow providing liquid water to the evaporating surface, we show that it is not the case for a suspension made of soft polymeric particles ca...

Weak soil at construction sites necessitates ground improvement. Chemical stabilization is typically carried out using either lime or cement. The primary objective of this study was to assess the strength and durability lime-stabilized soils modified with nano-alumina (NA). This adopted scientifically established initial consumption (ICL) content for stabilization. In addition, added in varying...

Europe has very many widely differing cultures, whose development has been affected by agreat number of different factors. One important factor, of course, is the climate, which varies considerably both in Europe and on the continent proper. Climatic conditions have also been responsible for shaping meat processing techniques in different parts of Europe; the dry curing of meat, for example, ha...

This study was done to investigate the quality properties of beef jerky with soy sauce, red pepper paste, and soybean paste replacing salt. Sliced beef samples were cured in salt (control), soy sauce, red pepper paste, and soybean paste for 24 or 48 h and then dried at 70°C for 8 h. Treatments showed higher final moisture content and lower Na(+) concentration than the control after drying for 8...

New approach for preparation of CMC hydrogels was undertaken through reacting CMC with either malic, succinic or citric acid. Characteristics of the hydrogels, as monitored by the swelling behavior, FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM and XRD were dependent on nature and concentration of the polycarboxylic acid, time and temperature of curing. The best practice achieved from these studies was harnessed to synt...

This study reports on the microstructure, compressive strength, and drying shrinkage of metakaolin (MK) based geopolymers produced by partially replacing MK by oil palm ash (OPA). The OPA was used as raw material producing different molar ratios of SiO₂/Al₂O₃ and CaO/SiO₂. The geopolymer samples were cured at 80°C for 1, 2, or 4 hours and kept at ambient temperature until testing. The compressi...

AIM To study the antimicrobial activity of citric acid (CA) and sodium hypophosphite monohydrate (SHP) against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and to determine the influence of conventional and microwave thermal treatments, on the effectiveness of antimicrobial treatment of cotton textiles. METHOD Textile material was impregnated with CA and SHP solution and thermally treated by eit...

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the effect of temperature and curing time on composite sorption and solubility. MATERIAL AND METHODS Seventy five specimens (8×2 mm) were prepared using a commercial composite resin (ICE, SDI). Three temperatures (10°C, 25°C and 60°C) and five curing times (5 s, 10 s, 20 s, 40 s and 60 s) were evaluated. The specimens were weighed on an analytical balance three ...

There is increasing pressure to use coatings in a more sustainable way in our society and museums and archives are not exempt from this. Coatings, including those presumed to be “green” products, have been examined in terms of their suitability for collection preservation. To be more sustainable, museums should both avoid applying a coating as much as possible. When the need is essential, then ...

The addition of short carbon fibers in the optimum amount of 0.5% of the cement weight to mortar increased the brick-to-mortar bond strength by 150% under tension and 110% under shear when the gap between the adjoining bricks was fixed, and by 50% under tension and 44% under shear when this gap was allowed to freely decrease due to the weight of the brick above the joint. This effect is attribu...