Evaluation The Moisture Sensitivity of Asphalt Mixtures Modified with Waste Tire Rubber

One of the most significant factors for a good transportation system is the quality of the road pavement. As a result, many steps have been made to address the concerns of moisture damage to roadways, including increasing pavement quality and structural design approaches. In the last few years, there has been an increase in the attention of respective engineers to enhance the asphalt performance and provides various types of modifiers and substituting the virgin of asphaltic materials with recyclable products, to attain sustainable while reducing the price of modified pavement mixture. This article discusses the performance of modified asphalt mixes and the most commonly used recycled product, crumbs rubber, which is used as a modifier in asphaltic mixes at various contents (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, and 15% by asphalt weight), and investigates the impact of the addition rubber particles on a critical characteristic of asphalt mixtures, particularly regarding their resistance to damage of moisture. The results showed that modification of asphalt binder with CR increased Marshall’s Stability, and the inclusion of 10% of CR recorded the highest increment, increasing by 30.25%. According to increased TSR and IRS, the addition of CR improved the asphalt mixture’s moisture resistance. The addition of 7.5 % of CR resulted in the largest values of TSR and IRS, increasing by 8.8% and 12.9% respectively. Additionally, this study aims at understanding the benefits and drawbacks of recycling rubber tires and to build a concept for effectively incorporating waste materials into road pavement.

Decomposition of Li2O2 as the Cathode Prelithiation Additive for Lithium-Ion Batteries without an Additional Catalyst and the Initial Performance Investigation

Compared to the graphite anode, Si and SiOx-containing anodes usually have a larger initial capacity loss (ICL) due to more parasitic reactions. The higher ICL of the anode can cause significant Li inventory loss in a full cell, leading to a compromised energy density. As one way to mitigate such Li inventory loss, Li2O2 can be used as the cathode prelithiation additive to provide additional lithium. However, an additional catalyst is usually needed to lower its decomposition potential. In this work, we investigate the use of Li2O2 as the cathode prelithiation additive without the addition of a catalyst. Li2O2 decomposition is first demonstrated in coin half-cells with a calculated capacity of 1180 mAh/g obtained from Li2O2 decomposition. We then further demonstrate successful Li2O2 decomposition in single-layer pouch (SLP) full cells and evaluate the initial electrochemical performance. Despite its moisture sensitivity, Li2O2 showed reasonable compatibility with dry-room handling. After dry-room handling, Li2O2 decomposition was observed with an onset potential of 4.29 V vs. SiOx anode in SLP cells. With Li2O2 addition, the utilization of the Li inventory from cathode active material was improved by 12.9%, and discharge DCR has reduced by 7% while the cells still deliver similar cell capacities.

Experimental Investigation of Moisture Sensitivity and Damage Evolution of Porous Asphalt Mixtures

Porous asphalt (PA) mixtures are designed with a high air void (AV) (i.e., 18~22%) content allowing rainwater to infiltrate into their internal structures. Therefore, PA mixtures are more sensitive to moisture damage than traditional densely graded asphalt mixtures. However, the moisture damage evolution of PA mixtures is still unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the moisture damage evolution and durability damage evolution of PA mixtures. The indirect tensile test (ITT), ITT fatigue test, and Cantabro loss test were used to evaluate the moisture sensitivity and durability of PA mixtures, and a staged ITT fatigue test was developed to investigate the damage evolutions under dry and wet conditions. Indirect tensile strength (ITS), fatigue life, indirect tensile resilience modulus (E), and durability decreased with the increment of moisture damage and loading cycles. The fatigue life is more sensitive to the moisture damage. The largest decrements in ITS and E were found in the first 3000 loading cycles, and PA mixtures tended to fail when the decrement exceeded 60%. Damage factors based on the ITS and E are proposed to predict the loading history of PA mixtures. The durability damage evolution and damage factors could fit an exponential model under dry conditions. Moisture had a significant influence and an acceleration function on the moisture damage evolution and durability damage evolution of PA mixtures.

Advantages Of Filler And Surfactant Additive To Improve Moisture Sensitivity Of Hot Mix Asphalt Mixtures.

This research investigated the effect of mineral composition of aggregate on moisture sensitivity of bituminous mixtures and explored the benefits of hydrated lime filler and Wetfix BE surfactant additive to improve the resistance of the mix against moisture sensitivity. Basalt, quartzite, and limestone aggregates were selected based on their different mineralogy and 70 -100 penetration graded bitumen binders used during the study. Four laboratory tests the rolling bottle, shaking abrasion, pull-off tensile strength and indirect tensile strength tests were applied to study the effects of aggregate minerals and benefits of hydrated lime and Wetfix BE. Statistical analysis using Two-way ANOVA test conducted for each test to check the outcome significance. Results from each test revealed that mineral composition of aggregate have significant effects on the moisture resistance performance of bituminous mixtures and hydrated lime filler and Wetfix BE surfactant additives have advantages to improve the performance of bituminous mixture against moisture sensitivity and improves the long-term performance of asphalt mix.

Microwave-assisted organo-catalyzed C-C and C-X (heteroatom) bond-forming reactions-An overview

: Organocatalysis defines small organic molecules exclusively containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorous atom to speed-up the chemical reactions. Researcher demonstrated large area of applications in various organic transformations catalyzed by the organocatalysts, due to their less moisture sensitivity and air, easy abundance, less polluting, not interfere with the final product and inexpensive. This highlights high demand and direct benefits in the pharmaceutical intermediate and fine chemical manufacture compared to other conventional transition metal and enzyme catalysts. This review article intends to compile literature reported application of the microwave accelerated organocatalyzed carbon-carbon and carbon–heteroatom bond formation reactions reported in the literature.

Quantitative Research on Drought Loss Sensitivity of Summer Maize Based on AquaCrop Model

In this study, the growth periods of summer maize was divided into seedling, booting and flowering-grain stage. Based on the simulation results of AquaCrop model, the drought loss sensitivity of summer maize in different growth periods was analyzed. The sensitivity curves fitting using the soil moisture content of the effective root zone and the fixed soil layer both indicated that the booting stage was the most sensitive to water stress, which was the critical period for irrigation, followed by the seedling stage. Compared with the curve parameters fitted by the soil water content of the effective root zone, the maximum Biomass Loss Rate fitted by the fixed soil layer water content was higher and the Drought Hazard Index corresponding to the disaster-causing point and the turning point in the seedling stage moved backward. Accordingly, the best irrigation opportunity may be missed and resulting in a large reduction in production if an irrigation scheme is formulated at the seedling stage based on the sensitivity curve of summer maize fitted by the water content of a fixed soil layer. This study also adapted the Jensen model to calculate the normalized moisture sensitivity coefficient and studied the response of final crop yield to water deficit in different growth periods. The results showed that the normalized moisture sensitivity coefficients at the seedling stage, booting stage, and flowering-grain stage were 0.251, 0.524, 0.224 respectively, which verified the rationality and feasibility of using the cumulative loss of biomass to measure the final yield loss.

Effect of Nb5+ and In3+ Ions on Moisture Sensitivity of Electrospun Titanium/Tungsten Oxide Nanostructures: Microstructural Characterization and Electrical Response

In this work, Nb5+ and In3+ ions were used as dopants in titanium/tungsten oxide nanostructures that are produced by the electrospinning and sintering process, for relative humidity (RH) detection. The microstructural properties were investigated by SEM, EDS, XRD, Raman and FTIR techniques. The electrical response characterization of the samples was performed by electrical impedance spectroscopy in the range of 400 Hz to 40 MHz, at 20 °C. The sensors sensitivity to moisture was evaluated in terms of the impedance variations to RH (10–100%). The combined analysis of the microstructural characterization results confirmed the surface interaction between the oxides and the ions incorporation in Ti crystal lattice. All the studied sensors showed a conduction transition from p- to n-type at around 30–40% RH: besides, they also displayed better sensitivity to moisture than those obtained in a previous work using titanium/tungsten combination using a different fabricationn route. The impedance modulus variation up to 1.1 and 1.3 orders of magnitude for the 4 wt % niobium and indium doped samples, respectively. The results are directly associated with the microstructure and alternative preparation process.