Superhydrophobic Coating Derived from Geothermal Silica to Enhance Material Durability of Bamboo Using Hexadimethylsilazane (HMDS) and Trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS)

Bamboo, a fast-growing plant from Asia, is used as building material with unique properties, while exhibiting fast degradation due to its hydrophobicity. Therefore, many attempts have been implemented using several technologies for bamboo modification to alter the hydrophobicity. Most previous studies producing superhydrophobic properties are conducted by using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as a precursor agent. However, this method, using TEOS with harmful properties and unaffordable compounds, requires many steps to accomplish the experimental method. Therefore, this paper employed geothermal solid waste as a silica source of the precursor. Thus, an effective and efficient method was applied to prepare superhydrophobic coating by using a precursor of geothermal silica and further modification using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) and trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS). The research was executed by the full factorial statistical method using two numerical variables (HMDS/TMCS concentration and silica concentration) and one categorical variable (solvent types). The uncoated material revealed higher weight gain in mass and moisture content than that of the coated bamboo after the soil burial test to assess the durability of the bamboo. However, the durability of superhydrophobic coating realized hydrophobic performance for both agents during sand abrasion for a total of 120 s at an angle of 45°. Statistical results showed the optimum contact angle (CA) achieved in superhydrophobic performance with lower silica concentration for HMDS concentration and the appropriate solvent of n-hexane for HMDS and iso-octane for TMCS. All results were supported using many instruments of analysis to confirm the step-by-step alteration of geothermal silica to be used as a superhydrophobic coating, such as XRF, XRD, FTIR, SEM, and SEM EDX.

Spatial and temporal changes of sediment grain size along Israel’s Mediterranean cliff-dominated beaches

<p>Beach morphodynamics are largely controlled by the interaction of wave climate with beach sediments. Local changes in sediment grain size, shape or density can lead to distinct morphological changes of beach systems subjected to similar energetic inputs. Whereas the spatial variation of grain size along beach profiles has been well studied, the temporal variation in beach grain size has received less attention. Moreover, the fate of cliff-eroded sediments along sandy coasts, with limited tidal effect, was rarely studied as most studies focused on shingle beaches (rocky/pebble rich) especially in coastal environments where tide plays an important role.</p><p>Here we use grain size data to explore the temporal dynamics of beach sediments in cliff-dominated beaches along Israel’s Mediterranean coast and their relationship to cliff erosion as well as sand abrasion/attrition. Our approach is based on repetitive seasonal-scale sampling of surficial sediments along cross shore transects over 3 years. We found that most samples exhibit unimodal particle size distribution (PSD), with a mode either at the fine sand fraction (180-220 µm) composed of quartz, or at the coarse sand to very coarse sand fraction (900-1,200 µm), composed of eolianite rock chips. The coarse fraction dominants the PSD mostly during winter times, whereas at summer times it is usually absent. In addition, this coarse fraction decreases with time that passed since waves reached the cliff base during sea storms. Our results suggest that: 1) The addition of the coarse fraction during winter is related to high-energy wave storms that mobilize and transport cliff-derived materials (taluses) along the beach, and 2) The disappearance of the coarse fraction towards summer is related to sand abrasion by wave and/or by wind action, i.e. breakage of the ~1 mm eolianite rock chips into ~200 µm quartz grains. Our findings emphasize the importance of cliff erosion and sand abrasion in controlling the temporal variation in PSD along cliff-dominated beaches.</p>

The sixteenth century Alderney crystal: a calcite as an efficient reference optical compass?

The crystal recently discovered in the 1592 sunken Elizabethan ship is shown to be an Iceland spar. We report that two main phenomena, with opposite effects, explain the good conservation and the evolution of this relatively fragile calcite crystal. We demonstrate that the Ca 2+ –Mg 2+ ion exchanges in such a crystal immersed in sea water play a crucial role by limiting the solubility, strengthening the mechanical properties of the calcite, while the sand abrasion alters the crystal by inducing roughness of its surface. Although both phenomena have reduced the transparency of the Alderney calcite crystal, we demonstrate that Alderney-like crystals could really have been used as an accurate optical sun compass as an aid to ancient navigation, when the Sun was hidden by clouds or below the horizon. To avoid the possibility of large magnetic errors, not understood before 1600, an optical compass could have helped in providing the sailors with an absolute reference. An Alderney-like crystal permits the observer to follow the azimuth of the Sun, far below the horizon, with an accuracy as great as ±1 ° . The evolution of the Alderney crystal lends hope for identifying other calcite crystals in Viking shipwrecks, burials or settlements.

Tribological Performance of Ceramic Composite Coatings Obtained through Microarc Oxidation on Ly12 Aluminum Alloy

A dense ceramic oxide coating approximately 30µm thick was prepared on a Ly12 Al alloy by microarc oxidation in an alkali-silicate electrolytic solution. The morphology and microstructure were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Coating thickness and surface roughness (Ra) were measured after the coating had been synthesized. The tribological performance of the coatings was evaluated using a dry sand abrasion test and a solid particle erosion test. The results show that microarc oxidation coatings consist of the loose superficial layer and the inner dense layer. Both inner layer and out layer are composed of α-Al2O3 and γ-Al2O3, While the Al6Si2O3 phase is observed only in out loose layer. The average of the microhardness of the coating is 2096Hv.