MATERIALS

Robinson Rúa-Patiño, Edison A. Hincapie-Atehortua, Sergio A. Arboleda-Lopez, Andres F. Urrego-Higuita et al.

Sustainable mortars for flooring require mechanical stability and surface durability against abrasion, not only compressive strength. This study evaluates potassium hydroxide (KOH)-activated hybrid fly ash mortars as candidate materials for sustainable flooring and surface wear layers. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was partially replaced with fly ash (FA) at OPC/FA ratios of 9…

Magdalena Nowak, Tomasz Kamizela, Angelika Skorupa, Małgorzata Worwąg

Anthropogenic pressure on aquatic environments is currently associated not only with the inflow of nutrients, but also with the presence of municipal micropollutants and complex mixtures of sewage origin. This study aimed to evaluate the growth response of Lemna minor (L. minor) and the behavior of the plant–medium system under conditions of a controlled chemical gradient refle…

Natália Piffer Pasquali, Patrícia Moreira de Freitas, Márcia Borba, Paula Benetti

Background: This study evaluated the effect of Erbium:Yttrium–Aluminum–Garnet (Er:YAG) laser irradiation on the fracture load, failure mode, and reliability of monolithic and porcelain-veneered zirconia crowns. Methods: Monolithic ultra-translucent zirconia crowns (5YZ-M, n = 30) and porcelain-veneered zirconia crowns (3YZ-V, n = 30) were divided into control (Ctrl-no surface t…

Yuedong Wu, Haojie Li, Changsheng Yue, Ying Zhang et al.

The premature deterioration of reinforced concrete structures caused by steel reinforcement corrosion remains a major challenge to long-term structural durability. This study systematically investigates the effects of corrosion inhibitor dosage on the fresh properties, mechanical performance, chloride ion penetration resistance, and capillary water absorption of self-compacting…

Yuhang Chen, Huanbo Zhang, Hang Lu, Xiongfeng Li et al.

The electrocatalytic performance of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is often hindered by their basal planes. Although defect engineering and heteroatom doping are employed, improving the electrocatalytic activity of the basal plane without disrupting the in-plane lattice structure remains a challenge. The interlayer twist serves as an effective strategy to preserve the …

Andrzej Nowotnik, Elzbieta Wichowska, Grazyna Mrowka-Nowotnik

This study analyzed the effect of a processing sequence comprising precision casting, heat treatment, and high-temperature plastic deformation on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Haynes 282 nickel superalloy. The starting material was prepared in an industrial VIM IC induction furnace under vacuum conditions; the quality of the resulting castings, phase compo…

Jin-Seok Choi, Ri-On Oh, Sang-Hyeon Park, Hwang-Hee Kim et al.

This study presents a photocatalytic infiltration pavement block designed to combine roadside NOx removal with rainwater capture and temporary storage. TiO2 and styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) latex were incorporated into the pavement block to provide photocatalytic functionality, and direct infiltration holes were introduced to capture surface runoff, enable temporary storage, …

Alex Câmpian, Olga Sorițău, Mara Muntean, Cristian Iacoviță et al.

Melittin (Mel), the principal cytolytic peptide in honeybee venom (BV), has anticancer activity but limited selectivity. This study examined whether adsorption of Mel to Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs and MNPs-Mel, respectively), alone or combined with magnetic hyperthermia (MH), modifies cytotoxicity and cell-death phenotype in A375 melanoma cells relative to HaCaT keratin…

Antonio Formisano, Ilaria Improta, Giuseppe Irace

Natural fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites have gained increasing attention due to the abundant availability of natural fibers, their ability to effectively reinforce polymer matrices, and the resulting partial biodegradability of the final material. This study presents numerical modeling strategies for investigating the manufacture of spherical caps made from polypropyl…

Xinyu Zuo, Yufan Du, Guangsheng Zeng, Ahmed D. Almutairi

With the growing complexity and variability of the operational environment of asphalt pavements and the continuous increase in traffic loads, traditional pavement performance prediction models cannot accurately depict the nonlinear degradation process of pavement performance with the passage of time. Therefore, a novel approach is proposed in this paper to forecast the service …

Yuanbo Bi, Yuying Li

To reveal the high-temperature hot deformation mechanism and optimize the thermal processing window of Zr-Nb alloy, hot compression tests were implemented via a thermal simulation apparatus over temperatures ranging from 500 to 900 °C and strain rates of 0.01~10 s−1. The material’s flow performance, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) and phase transformation were systematically ex…

Lingtong Zhang, Zhen Zhang, Liming Zhang, Baoyuan Li et al.

To promote the high-value utilization of construction and demolition waste in cementitious materials, this study proposed an integrated strengthening strategy combining recycled coarse aggregate modification with cementitious matrix optimization. Recycled coarse aggregates with particle sizes of 4.75–31.5 mm were prepared from demolished concrete waste collected in Aksu, Xinjia…

Shijun Huang, Lang Wang, Mengqi Li, Jiao Zhu et al.

Long-span transmission towers in the Yangtze River basin are exposed to coupled low-temperature, high-humidity and strong-wind conditions, which promote nonuniform ice accretion on steel members and increase structural loads and ice-shedding risks. Although superhydrophobic coatings are promising passive anti-icing materials for civil infrastructure, most existing evaluations u…

Soraya Nait Larbi, Abdallah Hedir, Mustapha Moudoud, David Clark et al.

This study provides an in-depth investigation of the influence of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) filler on the mechanical performance and aging resistance of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-based composites. PVC/CaCO3 composites containing 2.5, 5, and 7.5 wt% of CaCO3 were subjected to accelerated aging under combined ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and thermal stress for up to 1248 h. The ke…

Zihan Guo, Xiaoan Lv, Qing Qin, Xiaona Ren et al.

Si3N4 ceramics with a YF3-MgSiN2 binary additive system were fabricated by hot pressing (HP) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1500–1700 °C, followed by annealing at 1850 °C for 6 h. The effects of sintering route and temperature on phase transformation, microstructure evolution, thermal conductivity, and mechanical properties were systematically investigated. SPS significant…

Letian Yang, Jing Cheng, Yun Zhang, Yunbo Wang et al.

The von Neumann architecture, due to the physical separation between memory and processor, has limited the development of data-intensive applications. Neuromorphic computing technologies inspired by the brain’s parallel and event-driven operation mechanisms have enabled low-power in-memory computing. Memristors with tunable conductance can emulate biological synapses, while fle…

Khalil Aouadi, Aurélien Besnard, Corinne Nouveau, Alex Montagne et al.

In this work, CrAlN thin films were used to improve the lifespan of cutting tools. The CrAlN thin films were deposited on X50CrMoV8 substrates and silicon using DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of substrate rotation speed (varied between 0.5 and 3 rpm) on the morphology, mechanical properties, and tribological properties of the thin films was investigated. The re…

Krzysztof Granatyr, Michał Bołtryk, Katarzyna Kalinowska-Wichrowska, Edyta Pawluczuk

This study presents a laboratory-scale assessment of heat-assisted fly ash-based geopolymer concrete as a potential thin protective layer in one asphalt–geopolymer pavement configuration. The programme comprised water penetration under pressure, abrasion, initial skid resistance, wheel tracking, four-point-bending fatigue, mechanical strength, freeze–thaw response, de-icing-sal…

Łukasz Florczak, Andrzej Sobkowiak

Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) is an effective method for developing protective conversion coatings on magnesium and its alloys. The efficiency of this process is governed by several factors, including electrical parameters and electrolyte composition. Typically, PEO has been performed in alkaline silicate or phosphate solutions, often enriched with simple fluoride ions (F…

Jing Luo, Qun Wei, Meiguang Zhang

Hydrogen-rich compounds under high pressure are promising for high-temperature superconductivity, but many high-Tc hydrides rely on rare-earth or alkaline-earth elements and remain difficult to tune chemically. Transition-metal hydrides offer an alternative platform because partially filled d states can modify the electronic density of states, metal–hydrogen hybridization, and …