High-efficiency stabilization of dredged sediment using nano-modified and chemical-activated binary cement

High-efficiency disposal of dredged sediment(DS)has become an imperative geo-environmental engineering issue due to the limited landfilling space and severe environmental burdens.This study firstly developed a novel high-efficiency nano-modified and chemical-activated binary cement(NBC),which was composed of binary cement(BC)consisting ordinary Portland cement(OPC)and ground granulated blast-furnace slag(GGBS),chemical-activator and nano-modifier.The effects of chemical-activation and nano-modification on the strength development of BC-stabilized DS(BCDS),and the optimum mix of NBC were respectively achieved via a series of unconfined compressive strength and orthogonal tests.Then,the high-efficiency and economic applicability of NBC in DS stabilization were evaluated by comparing with OPC.Furthermore,the microstructure and mineral composition evolutions inside NBCstabilized DS(NDS)were explored by conducting X-ray diffraction(XRD)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)tests.The results show that both chemical-activation and nano-modification could effectively improve the strength gain of BCDS,and compared with single chemical-activator and nanomodifier,the composite chemical-activators and nano-modifiers exhibited better performances.Based on BC with OPC/GGBS mass ratio of 1:1,both anhydrous sodium metasilicate/anhydrous sodium sulfate(SM/SS)and nano-SiO_(2)/nano-MgO(NS/NM)with mass ratio of 1:9 were respectively determined to be optimum chemical-activator and nano-modifier.The optimum mass ratio of BC,SM/SS and NS/NM was 20:2:1,i.e.the optimum mix of NBC.Compared with OPC,NBC exhibited higher stabilization efficiency and better economic applicability.The generation of calcium silicate hydrate(CSH),calcium aluminate hydrate(CAH)and ettringite contributed to the formation of dense cemented soil matrix inside NDS,and a conceptual micro-mechanism model characterizing the strength development under the coupling action of chemical-activation and nano-modification was proposed.

Modification of nanoparticles for the strength enhancing of cementstabilized dredged sludge

This paper investigates the effectiveness of nano-modification on the strength enhancement of cementstabilized dredged sludge(CDS).Three types of nanoparticles including nano-SiO2(NS),nano-Al2O3(NA)and nano-MgO(NM)were used as cement admixtures for dredged sludge stabilization.Effects of single nanoparticle content,mass ratio of composite nanoparticles and curing time on the strength development of CDS were evaluated via a series of unconfined compressive strength(UCS)tests.The pH evolutions of CDS caused by nanoparticles were also examined by a range of pH tests.Furthermore,micromechanisms reflecting the strength evolutions were analyzed by performing scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and X-ray diffraction(XRD)tests.The results indicated that adding nanoparticles can significantly improve the UCS of CDS.For single nano-modification,the optimum contents of NS,NA and NM were 4%e6%,6%and 8%,which can increase the 7-and 28-d UCSs of CDS by 38%and 50%,17%and 35%,65%and 67%,respectively.Compared with single nano-modification,composite nano-modifications were more effective in improving the strength gain of CDS.The optimum mass ratios of composite nanoparticles,namely NS/NA,NS/NM and NA/NM,were 9/1,3/7 and 3/7,respectively.Based on the strength growth rate,the composite nanoparticles with NS/NM of 3/7 were highly recommended.The addition of nanoparticles obviously affected the pH evolution of CDS,which was mainly determined by the difference of OHproduction and consumption inside nano-modified CDS.The microstructural analysis revealed that C-S-H and C-A-H gels are the main cementitious products,and the addition of nanoparticles can obviously contribute to a denser and more homogenous microstructure of CDS.

Strengthening of polysulfone membranes using hybrid mixtures of micro- and nano-scale modifiers

Polysulfone （PSf） membranes were modified by either a new organic modifier （sulfonated poly（ether sulfide sulfone）, SPESS） or a traditional modifier （rice hulk）. These membranes were further reinforced with either multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） or silica nanoparticles. Having a dye rejection of 98.46%, the reinforced membranes increased more than 50% in strength but no change in solution flux was observed. The morphological and roughness studies were conducted using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Moreover, the PSF membranes were also characterized by differential scanning calorimetry. Modifying the membranes with organic modifier or nanofiller increases the glass transition temperature （Tg）. The highest Tg and strength were observed for the PSf-SPESS- MWCNT membrane. SPESS decreases surface roughness but MWCNT increases roughness on the nanoscale. All membranes show a bimodal pore size distribution, whereas the PSf-SPESS-MWCNT membrane exhibits a relatively uniform distribution of macroscopic and microscopic pores.