Quantitative Characterization and Elastic Properties of Interfacial Transition Zone around Coarse Aggregate in Concrete

Backscattered electron images（BSE） obtained by scanning electron microscope was used to quantitatively characterize the microstructure of interfacial transition zone（ITZ） in concrete. Influences of aggregate size（5, 10, 20, and 30 mm）, water to cement ratio（0.23, 0.35 and 0.53） and curing time（from 3d to 90d） on the microstructure of interfacial transition zone between coarse aggregate and bulk cement matrix were investigated. The volume percentage of detectable porosity and unhydrated cement in ITZ was quantitatively analyzed and compared with that in the matrix of various concretes. Nanoindentation technology was applied to obtain the elastic properties of ITZ and matrix, and the elastic modulus of concrete was then calculated based on the Lu ＆ Torquato model and self-consistence scheme by using the ITZ thickness and elastic modulus obtained from this investigation. The experimental results demonstrated that the microstructure and thickness of ITZ in concrete vary with a variety of factors, like aggregate size, water to cement ratio and curing time. The relative low elastic properties of ITZ should be paid attention to, especially for early age concrete.

Nanoindentation Characteristics of Cement Paste and Interfacial Transition Zone in Mortar with Rice Husk Ash

The nanostructure of cementitious materials has important effects on concrete properties. The effects of rice husk ash（RHA） on cement hydration product phases and interfacial transition zone（ITZ） in mortar were investigated from the nano-scale structure perspective. The experimental results indicate that, with the increase of RHA dosages of samples, the volume fraction of high-density calcium-silicate-hydrate（HD C-S-H） in porosity and hydration product phases increases. The volume fractions of HD C-S-H in C-S-H of samples show an increasing trend with the increase of RHA dosages. RHA decreases the thickness of ITZ and increases the matrix elastic moduli of samples, however, the RHA dosoges hardly affect the thickness and elastic moduli.

Templating core-shell particles using metal ion-chelating biosurfactants

Designer biosurfactants can be used to stabilise and functionalise interfaces.One particularly promising use is the stabilisation of oil-in-water emulsions,enabling fine tuning physical,chemical and biological surface properties.The ability of emulsion systems to carry high payloads makes them attractive for applications in medicine,food and fragrances,and cosmetics.However,they have limited long-term stability.Here we sought to use the metal ion-chelating ability of the biosurfactant peptide,AM1,to precipitate the formation of a gold metal shell on AM1-stabilised emulsions by electroless plating.We found that replacing the commonly used zinc(Ⅱ)with palladium(Ⅱ)for coordination by histidine residues of adjacent AM1 peptides produced interfacial films that maintained elasticity at acidic pH.Proton NMR suggested a coordination mechanism independent of the imidazole ring of the histidines.Nevertheless.stabilisation of emulsions at low pH enabled the deposition of a gold shell,albeit by an unexpected mechanism.We propose that gold nanoparticles forming in bulk are adsorbed onto the peptide-stabilised interface,accumulating into a particulate coating.The resulting one-step method for nanoparticle precipitation and shell formation will be useful for the creation of biocompatible core-shell particles for applications where large payloads of hydrophobic active compounds require stability over long time periods.