Cementation of Loose Sand Particles based on Bio-cement

Loose sand particles could be cemented to sandstone by bio-cement（microbial induced magnesium carbonate）. The bio-sandstone was firstly prepared, and then the compressive strength and the porosity of the sandstone cemented by microbial induced magnesium carbonate were tested to characterize the cementation effectiveness. In addition, the formed mineral composition and the microstructure of bio-sandstone were analyzed by X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, respectively. The experimental results show that the feasibility of binding loose sand particles using microbial induced magnesium carbonate precipitation is available and the acquired compressive strength of bio-sandstone can be excellent at certain ages. Moreover, the compressive strength and the porosity could be improved with the increase of microbial induced magnesium carbonate content. XRD results indicate that the morphology of magnesium carbonate induced by microbe appears as needles and SEM results show that the cementation of loose sand particles to sandstone mainly relies on the microbial induced formation of magnesium carbonate precipitation around individual particles and at particle-particle contacts.

Effects of samarium addition on as-cast microstructure, grain refinement and mechanical properties of Mg-6Zn-0.4Zr magnesium alloy

In this paper, the microstructural evolution, grain refinement and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg-6Zn-0.4Zr alloys with varying Sm contents（0, 2 wt.%, 4 wt.% and 6 wt.%） were investigated by using an optical microscope（OM）, a scanning electron microscope（SEM） equipped with energy dispersive spectroscope（EDS）, an X-ray diffractometer（XRD） and mechanical tests at room temperature, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the addition of Sm could obviously refine the as-cast grains, modify the eutectic morphology and affect the mechanical properties of the alloys. The main phases in Mg-6Zn-xSm-0.4Zr alloys included matrix α-Mg, Mg2Zn3, Mg（41）Sm5 and MgZ nS m. With Sm content increasing to 4%, the MgZ nS m phase was created, meanwhile, the morphology of some eutectic phases revealed apparently lamellar structure, which had a bad effect on the mechanical properties. In addition, the maximum values of ultimate tensile strength（UTS, 214 MPa） and elongation（EL, 7.42%） were simultaneously obtained from the alloy with 2% Sm. However, Sm addition had no obvious effects on the fracture behavior of the alloys, namely, the fracture pattern of Mg-6Zn-0.4Zr alloy belonged to inter-granular and brittle modes while the fracture regimes of all the Sm-containing alloys were dominated by the mixture of inter-granular and trans-granular modes.

Development and evaluation of a thermostatic nucleic acid testing device based on magnesium pyrophosphate precipitation for detecting Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei

Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei(EHP)infection has seriously affected prawn culture globally.The symptoms of the infection are not apparent,and traditional detection methods are time consuming and low in accuracy.We developed a new onsite rapid testing device(size 18.8×16.7×6.6 cm^(3))for EHP based on magnesium pyrophosphate precipitation and facilitated by loop mediated isothermal amplification(LAMP).The design and fabrication of the device enables efficient light absorbance.The device has a highly sensitive detector,high-precision thermal controller,and humanized touch screen.The temperature control precision of the device is 0.2-0.3℃ at 60℃,63℃,and 65℃.The coefficients of variation values(CVV)of the luminous power in one channel at light on and off were found to be 0.0097 and 0.0014,respectively,within 1 h.The CVV of the background,luminous power,and values of eight PCR tubes filled with pure water were all less than 5%.In the EHP experiment,eight samples(including seven positive and one negative)confirmed the effectiveness of the device,and four positive and four negative samples verified whether cross-contamination exists.Among them,the rise time of the curve was about 15 min.These results assert that the developed device exhibits enhanced stability and uniformity and has excellent performance with high sensitivity,good specificity,and low testing time.Moreover,the optimal and minimum absorbance range was 555-655 nm for monitoring the production of LAMP.

Accelerated precipitation behavior of cast Mg-Al-Zn alloy by grain refinement

This study demonstrates that the precipitation behavior of 13-Mg17Al12 phase during aging and the resultant variation in hardness and mechanical properties of cast Mg-Al-Zn alloy are strongly dependent on initial grain size. Grain size reduction accelerates discontinuous precipitation at the early stage of aging treatment by increasing the area fraction of grain boundaries that can act as nucleation sites for discontinuous precipitates （DP）, but it does not influence DP growth rate. Grain refinement also prematurely terminates continuous precipitation because the formation of a large number of DP reduces the amount of AI dissolved in the matrix, which is required for the formation of continuous precipitates （CP）. This promotion of DP formation and early termination of CP formation significantly decrease the peak-aging time to one-third. The enhanced precipitation behavior also leads to an additional hardness improvement in the aged alloy, along with an increase in hardness owing to grain boundary strengthening by grain refinement. The amount of increase in hardness changes with aging time, which is determined by the variation of three variables with aging time： DP fraction difference between refined and nonrefined alloys, hardness difference between DP and matrix, and matrix hardness difference between the two alloys. Grain refinement improves both tensile strength and ductility of the homogenized alloy owing to grain boundary strengthening and suppression of twinning activation, respectively. However, the loss of ductility after peak-aging treatment is greater in the refined alloy because of the larger amount of DP acting as a crack source in this alloy.

Heat-treatable Mg-9Al-6Sn-3Zn extrusion alloy

Mg-9Al-6Sn-3Zn （wt%） alloy was extruded and heat treated in T5 and T6 conditions, and its mechanical properties and microstructures were investigated. The extruded product can be slightly strengthened by the T5 treatment as a result of sparse and heterogeneous precipitation. Significant increase in strength is achieved by the T6 treatment, and this is mostly attributed to the formation of lamellar discontinuous Mg17Al12 precipitates. The segregation of Al and Zn at grain boundaries is responsible for the discontinuous Mg17Al12 nucleation. The T6-treated alloy exhibits a tensile yield strength of 341 MPa and an ultimate tensile strength of 409 MPa, together with an elongation to fracture of 4%.