Chitosan-nanoclay bio-hybrid films were successfully crosslinked with glutaraldehyde, genipin and glyoxal. Moisture sensitivity of films decreased as a result of crosslinking which led to improved barrier properties against water vapor and oxygen. Films containing chitosan (6.6 g/m) with genipin (3.3 g/m) and nanoclay (6.6 g/m) had water vapor transmission rate of 72 g × 100 μm/(m × 24 h) which...

Sol-gel coatings which elute bioactive silver ions are presented as a potential solution to the problem of biofilm formation on indwelling surfaces. There is evidence that high-temperature processing of such materials can lead to diffusion of silver away from the coating surface, reducing the amount of available silver. In this study, we report the biofilm inhibition of a Staphylococcus epiderm...

Doping of titanium dioxide nanofibers by silver nanoparticles revealed distinct improvement in the photocatalytic activity; however other influences have not been investigated. In this work, effect of sliver-doping on the crystal structure, the nanofibrous morphology as well as the photocatalytic activity of titanium oxide nanofibers has been studied. Silver-doped TiO2 nanofibers having differe...

In this work, a series of transition metal (Cr, Mn, Fe, and Co) doped kaolinite nanoclays were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The influence of metal doping on geometric structure and electronic structure of kaolinite was analyzed. The ferromagnetic (FM), antiferromagnetic (AFM), and nonmagnetic (NM) states of transition metal (TM) doped kaolinite structures were s...

Wind erosion is a widespread phenomenon in arid region. The purpose of this study was assessed the capacity of nanoclay to control soil erosion in wind tunnel experiment. The nanoclay isolated from soils was dominant in montmorillonite. A sandy soil from the Khara desert, nearly 100 km East of Isfahan (Central Iran) was used. The soils of this area are structurally unstable and sandy texture ma...

The potential use of nanoclay was examined to modify fluid transfer properties of medium density fiberboard (MDF). For this, Na+ montmorillonite (Na+MMT) nanoclay was added to urea formaldehyde resin to produce MDF. Then, the air permeability and mass diffusivity of MDF were evaluated. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed a dispersion and exfoliation o...

The effect of nanoclay content on the properties of glass fibre reinforced, waterborne epoxy laminates is investigated. Fourteen ply nanocomposite laminates containing 0, 0?1, 0?2, 0?5, 1 and 2 wt-% cloisite Na nanoclay are fabricated by a hot press. The interlaminar shear strength, flexural strength and flexural stiffness of the fabricated nanocomposites are characterised. In addition, the the...

The inhibitory and antimicrobial effects of silver particles have been known since ancient times. In the last few years, a major health problem has arisen due to pathogenic bacteria resistance to antimicrobial agents. The antibacterial activities of new materials including hydroxyapatite (HAp), silver-doped hydroxyapatite (Ag:HAp) and various types of antibiotics such as tetracycline (T-HAp and...

The objective of this study is to review existing literature in the area of nano-modification of asphalt and proceed to apply nano-materials to asphalt to improve the performance. This study integrates literature review, preparation, and characterization of nano-modified asphalt materials. In the experimental testing montmorillonite, nanoclay at 2% and 4% by weight of asphalt was blended in asp...

We report the chemistry and photophysics of atomic gold and silver particles in inorganic glasses. By synchrotron irradiation of gold-doped soda-lime silicate glasses we could create and identify unambiguously the gold dimer as a stable and bright luminescing particle embedded in the glassy matrix. The gold dimer spectra coincide perfectly with rare gas matrix spectra of Au(2). The glass matrix...