건축물은 사용자의 부주의, 전기적, 기계적 요인 등에 의해 화재가 발생할 수 있고, 화재 발생 시 각 재료의 특성에 따라 강성 및 강도가 감소하여 구조 성능이 저하될 수 있다. 이러한 상황에서 적절 한 성능 복구가 되지 않으면 후에 지진 등의 큰 하중이 가해질 때 건축물 붕괴 등 치명적인 피해가 발생할 수 있다. 현재 내화성능을 높이는 방법으로 내화피복을 사용하는 등 수동적인 방법에 머물러 있으며, 꾸준한 유지관리 등이 필요하다는 단점이 있다. 따라서 변형 후 열을 가하면 원래의 형상으로 돌아가는 성질을 가진 형상기억합금을 사용하여 콘크리트 보를 보강하고, 화재 시, 화재 후에 프리스 트레스트 콘크리트와 유사한 방식으로 콘크리트에 압축응력을 발생시켜 구조 성능을 향상시킬 수 있 는지 ANSYS 구조해석 프로그램을 통해 그 효과를 확인해보고자 한다.

본 연구에서는 용접 여부에 따른 세 가지 유형의 철계-형상기억합금(Fe-Shape Memory Alloys, Fe-SMA)의 고주기 피로 거동에 대한 실험적 연구를 수행하였다. 본 연구를 위해 사용된 Fe-SMA은 스위스 EMPA에서 개발된 Fe-SMA으로, Fe-17Mn-5Si-10Cr-4Ni-1(V,C)의 화학적 조성을 가진다. 용접 여부 및 열처리 여부를 변수로 한 비용접, 용접, 열처리된 용접 시편이 ASTM E606/E606M 표 준에 따라 제작되었다. Fe-SMA의 재료적 특성을 평가하기 위해 직접 인장 실험 및 회복 실험이 수 행되었으며, 용접된 Fe-SMA의 피로 거동 평가를 위해 응력 진폭에 따른 피로 시험이 수행되었다. 피 로 시험은 최대 응력 수준을 Fe-SMA 극한 인장강도의 약 70%인 700MPa에서부터 100MPa씩 감소 시키며, 200MPa의 응력 범위까지 수행되었으며, 응력비(R)는 0으로 설정되었다. 피로 한계는 ASTM E1823-13에 따라 하중 반복 횟수 200만 회를 기준으로 하여 각 시편의 피로 한계를 확인하였다.

형상기억합금(Shape Memory Alloy, SMA)은 소성변형이 일어나도 냉각 및 가열을 통해 기존 형상 으로 돌아갈 수 있는 형상기억효과(Shape Memory Effect, SME)를 가진 재료이다. 이를 통해 사전에 인장 변형된 SMA를 구속 후 가열하면 SME에 의해 원래 형태로 돌아가려 하지만, 변형이 구속되어 회복 응력이라 하는 압축 응력이 발생한다. 따라서 사전 변형된 SMA를 구조물에 적용하게 되면 셀프 -프리스트레싱을 도입할 수 있다. 그중 철을 기반으로 제작된 Fe-SMA는 다른 SMA에 비해 높은 경 제성을 가져 건설 재료로써 많은 관심을 받고 있다. 이에 Fe-SMA를 철근콘크리트(Reinforced Concrete, RC) 구조물에 적용한 많은 연구가 진행되었으며, 구조성능이 향상되는 것을 확인하였다. 그러나 Fe-SMA가 사용된 RC 구조물의 피로 실험에 관한 연구는 부족한 실정이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 Fe-SMA 바를 인장재로 사용한 RC 보의 피로 성능을 평가하였고 하중 유형(정적, 피로)과 피로 응력 범위를 변수로 고려해 고주기 피로 실험을 수행하였다. 이를 통해 피로 강도, 피로 수명 및 거동을 확 인하였으며, Fe-SMA 바를 인장재로 사용한 RC 보의 피로강도는 최대하중의 40%~60% 사이에 있을 것으로 예측되었다.

Hierarchically porous carbon foam composites with highly dispersed Fe2O3 nanoparticles confined in the foam pores, facilely fabricated by hydrolysis-driven emulsion polymerization strategy. The as-generated acidic conditions of Fe3+ hydrolysis could catalyze the polymerization of phenolic resin, and the carbon-based composite materials containing iron oxides were obtained in situ. The structural characterization results show that HCF@Fe2O3 NPs-2 electrode has the largest specific surface area (549 m2/ g) and pore volume (0.46 cm3/ g). Electrochemical results indicates that typical HCF@Fe2O3 NPs-2 electrode displays good capacitive properties. including high specific capacitance (225 F/g at 0.2 A/g current density). Excellent magnification performance (capacity retention rate 80% as current density increases from 0.2 to 10 A/g). At the same time, HCF@SnO2 NPs was successfully synthesized by replacing hydrolyzed tin tetrachloride with ferric chloride. This study provides a new idea for the preparation of metal oxide–carbon matrix composites, and also highlights the potential of such carbon foams in application of energy storage.

The binary oxide adsorbent using Fe and Mn (Fe-Mn) has been prepared by precipitation method to enhance the removal of phosphate. Different amounts of chitosan, a natural organic polymer, were used during preparation of Fe-Mn as a stabilizer to protect an aggregation of Fe-Mn particles. The optimal amount of chitosan has been determined considering the separation of the Fe-Mn particles by gravity from solution and highest removal efficiency of phosphate (Fe-Mn10). The application of Fe-Mn10 increased removal efficiency at least 15% compared to bare Fe-Mn. According to the Langmuir isotherm model, the maximum uptake (qm) and affinity coefficient (b) were calculated to be 184 and 240 mg/g, and 4.28 and 7.30 L/mg for Fe-Mn and Fe-Mn10, respectively, indicating 30% and 70% increase. The effect of pH showed that the removal efficiency of phosphate was decrease with increase of pH regardless of type of adsorbent. The enhanced removal efficiency for Fe-Mn10 was maintained in entire range of pH. In the kinetics, both adsorbents obtained 70% removal efficiency within 5 min and 90% removal efficiency was achieved at 1 h. Pseudo second order (PSO) kinetic model showed higher correlation of determination (R2), suggesting chemisorption was the primary phosphate adsorption for both Fe-Mn and Fe-Mn10.

This study reports an experimental and analytical exploration of concrete columns laterally confined with Fe-based shape-memory alloy (Fe-SMA) spirals. For performing experiments, Fe-SMA rebars with a 4% prestrain and diameter of 10 mm were fabricated and concrete columns with internal Fe-SMA spiral reinforcement were constructed with a diameter of 200 mm and height of 600 mm. An acrylic bar with an attached strain gauge was embedded in the center of the specimen to measure local strains. Experimental variables encompassed the Fe-SMA spiral reinforcement, spacing, and activation temperature. Uniaxial compression tests were conducted after applying active confinement to the concrete columns through electrical-resistance heating. Notably, as the Fe-SMA spiral spacing decreased, the local failure zone length and compressive fracture energy of the prepared specimens increased. Additionally, a model incorporating compressive fracture energy was proposed to predict the stress–strain behavior of the. This model, accounting for active and passive confinement effects, demonstrated accurate predictions for the experimental results of this study as well as for previously reported results.

In the decommissioning process of nuclear power plants, Ni-59, Ni-63 and Fe-55 present in radioactive waste are crucial radionuclides used as fundamental indicators in determining waste treatment methods. However, due to their low-energy emissions, the chemical separation of these two radionuclides is essential compared to others. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the suitability of various pre-treatment methods for decommissioning waste materials by conducting characteristic assessments at each chemical separation stage. The goal is to find the most optimized pre-treatment method for the analysis of Ni-59, Ni-63 and Fe-55 in decommissioning waste. The comparative evaluation results confirm that the chemical separation procedures for Fe and Ni are very stable in terms of stepwise recovery rates and the removal of interfering radionuclides. However, decommissioning waste materials, which mainly consist of concrete, metals, etc., possess unique properties, and a significant portion may be low-radioactivity waste suitable for on-site disposal. Considering that the chemical behavior and reaction characteristics may vary at each chemical separation stage depending on the matrix properties of the materials, it is considered necessary to apply cascading chemical separation or develop and apply individual chemical separation methods. This should be done by verifying and validating their effectiveness on actual decommissioning waste materials.

High-strength low-alloy steel is one of the widely used materials in onshore and offshore plant engineering. We investigated the alloying effect of solute atoms in α-Fe based alloy using ab initio calculations. Empirical equations were used to establish the effect of alloying on the Vicker’s hardness, screw energy coefficient, and edge dislocation energy coefficient of the steel. Screw and edge energy coefficients were improved by the addition of V and Cr solute atoms. In addition, the addition of trace quantities of V, Cr, and Mn enhanced abrasion resistance. Solute atoms and contents with excellent mechanical properties were selected and their thermal conductivity and thermal expansion behavior were investigated. The addition of Cr atom is expected to form alloys with low thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient. This study provides a better understanding of the state-of-the-art research in low-alloy steel and can be used to guide researchers to explore and develop α-Fe based alloys with improved properties, that can be fabricated in smart and cost-effective manners.

Iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanoclusters exhibit significant potential in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields due to their strong magnetic properties, stability in solutions, and compatibility with living systems. They excel in magnetic separation processes, displaying high responsiveness to external magnetic fields. In contrast to conventional Fe2O3 nanoparticles that can aggregate in aqueous solutions due to their ferrimagnetic properties, these nanoclusters, composed of multiple nanoparticles, maintain their magnetic traits even when scaled to hundreds of nanometers. In this study, we develop a simple method using solvothermal synthesis to precisely control the size of nanoclusters. By adjusting precursor materials and reducing agents, we successfully control the particle sizes within the range of 90 to 420 nm. Our study not only enhances the understanding of nanocluster creation but also offers ways to improve their properties for applications such as magnetic separation. This is supported by our experimental results highlighting their size-dependent magnetic response in water. This study has the potential to advance both the knowledge and practical utilization of Fe2O3 nanoclusters in various applications.

Graphene oxide/Iron III oxide (GO: Fe2O3) nanocomposites (NCs) have been topical in recent times owing to the enhanced properties they exhibit. GO acting as a graphene derivative has demonstrated superior features as obtainable in a graphene sheet. Furthermore, the attachment of oxygen functional groups at its basal and edge planes of graphene has allowed for easy metal/oxide functionalization for improved properties harvesting. Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) on the other hand have polymorphic property enabling the degeneracy of Fe2O3 in different phases, thereby resulting in different physical and crystalline properties when used to functionalize GO. The properties of GO: Fe2O3 have been applied to supercapacitor energy harvesting, Li-ion batteries, and biomedicine. The enhanced properties are attributed to the adsorption and electronic structure properties of Fe atoms. In this review, the various synthesis used in the preparation of reduced/graphene oxide: Fe2O3 is discussed. As indicated in the considered literature, the XPS analysis suggests electronic bond interactions between C–C, C–O, C–Fe and Fe–C. The available report on UPS measurements further suggests the formation of mixed states emanating from  and  bonds. The discussed reports further suggest that the various applications based on the harvesting of electronic, electrical, and magnetic properties are due to the ionic and exchange interactions between the different orbital states of carbon, oxygen and iron. The challenges and future prospects of the synthesis and application of GO/Fe2O3 are examined. Graphical abstract showing the process of exfoliation, reduction and functionalization of graphite to produce reduced graphene oxide (rGO).

Geologic disposal at deep depth is an acceptable way to dispose of high-level radioactive waste and isolate it from the biosphere. The geological repository system comprises an engineered barrier system (EBS) and the host rock. The system aims to delay radionuclide migration through groundwater flow, and also, the flow affects the saturation of the bentonite in the EBS. The thermal conductivity of bentonite is a function of saturation, so the temperature in the EBS is directly related to the flow system. High-temperature results in the two-phase flow, and the two-phase flow system also affects the flow system. Therefore, comprehending the influencing parameters on the flow system is critical to ensure the safety of the disposal system. Various studies have been performed to figure out the complex two-phase flow characteristics, and numerical simulation is considered an effective way to predict the coupled behavior. DECOVALEX (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) is one of the most famous international cooperating projects to develop numerical methods for thermo-hydro-mechanicalchemical interaction, and Task C in the DECOVALEX-2023 has the purpose of simulating the Fullscale Emplacement (FE) experiment at the Mont-Terri underground research laboratory. We used OGS-FLAC, a self-developed numerical simulator combining OpenGeoSys and FLAC3D, for the simulation and targeted to analyze the effecting parameters on the two-phase flow system. We focused on the parameters of bentonite, a key component of the disposal system, and analyzed the effect of compressibility and air entry pressure on the flow system. Compressibility is a parameter included in the storage term, defining the fluid storage capacity of the medium. While air entry pressure is a crucial value of the water retention curve, defining the relation between saturation and capillary pressure. From a series of sensitivity analyses, low compressibility resulted in faster flow due to low storage term, while low air entry pressure slowed flow inflow into the bentonite. Low air entry pressure means the air easily enters the medium; hence the flow rate becomes lower based on the relativity permeability definition. Based on the sensitivity analysis, we further investigate the effect of shotcrete around the tunnel and excavation damaged zone. Also, long-term analysis considering heat decay of the radioactive waste will be considered in future studies.

Because magnets fabricated using Nd-Fe-B exhibit excellent magnetic properties, this novel material is used in various high-tech industries. However, because of the brittleness and low formability of Nd-Fe-B magnets, the design freedom of shapes for improving the performance is limited based on conventional tooling and postprocessing. Laserpowder bed fusion (L-PBF), the most famous additive manufacturing (AM) technique, has recently emerged as a novel process for producing geometrically complex shapes of Nd-Fe-B parts owing to its high precision and good spatial resolution. However, because of the repeated thermal shock applied to the materials during L-PBF, it is difficult to fabricate a dense Nd-Fe-B magnet. In this study, a high-density (>96%) Nd-Fe-B magnet is successfully fabricated by minimizing the thermal residual stress caused by substrate heating during L-PBF.

Ammonia is considered a promising hydrogen carrier due to its high hydrogen density and liquefaction temperature. Considering that the energy efficiency generally decreases as chemical conversion is repeated, it is more efficient to directly use ammonia as a fuel for fuel cells. However, catalysts in direct ammonia fuel cells have the critical issues of sluggish ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) rate and poisoning of reaction intermediates. In particular, the use of precious metal as cathodic catalysts has been limited due to ammonia crossover and poisoning. In this study, we introduce Fe-based single-atom catalysts with selective activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) even in the presence of ammonia. As the Fe content increased, the single-atom structure of the catalysts changed into Fe nanoparticles or carbides. Among our Fe–N–C catalysts, FeNC-50 with a Fe loading amount of 0.34 wt% showed the highest ORR performance regardless of the ammonia concentration. In particular, the difference in activity between the catalysts increased as the concentration increased. The FeNC-50 catalyst showed remarkable stability after 1000 cycles. Therefore, we believe that single-atom dispersion is an important factor in the development of stable non-precious catalysts with high activity and inactivity for the ORR and AOR, respectively.

In this paper, we presented a hybrid composite of graphene quantum dots (GQDs)-modified three-dimensional graphene nanoribbons (3D GNRs) composite linked by Fe3O4 and CoO nanoparticles through reflux and ultrasonic treatment with GQDs, denoted as 3D GQDs-Fe3O4/CoO@GNRs (3D GFCG). In this hybrid, the 3D GNRs framework strengthened the electrical conductivity and the synergistic effects between GQDs and 3D GFCG enhanced the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of the nanocomposite. The results imply that decorating GQDs with other electro-catalysts is an effective strategy to synergistically improve their ORR activity.

This work describes the synthesis and characterization of a heterogeneous catalyst consisting of piperazine-functionalized reduced graphene oxide decorated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles ( Fe3O4@rGO-NH), and the study of its catalytic activity as a magnetic heterogeneous catalyst for the Pechmann synthesis of coumarins. Catalyst Fe3O4@ rGO-NH was fully characterized by various techniques, including IR, XRD, TEM, VSM, TGA, and elemental analysis. Then, the catalyst was used as an efficient and easy-separable heterogeneous catalyst for the solvent-free synthesis of some coumarins by Pechmann reaction. The reaction was optimized in terms of reaction time and temperature, catalyst dosage, and the presence/absence of the solvent. Finally, the reusability of the catalyst was studied.

A promising approach to enhance catalytic performance of supported heterogeneous nano-metal catalysts is to uniformly disperse active nanoparticles on the support. In this work, N-doped carbon-modified graphene (G@NC) nanosheet is designed and prepared to anchor Pd–Fe bimetallic nanoparticles (Pd–Fe/G@NC). The N-doped carbon modification on graphene surface could construct a sandwich-like structure (G@NC), which not only prevented the re-stacking of graphene nanosheets but also provided confined space for stable anchoring of bimetallic Pd–Fe nanoparticles. Benefitted from the unique structural property and synergetic effect of metal Pd and Fe species, the as-obtained Pd–Fe/G@NC composite displays excellent catalytic activity toward 4-nitrophenol reduction reaction with a turnover frequency of 613.2 min− 1, which is far superior to that of the mono-metal counterparts (Fe/G@NC and Pd/G@NC). More importantly, Pd–Fe/G@NC catalyst also exhibits favorable catalytic performance in the reduction of other nitroaromatic compounds (nitrobenzene, 4-nitrotoluene, 4-chloronitrobenzene, and so on). In addition, Pd–Fe/G@NC can catalyze the oxidation of furfuraldehyde to furoic acid with a high yield of 88.64%. This work provides a new guide for rationally designing and developing advanced supported heterogeneous bimetallic catalyst.