0000000000611004
AUTHOR
Maria Josè Lo Faro
Alkali activated materials using pumice from the Aeolian Islands (Sicily, Italy) and their potentiality for cultural heritage applications: Preliminary study
Abstract In this paper, the potentialities of pumice-based geopolymers have been explored with the aim to evaluate their use as restoration materials. In particular, the behaviour of Aeolian pumice during alkali activation process, either alone or in binary mixtures with metakaolin, has been assessed using sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate activators. Hardened products were characterized by: X-ray diffraction; infrared spectroscopy; thermo gravimetry and electron microscopy. Furthermore, Hg-intrusion porosimetry, water absorption, compressive strength and colorimetric measurements were carried out in order to define the technical features of the produced geopolymers. The results reveal t…
Ultrathin silicon nanowires for optical and electrical nitrogen dioxide detection
The ever-stronger attention paid to enhancing safety in the workplace has led to novel sensor development and improvement. Despite the technological progress, nanostructured sensors are not being commercially transferred due to expensive and non-microelectronic compatible materials and processing approaches. In this paper, the realization of a cost-effective sensor based on ultrathin silicon nanowires (Si NWs) for the detection of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is reported. A modification of the metal-assisted chemical etching method allows light-emitting silicon nanowires to be obtained through a fast, low-cost, and industrially compatible approach. NO2 is a well-known dangerous gas that, even wit…
Fluorescent Biosensors Based on Silicon Nanowires
Nanostructures are arising as novel biosensing platforms promising to surpass current performance in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and affordability of standard approaches. However, for several nanosensors, the material and synthesis used make the industrial transfer of such technologies complex. Silicon nanowires (NWs) are compatible with Si-based flat architecture fabrication and arise as a hopeful solution to couple their interesting physical properties and surface-to-volume ratio to an easy commercial transfer. Among all the transduction methods, fluorescent probes and sensors emerge as some of the most used approaches thanks to their easy data interpretation, measure affordability…