Nanocomm Hub Newsletter - March 2020

From the Director

Stepping up to combat COVID-19

In this challenging time, I would like to express my deep appreciation to all of you for your willingness and promptness in making many adjustments to how and where you work in order to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. Your enormous effort has not only contributed to the maintenance of Hub operations, but has helped ensure the delivery of various project milestones. 

Hub members have stepped up and adapted with both flexibility and ingenuity. Researchers have shifted their focus to computer-based activities at home, such as data analysis, modelling and manuscript preparation, owing to limited access to labs and equipment. Those involved in industry engagement have replaced face-to-face meetings with smaller and more frequent Zoom sessions, overcoming the difficulty of scheduling large groups. Lecturers have transitioned at record speed to online teaching. 

Hub Chief Investigators from around the country have shared how they're working with the new restrictions: 

We're coping well by communicating with industry partners via Zoom. For example, we've arranged a virtual workshop with Transport for NSW to report research outcomes. Social distancing in laboratories remains a challenge for research projects, but otherwise we're managing well. - Prof Vute Sirivivatnanon, University of Technology Sydney

No new laboratory activity has been initiated, but data collection on existing long-term experiments continues. And we can conduct virtual industry meetings via Zoom. - Prof Yan Zhuge, University of South Australia

COVID-19 has had a limited impact on our project progress since the bulk of experimental and testing activity has been completed, including conceptual design work for the 'floating forest'. We're now focused on writing and publishing our research findings. - Prof Chien Ming Wang, the University of Queensland

Additionally, Hub researchers are developing face mask filters to protect the respiratory systems of healthcare workers and others against COVID-19. At Monash University, Mr Felipe Basquiroto de Souza, Dr Kwesi Sagoe-Crentsil and I are exploring calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) gel, with its high capacity for absorbing nano-sized particles, as an environmentally friendly filter material. Dr Sherry Zhang of Monash, Prof Zhuge and I are also looking at a promising composite of nanocellulose (extracted from wood and agricultural waste) and graphene-based 2D nanomaterial for high-performance and sustainable filters.

First and foremost, we are committed to keeping you safe and well. At the same time, we hope to give your work the best possible support. If we stay connected, we can get through this crisis together.

Wenhui Duan, Director, ARC Nanocomm Hub

Upcoming Events

NICOM7 - 7th International Symposium on Nanotechnology in Construction

For more information and abstract submission: https://www.monash.edu/nanocomm/NICOM7

Featured Project 

CEMENT THAT'S GREENER, STRONGER AND WATER-RESISTANT

Buildings. Bridges. Roads. Dams. We live in a concrete world. And that concrete largely consists of Portland cement, whose manufacture pumps out up to eight percent of global carbon emissions. To counteract this, Associate Professor Yixia (Sarah) Zhang, Nanocomm Hub Chief Investigator, and her team have dedicated themselves to creating an environmentally friendly alternative: a next-generation magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC).

MOC is a mix of magnesium oxide powder and a concentrated solution of magnesium chloride (byproducts of magnesium mining) that quickly achieves great compressive strength. In contrast to Portland cement, MOC is carbon-neutral, thanks to the capacity of magnesium oxide to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, due to its poor water resistance and resulting loss of strength, MOC has previously only been suitable for indoor use - for example, in floor tiles, decorative panels and thermal insulation boards.

The researchers therefore set out to improve the water resistance of MOC by adding fly ash (a coal manufacturing byproduct) and silica fume (waste from the production of silicon metal or ferrosilicon alloys). They found that together these components made the cement denser, significantly improving both its compressive and flexural strength under water attack. 

In fact, this modified MOC fully retained its strength after soaking in room-temperature water for 28 days, at values a few times greater than those achieved with conventional cement. With the addition of phosphoric acid and soluble phosphates, it retained up to 90% of its compressive and flexural strength in hot water (60°C) over the same period - still far beyond the norm.

As promising as these results may be, Associate Professor Zhang cautions that there's more work to be done. She hopes now to explore how this novel green cement can be made corrosion-resistant enough for use with steel rebar in large-scale structures. With adequate funding, she will no doubt make great strides in this direction.

Featured People

Since her arrival at Western Sydney University in January of last year, Associate Professor Yixia (Sarah) Zhang has assumed a number of important roles: Research Theme Champion of Environment and Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering Discipline Leader for the entire University, and Director of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. In short order, she has made her mark there.

Previously, Sarah had worked for over 11 years at the University of New South Wales, promoted from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor. To launch her academic career, Sarah had earned a PhD in Structural Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 2001. 

Passionate about the environment and sustainability, Sarah uses her expertise in advanced composite materials to develop construction and building materials in civil engineering, as well as composites in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. For example, she has been creating a novel green cement using industry wastes and high-performance fibre-reinforced cementitious composites. She has her sights set on durable, resilient and sustainable infrastructure. 

Additionally, Sarah has extensive knowledge and skill in numerical modelling and analysis. On top of experimental techniques, she employs advanced numerical modelling to calibrate the mechanical behaviour of materials. She models structural behaviour, for instance, under the extreme loading conditions of impact, blast, fatigue and fire. 

She has been awarded over $3 million in research grants from various government schemes, including those of the Australian Research Council (ARC) and Department of Defence. At the Hub, she leads an ARC project entitled "Optimal Design of Magnesium Oxychloride Cement," which has recently attracted wide media coverage, nationally and internationally (see this month's featured project Cement that's greener, stronger and water-resistant). 

Since 1998, Sarah has published over 230 peer-reviewed scholarly papers, including more than 90 in prestigious international journals in her research areas. A testament to her significant achievements.