Perennial biofuel and cover crops systems are important for enhancing soil health and can provide numerous soil, agricultural, and environmental benefits. The study objective was to investigate the effects of cover crops and biofuel crops on soil hydraulic properties relative to traditional management for claypan soils. The study site included selected management practices: cover crop (CC) and no cover crop (NC) with corn/soybean rotation, switchgrass (SW), and miscanthus (MI). The CC mixture consisted of cereal rye, hairy vetch, and Austrian winter pea. The research site was located at Bradford Research Center in Missouri, USA, and was implemented on a Mexico silt loam. Intact soil cores (76‐mm diam. by 76‐mm long) were taken from the 0–10, 10–20, 20–30, and 30–40 cm depths with three plot replicates and two sub‐samples per plot replicate per depth. Soil hydraulic properties evaluated for each sample included: saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), water retention, bulk density, and pore size distributions. Results showed with the test of Duncan's least significant differences that treatments of MI (1.18 Mg m−3) and SW (1.21 Mg m−3) had lower values of bulk density averaging across soil depth than CC (1.27 Mg m−3) and NC (1.31 Mg m). Management systems significantly increased Ksat with the biofuel treatments at 0–10 cm compared to NC system. The MI management showed a significant increase in macroporosity and fine mesoporosity as compared to other management systems. Slight changes have occurred in the measured soil physical properties for CC system compared to NC plots. Overall, increasing soil organic matter from more plant roots from long‐term biofuel cropping systems can improve soil water storage and crop productivity.
Cobalt substituted nickel copper ferrite samples with general formula Ni0.95-xCoxCu0.05Fe2O4, where (x= 0.00, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05) were prepared by solid-state reactions method at 1373 K for 4h. The samples prepared were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD(, atomic force microscope (AFM), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and Vickers hardness. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the formation of a single phase of cubic spinel structure in all the prepared samples . XRD analysis showed that the increase in the cobalt concentration causes an increase in the lattice constant, bulk density (ρm) and the x-ray density (ρx), whereas porosity (p) and crystallite size (D) decrease. The Topography of the surface observed
... Show MoreEP/ metal composites were prepared as adhesives between two steel rods. Epoxy resin (EP) was used as a matrix with metal as fillers (Al, Cu, Fe,).
The preparation method for tensile adhesion tests includes two steel rods with adhesive composites between the rods to measure adhesion strength Sad and adhesion toughness Gad.
Results of tensile adhesion tests show that EP/ metals composite have maximum strength Sad for certain weight percentage of metals 2.95 and 9MPa at 10% for EP/Al and EP/Cu composite and 8.2MPa at 40% for EP/Fe composites
The present work studies the mechanical properties of SiO2 μPs, and NPs in St/PVA blends. The samples were prepared by casting method as PVA, St/PVA blends at different concentrations (30, 40, 50, and 60 %). DSC and TGA tests were carried out to the samples evolved. The result showed a single glass transition temperature (Tg) for all St /PVA blends that was attributed to the good miscibility of the blends involved. It was found that (Tg) decrease with starch ratio increase. It was seen that (PVA) of (Tg=105 oC); The glass transition temperature which was decrease with starch ratio that was attributed to glass transition relaxation process due to micro-Brownian motion of the main chain back bond. The endothermic peak at 200 oC was attrib
... Show MoreAs an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the alkali-activated binders have been developed with better technical characteristics and more extended durability. The Alkali-Activated Iraqi Natural Pozzolans (AANP) could produce geopolymer cementation building materials and make them ecologically acceptable. The primary advantage of geopolymer cement is that it has a lower environmental effect that contributes to it. The engineering characteristics of geopolymer concrete produced using activated Iraqi natural Pozzolan are summarized in this research. The mechanical properties, modulus of elasticity, and ultrasonic pulse velocity of various concrete mixes were determined via experimental study. The impact of essential variables like w
... Show MorePortland cement is considered the most involved product in environmental pollution. It is responsible for about 10% of global CO2 emissions [1]. Limestone dust is a by-product of limestone plants and it is produced in thousands of tons annually as waste material. To fulfill sustainability requirements, concrete production is recommended to reduce Portland cement usage with the use of alternative or waste materials. The production of sustainable high strength concrete by using nanomaterials is one of the aims of this study. Limestone dust in 12, 16, and 20% by weight of cement replaced cement in this study. The study was divided into two parts: the first was devoted to the investigation of the best percentage of replacement of waste
... Show MoreBackground: Polymer surfaces usually present problems in bonding and finishing due to their low hydrophilicity. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of plasma treatment with the use of two types of gases (oxygen and argon) on surface roughness, and chemical surface properties of acrylic resin denture base polymer material. Materials and Methods: Three heat cured acrylic resin specimens of (2*8*30 mm) dimensions were prepared for each test carried out in this study. Two tests were conducted, surface roughness test and chemical surface analysis test. Results: Application of plasma treatment increased surface roughness for both oxygen and argon plasma treated acrylic resin specimen groups compared with control untreated group,
... Show MoreThe dielectric constant of most polymers is very low; the addition of TiO2 particles into the polymers provides an attractive and promising way to reach a high dielectric constant. Polymer-based materials with a high dielectric constant show great potential for energy storage applications. Four samples were prepared, one of them was polyurethane (PU) and the other were PU with different weight percent (wt %) of TiO2 (0.1, 0.2, 0.3) powder AFM test was used to distinguish the nanoparticles. The result shows that the most shape of these nanoparticles are spherical and the roughness average is 0.798 nm. The dielectric properties were measured for all samples before and after the exposure to the UV radiation. The result illustrates that the
... Show MoreThe quaternary alloy of Cu2CdSnS4 (CCSS) is one type of thin film materials that contributes to the field of photovoltaic devices manufacturing, the importance of which has not been commonly enlightened as most of the other materials. For the preparation of CCSS thin films at 350 °C on glass substrates, the chemical spray pyrolysis technique was used. The optical properties of thin films prepared under the influence of the variation of copper solution molarity (0.03, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.09 M) on the quaternary compound were examined using a UV-vis spectrophotometer. The findings of the AFM study showed the atoms on the surface that are acclimatized in the form of nanorods with an increase in the average grain s
... Show MoreIn this work, the optical properties of Cu2S with different thickness
(1400, 2400, 4400) Ǻ have been prepared by chemical spray pyrolys
is method onto clean glass substrate heated at 283 oC ±2. The effect
of thickness on the optical properties of Cu2S has been studied. It
was found that the optical properties of the electronic transitions on
fundamental absorption edge were direct allowed and the value of the
optical energy gap of Cu2S (Eg) for direct transition decreased from
(2.4-2.1) eV with increasing of the thickness from (1400 - 4400)Ǻ
respectively. Also it was found that the absorption coefficient is
increased with increasing of thicknesses. The optical constants such<