The present study includes an overview of the applications of clay-based nanocomposites from the past decade to date in various fields such as pharmaceuticals, water treatment, food packaging, electricity, automotive, and especially the production of chemical fertilizers with water retention and slow release. In the agricultural area, one of the promising materials that help green chemical engineering and green chemistry is slow-release fertilizer (SRF).Clay minerals and clay nanocomposites provide cost-effective and efficient material for this purpose. In this paper, the research and development of polymer nanocomposites based on clay in recent years with the focus on their application as novel fertilizers have been reviewed. Clay minerals are promising reinforcements to manufacture high-performance, lightweight, and low-cost nanocomposites because of their abundance, layered structure, low cost, and rich intercalation chemistry.

In this study, nanostructured (Fe 85 Ni 15) 100-x Cu x (x = 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3 and 5) powders were synthesized via mechanical alloying process. The obtained phases, microstructure, and magnetic properties of these alloys were studied by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and vibration sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD results indicated that after a suitable time of milling, Ni and Cu were homogeneously distributed in the Fe matrix, and (bcc) α-(Fe(Ni-Cu)) solid solution was obtained. It was found that by increasing Cu content in the alloy, work hardening increased, and thus the size of grains decreased while the internal micro-strain increased. Also, morphological observations indicated that the addition of Cu led to the formation of finer particles. Also, VSM analysis showed that the addition of Cu into Fe-Ni alloys lowered Ms. On the other hand, the coercivity increased by increasing copper content up to 1.5 at. %.

To improve the hot section metallic parts durability in advanced gas-turbine operating in power generation and aircraft, thermal barrier coating (TBCs) are extensively utilized to increase their lifetime. The reason for applying coatings on these components is the improvement of their physical properties, mechanical properties, and outer look. The self-repairing ability of materials is very promising due to expanding the service time of materials and it is also beneficial in terms of human safety and financial aspects. In this review article, structure, properties, limitations, and the modification approaches of TBCs were studied. In addition, self-healing agents for TBCs including SiC, MoSi 2 , TiC were introduced, which release their oxide by reaction with air and O 2 that are able to heal the pores/cracks in the coatings. In this regard, their coating methods, mechanism, and applications in TBCs were reviewed.

There has been an extensive investigation in the field of optical applications of nanocomposite materials. To prepare photosensitive nanocomposites, an optically functional phase is embedded in a transparent, processable matrix. This provides the opportunity to utilize the optical properties in other forms including fibers and films, which are more technologically important. Due to expansion of optical materials applications, novel transparent materials and optically functional are required. Recent optical nanocomposites and their applications in different areas especially catalysis and drug delivery have been addressed in this paper.

No abstract