Development of an Innovative and Green Method to Obtain Nanoparticles in Aqueous Solution from Carbon-Based Waste Ashes

Abstract

In this study, an original and green procedure to produce water-based solutions containing nanometric recycled carbon particles is proposed. The nanometric particles are obtained starting from carbon waste ashes, produced by the wooden biomass pyro-gasification plant CMD (Costruzioni motori diesel) ECO20. The latter is an integrated system combining a downdraft gasifier, a spark-ignition internal combustion engine, an electric generator and syngas cleaning devices, and it can produce electric and thermal power up to 20 kWe and 40 kWth. The carbon-based ashes (CA) produced by the CMD ECO20 plant were, first, characterized by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and microcomputed tomography (microCT). Afterward, they were reduced in powder by using a milling mortar and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The optimization of an original procedure to reduce the dimensions of the ashes in an aqueous solution was then developed by using ball milling and sonication techniques, and the nanometric dimensions of the particles dispersed in water were estimated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements in the order of 300 nm. Finally, possible industrial applications for the nanomaterials obtained from the waste ashes are suggested, including, for example, inks for Aerosol Jet® Printing (AJ® P).

Transport Properties of Natural and Artificial Smart Fabrics Impregnated by Graphite Nanomaterial Stacks

“…In this study, to reduce the granulometric size of the EG previously dispersed in acetone, a proper experimental procedure was constructed. According to the method described above [43], the EGS suspension was initially subjected to ball milling. The reduction in size was then monitored by granulometric analysis carried out over time, up to 600 h. As reported in Figure 1, a marked decrease in the mean diameter of the particles was reached: the mean diameter of the EG particles decreased from 83.56 ± 1.20 µm (Figure 1a) to 10.23 ± 0.42 µm after the ball milling treatment.…”

“…In order to verify if the size of the EG stacks in acetone could affect the transport properties of the textiles, a further treatment of EGS was implemented. In a previous paper [43], an optimized, innovative, and green process of reducing the particle size of carbon ash waste was proposed. In this paper, a proper modification of the previous method is proposed in order to reach nanometric dimensions for EG stacks-acetone suspensions.…”

An Overview on Wood Waste Valorization as Biopolymers and Biocomposites: Definition, Classification, Production, Properties and Applications

“…The circular economy has, in fact, grown in importance in academic study over the previous decade. A key development goal of the circular economy is the reuse of different kinds of wastes, particularly wastes from industrial operations [5]. The increase in population and the usage of polymers for disposable items and packaging generate uncontrolled waste, posing severe management and disposal issues.…”

Design, Fabrication, and Testing of a Fully 3D-Printed Pressure Sensor Using a Hybrid Printing Approach

“…), and with a large variety of functional inks, including metal and polymer nano-dispersion, biological fluids, and water-based solutions, whose viscosity can vary in the range of 1–1000 mPa.s. Typical applications are antennas, RFID, interconnects, 3D electrodes, LED, photovoltaics, and more recently, electrical and (bio-)chemical sensors with significant industrial and societal impacts [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. AJ ® P ranges from traditional printed electronic (PE) applications to advanced bioelectronic devices and 3D microscale printing.…”