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A collaboration between the Institute for Architecture and the Institute of Technology and Structural Engineering of the Vienna University of Technology led to the development of concrete with outstanding performance. This allows the manufacture of concrete elements using a special technique: by projecting it on a concrete structure of air bags, this method opens up new architectural possibilities.
A high performance concrete structures for original
The manufacturing method developed at the Vienna University of Technology based on two pillars: the development of a concrete individual performance and the use of balloons – air cushions.
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A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a very compact 3D printer-more or less the size of a milk carton, and able to sculpt in detail of small objects. This advance is placed in the context of making 3D printers an everyday object. Introduction This printer works on the same principle that all 3D printers, which have existed for many years now: a three-dimensional object is created by depositing or solidifying of the material, thin layer after thin layer, to finally obtain the desired object. There are several variations of this principle. In this case, a small tank is filled with synthetic resin. This resin has the characteristic to solidify in response to exposure to bright light. Thus, the resin is subjected to strong light emitting diodes by layer by layer. This method of production (called “additive manufacturing production” in English) has especially the advantage of allowing the creation of objects with complex internal structures, which is difficult if not impossible to consider in the case of a production using conventional molding techniques.
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Packaging coalesce most of the use of plastics in Europe, particularly between 30 and 50 percent. Therefore, recovery and recycling of packaging has been regulated by a directive of the European Union in which the emphasis is on saving material and reuse of plastic, among others. Consequently, there is increasing pressure from packaging manufacturers to develop new materials with environmentally friendly, either for his recovery, recycling or biodegradation.
(Another application is the manufacture of interior and exterior of vehicles.)
In this context began in July 2008 Forbioplast project, an initiative of 16 partners from nine countries (Norway, Belgium, Germany, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and Spain) which has been funded by the Seventh Framework Programme the European Union. Their ultimate goal is “getting products made from biodegradable materials coming from forest resources”, as detailed Cecilia Sanz, researchers in Biomass Cartif, the only Spanish technological center that participates in the project.
In recent years, the development of plastics derived from forest products has increased since it is an abundant, renewable and inexpensive. Thus, the idea of researchers is to value forest resources to manufacture new plastic foams and composites.
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Alessandro Lascialfari professor at the University of Pavia and Milan (Italy), where he combines his teaching with research. He is an expert in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and visit us at the University of Zaragoza as a court to participate in the reading of the thesis Ainhoa Urtizberea Lorente, which addresses unresolved issues on the magnetic behavior of nanoparticles iron oxide.
Could you explain briefly what your field of research and its importance to the lives of people?
I have three main lines: one of superconductivity, magnetism and another is on fundamental physical problems, the third, why I am here today is on compounds with applications in medicine.
In the hospitals of the diagnostic tools is the magnetic resonance imaging with taking pictures of internal body parts such as liver or brain. To apply this technique can be used magnetic nanoparticles. When it comes to nanoparticles, we are talking about particles having a size of a billionth of a meter.
These nanoparticles enhance the presence of a pathology. You can see more problems like edema, or ischemic stroke, tumors also. The new idea is the development of new nanoparticles, which have two uses in diagnosis and in therapy. This is part of the collaboration I have with Fernando Palacio (ICMA (CSIC-UZ)).
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The buildings in the historic center of Salamanca are characterized by being constructed Villamayor sandstone, but the wear and tear this material, especially in the lower part of the facade, has made over the centuries opt for granite the foundations, in particular, a local rock known as “stone pajarrilla.” However, restoration often do not use this original granite, but other very similar but of lower quality. Now research is to identify the original material and the quarries from which they extracted for use in the restoration process.
(Detail of the Cathedral of Salamanca, where you can see the granite used on the bottom. Photo: Carlos González Neila / DiCYT)
“The materials are restored historic buildings are not the same as the originals, are similar but different and sometimes do not respond well to the passage of time,” he said in remarks to DiCYT Carlos Neila González, a geological engineer who has obtained a grant from the Heritage Foundation to develop this research at the University of Salamanca under the direction of Dolores Pereira. “Our intention is to define the original material, compared to those being used today and catalog them all,” he says.
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Concrete is a brittle material of the heavy onslaught of an earthquake. Professor Gonzalo Melian, EI University of Segovia, just introduced a self-compacting concrete that is more resistant to seismic shocks through the addition of small amounts of short fibers of polypropylene, which make it more flexible.
(Mechanical testing of concrete made with microfibers of polypropylene. Photo: Gonzalo Melian / DICYT)
Japan, located at the confluence of three tectonic plates, stresses in the field of construction for the great resilience of buildings. Although Spain did not have the same seismic risk that the island Japan, researchers are trying to get building materials more resistant to earthquakes and wind.
The work of Gonzalo Melian, EI University of Segovia, presented in the journal Building Materials published by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), proposes the addition of small amounts of polypropylene, a polymer-, in addition to steel that is inserted into the concrete to make it more ductile. The publication highlights the tenacity increases are similar to those with a group of fiber reinforced concrete, called ECC (Engineered Cementitious Composites), Developed in the United States.
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A research group led by the University Complutense of Madrid found that the production of a protein called midquina by brain tumors correlates with increased resistance to anticancer therapy with cannabinoids.
(Above, a brain tumor with high levels of MDK (brown staining). Below, a tumor with low levels. In blue, nuclei of cells. Source: UCM.)
The study in the Faculty of Biology of Universidad Complutense de Madrid in collaboration with the Hospital Clínico San Carlos and Hospital Virgen de la Salud de Toledo found that production by brain tumor cells with high levels of a protein called midquina (MDK) determines the resistance to the antitumor action of cannabinoids.
The analysis of samples from more than 200 patients with brain tumors found that high expression of MDK is correlated with decreased survival of these patients, suggesting that the presence of MDK may be a prognostic factor in patients with brain tumors including more aggressive variety, glioblastoma multiforme, which has a high resistance to conventional cancer therapies.
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Footwear Technology Institute, with technical expertise in this technology, is working on the development of smart materials.
Inescop, Footwear Technology Institute, has participated in the International Congress Imaginenano , one of the largest global events in nanoscience and nanotechnology, which took place from 11 to 14 April in Bilbao. It was concentrated six international conferences attended by 264 speakers, including two Nobel laureates and three Prince of Asturias awards.
In order to analyze and present the latest developments and trends in this field, more than 130 companies showed the latest trends in nanotechnology (products, experimental techniques, devices, etc.). A total of 40 countries and more than 1,500 people have participated in this scientific forum in which INESCOP contributed two posters: “Nanocapsules oil with microbial activity” and “chemical functionalization and dispersion of carbon nanofibers in adhesives water based polyurethane “.
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The Institute of Materials Science of Aragon (ICMA) has developed a neutron detector, and it is already installed at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble (France), a world reference center in neutron techniques. The Institute will manage for Spain the Spanish instruments of the ILL.
Neutron techniques are used in disciplines as diverse as physics, chemistry, engineering, biology and archeology, and consists of bombarding a material with neutrons to obtain information about atomic structure and magnetism.
The ICMA Joint Center for Scientific Research Council and University of Zaragoza, has worked for two years in the development of a new neutron detector, and a radial collimator for the D1B instrument whose construction has been carried out by Spanish companies. The total funding amounted to 941,333 euros from the Ministry of Education and Science and contract ILL collaboration with the University of Zaragoza, both through the ICMA.
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In a bold new technological development, a team of researchers is testing a technique to impregnate plastics with compressed CO2. The process could have many applications, from contact lenses Colored door handles resistant bacteria .
CO2 has a wide variety of applications: The chemical industry uses this colorless gas to produce, among other products, fertilizer, methanol (fuel additive), and salicylic acid (an ingredient in aspirin and other drugs).
Subject to special conditions of temperature and pressure, the CO2 goes into a state which gives the gas-like properties of a solvent. In this state, can be introduced into polymers, or act as a “carrier” to be dissolved in it dyes, additives, drugs and other substances.
A team of researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental Technology, Energy and Security (UMSICHT) in Oberhausen, Germany, is proving how you can use carbon dioxide to impregnate plastics.
In tests, the team has even managed Manfred Renner polycarbonate impregnated with nanoparticles that give antibacterial properties. The bacteria E. coli, deposited on the surface of the plastic in the high-pressure laboratory of the institute, died in their entirety. This antibacterial function might be exploited in the door handles, imbuing these with the same nanoparticles.
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A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a very compact 3D printer-more or less the size of a milk carton, and able to sculpt in detail of small objects. This advance is placed in the context of making 3D printers an everyday object. Introduction This printer works on the same principle that all 3D printers, which have existed for many years now: a three-dimensional object is created by depositing or solidifying of the material, thin layer after thin layer, to finally obtain the desired object. There are several variations of this principle. In this case, a small tank is filled with synthetic resin. This resin has the characteristic to solidify in response to exposure to bright light. Thus, the resin is subjected to strong light emitting diodes by layer by layer. This method of production (called “additive manufacturing production” in English) has especially the advantage of allowing the creation of objects with complex internal structures, which is difficult if not impossible to consider in the case of a production using conventional molding techniques.