Barbara Liguori

University of Naples Federico II | UNINA · Department of Chemical, Materials and Industrial Production Engineering

Zeolites are interesting inorganic additives that could be employed for plastic packaging applications. Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) are intensively used for packaging as they provide great performance at low cost, even though they have poor environmental sustainability and may be more valorized. Biodegradable polymers may therefore rep...

Natural resources, along with critical raw materials, are increasingly considered a focus for technological ap- plications. Widely available and inexpensive natural resources, such as zeolite-rich geomaterials, possess minero- chemical characteristics that make them very useful in various technological applications, representing a stra- tegic choic...

In the last century, the issue of “water reserves” has become a remarkably strategic topic in modern science and technology. In this context, water resource treatment and management systems are being developed in both agricultural and urban area scenarios. This can be achieved using superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), highly cross-linked hydrogels with...

This research explores a combination of design and materials science to develop a novel approach to materials’ porosity

A tailored multifunctional diatomite-based foam with porosity and density gradients has been developed through a new technology that enables an unprecedented integration of acoustic, mechanical and thermal properties. The production process consists of a custom made pilot plant for foaming capable of mixing solid phases, such as diatomite, catalyst...

World cultural heritage is an invaluable resource and must be preserved. Conventional packaging materials, such as polystyrene, polyurethane (PU) foams, paper‐like tissue, and nylon fabric, are petrol‐based. According to Agenda 2030, and Green Deal directives, the development of alternative bio‐based materials has gained significant scientific and...

Nowadays, the preservation and restoration of a historical building needs to be faced in accordance with a novel sensibility regarding the environment in order to preserve the building for future generations. In this context, the scientific community is focusing on novel and sustainable materials and techniques that allow for durability and mechani...

Nowadays the preservation and restoration of historical building needs to be faced in accordance with a novel sensibility regarding environment to preserve the future generations. In this context, the scientific community is focusing on novel and sustainable materials and techniques allowing durability and mechanical performances and at the same ti...

The increase in concrete structures’ durability is a milestone to improve the sustainability of buildings and infrastructures. In order to ensure a prolonged service life, it is necessary to detect the deterioration of materials by means of monitoring systems aimed at evaluating not only the penetration of aggressive substances into concrete but al...

A FAU-X-rich porous monolith has been obtained by means of an unconventional two-stage method consisting of the production of a foamed geopolymeric precursor and its subsequent conversion by means of a hydrothermal method. The influence of the conversion process parameters, such as NaOH concentration (0.1–2 M), treatment temperature (40–80 °C) and...

The present paper assesses petrographic, mineralogical, chemical, and technological features of different zeolitic tuff samples from various western USA districts of the Basin and Range Province containing mainly erionite, mordenite, clinoptilolite/heulandite and phillipsite. The aim of this characterization is to evaluate the pozzolanic activity o...

In this work, the design of a monolithic softener obtained by geopolymer gel conversion is proposed. The softener used consists in a geopolymeric macroporous matrix functionalized by the co-crystallization of zeolite A and X in mixture. The dual nature of the proposed material promotes a softening process based on the synergistic effect of cation e...

Graffiti vandalism represents an aesthetic and structural phenomenon of degradation both for buildings and cultural heritage: the most used sprays and markers can permeate the stone materials exposing them to degradation. Hence, great attention is being currently devoted to new non-invasive chemical approaches to face this urgent problem. This work...

The present study is focused on the development and characterization of innovative cementitious-based composite sensors. In particular, multifunctional cement mortars with enhanced piezoresistive properties are realized by exploiting the concept of confinement of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) and reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) in a three-dimens...

Demolition activity plays an important role in the total energy consumption of the construction industry in the European Union. The indiscriminate use of non-renewable raw materials, energy consumption, and unsustainable design has led to a redefinition of the criteria to ensure environmental protection. This article introduces an experimental plan...

Nowadays the study of the potential applications of multifunctional materials for environmental remediation is one of the main goals of the materials engineering. Multifunctional porous materials, MPMs, incorporate, all in once, different and multiple functionalities that make them suitable for several uses and can satisfy many purposes at the same...

Ceramic adhesives are an interesting alternative to traditional methods to join metal to ceramics such as fastening, vacuum brazing and gluing. Ceramic adhesives are made of an inorganic matrix with a filler (alumina, zirconia, silica, etc.), and they require a thermal cure cycle in order to establish adhesion. In this work, the adhesion between tw...

Promoting the use of gypsum and gypsum-based materials in construction is a successful strategy from an environmental point of view; it allows a lower energy demand with a sensible reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. At the same time, the manufacturing of gypsum products can represent an interesting sector to redirect and manage the large amount...

Water pollution is one of the biggest environmental issues of our times. To address such a huge challenge, the full involvement of everyone is required. In this context, we report the results of outreach hands-on activities aimed at presenting to the general public two classes of materials with high potential in the removal of common water pollutan...

The present study is focused on the development and characterization of innovative cementitious-based composite sensors. In particular, multifunctional cement mortar composites with enhanced functional, piezo-resistive, properties are designed with Multiwall Carbon Nanotube-MWCNTs and reduced Graphene Oxide-rGO dispersed in a natural-rubber latex a...

The Amalfi Coast terraces, declared as a cultural landscape in 1997, are representative of the local culture, tradition and technique. The particular construction characteristics and morphological peculiarities of the territory, together with the phenomena of hydrogeological instability, have raised the alarm about how to approach their maintenance...

The management of huge amounts of waste deriving from several anthropogenic activities, such as manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying, dredging, represents a great contemporary environmental challenge for many countries worldwide. Among the different recycling possibilities, the use of the excavated soils, obtained from operations such...

Natural zeolites are used as adsorbents in purification processes due to their cation-exchange ability and molecular sieve properties. Surface modified natural zeolites (SMNZs), produced by attaching cationic organic surfactants to the external surface, can simultaneously act as ionic exchangers and organic molecule adsorbents. In this paper, SMNZs...

I materiali leganti della tradizione costruttiva, perlopiù a base di calce aerea e pozzolane di varia natura, possono oggi rappresentare una valida alternativa ai leganti a base di cemento Portland in virtù delle loro caratteristiche di compatibilità con il costruito storico, di eco-sostenibilità e di perfetta sintonia con la cultura del bioregiona...

The latest tendency of the scientific community regards the development of different classes of green materials able to solve pollution problems caused by industrial and human activity. In this paper, chitosan and diatomite were used to produce a broad-spectrum hybrid adsorbent, either in powder or in monolithic form for environmental pollutant rem...

Dredging activities of harbours and rivers are becoming very important in many countries all over the world and, as a consequence, the disposal of dredged sediments is a critical concern from an environmental point of view. In order to facilitate the disposal or the reuse of large volume of dredged soils, usually under-consolidated and with a high...

An innovative and facile synthesis of cobalt based inorganic pigment was carried out by means of a low energy thermal conversion of a cobalt-exchanged zeolite. The Na-A [LTA] zeolite was used, since it is a low cost and easily available raw material. The ion exchange mechanism allowed to control, at microscopic level, the composition of the zeoliti...

Motivated by the hierarchical micro and nanoscale features in terms of porosity of diatomite, the production of ceramic-graded porous foams with tailored porosity, obtained by using it as raw material, has been proposed. The main challenge during the foam-production process has been the preservation of diatomite nanometric porosity and the addition...

The subsoil consolidation in the archaeological sites or in areas with historic existing buildings (e.g. Pompeii) needs the use of ground improvement techniques that must guarantee the safeguarding of such relevant areas and structures. One of the best approaches in such cases is low pressure grouting. An experimental multidisciplinary study was ca...

A great challenge of research is the utilization of natural or synthetic zeolites, in place of natural pozzolans, for manufacturing blended cements. The difficulties of interpretation of the pozzolanic behavior of natural zeolite-rich materials and the role played by their nature and composition can be overcome by studying more simple systems, such...

Many industrial applications need supporting or shaping powdery zeolites. Since geopolymers can be considered the amorphous counterpart or precursors of crystalline zeolites, it is possible to promote zeolite crystallization inside the geopolymeric matrix by tuning pH, temperature and time of the geopolymerization reaction. In this paper, combining...

In this study, the suitability of a nano-silica based consolidant for the conservation of a volcanic tuff was evaluated. The consolidant consists of an aqueous suspension of nano-silica particles (diameter of 10 ÷ 20 nm) and despite its lower penetration capacity than ethyl-silicate–based consolidants, takes advantage of less toxicity, a fast-enoug...

Mineral production continues to be necessary for economic development, consequently also the management of mining and mineral-processing wastes represent a considerable issue in terms of recycling and economic strategies for the future. One of the most promising reuses for coarse-grained mining wastes, especially barren waste rocks from coal and me...

In Europe, large amounts of materials are dredged annually to maintain channels and harbour activities. Consolidation processes in dredged sediments take very long-time due to the high-water content, much more than those considered in the typical problems of geotechnical engineering. The electrokinetic treatment (EK) can be an effective technique t...

Due to the large latent heat related to dehydration into hemihydrate and anhydrite, gypsum is largely used to make firebreak systems. During a fire exposure, the dehydration can induce cracks inside the panels, since the loss of bound-water molecules leads to a large thermal shrinkage. In this study, hemp fibers were added into the plaster, acting...

Wastewater treatments by using low cost adsorbents is becoming a topic of primary interest. In the present work, the efficiency of a diatomite-based composite ceramic foam for cadmium adsorption was analyzed, in order to propose it as low-cost heavy metal absorber. Kinetic data showed a faster cadmium uptake capacity for the foamed sample, due to e...

This review presents "a state of the art" report on sustainability in construction materials. The authors propose different solutions to make the concrete industry more environmentally friendly in order to reduce greenhouse gases emissions and consumption of non-renewable resources. Part 1-the present paper-focuses on the use of binders alternative...

The paper represents the "state of the art" on sustainability in construction materials. In Part 1 of the paper, issues related to production, microstructures, chemical nature, engineering properties, and durability of mixtures based on binders alternative to Portland cement were presented. This second part of the paper concerns the use of traditio...

The requirement for environmentally friendly construction materials for sustainable development is nowadays an important issue and the geopolymer technology provides a good solution to replace, as binder, the ordinary cement materials for green building. Fly ash, an industrial by-product currently disposed of as waste, can be used as feedstock for...

3D-structured silica exoskeletons-diatomite was used as reactive inorganic ingredient, with and without metakaolin to produce sustainable multifunctional diatomite-based geopolymeric foams. Suitable amount of Silicon powder and vegetable surfactant were used as foaming agents, while polysilicate solution was used as reactive crosslinker. The result...

The design of the production process of diatomite-based ceramic foams, starting from different percentages of metakaolin, diatomite, and sodium silicate solution as reactive ingredients and vegetable surfactant and silicon powder as blowing agents, has been set up. The foams were obtained using the double effect of different foaming approaches: mec...

Natural fibres have been widely studied as environment-friendly alternative to synthetic ones in composite manufacturing; they can be considered as reinforcement of geopolymeric foams for use as insulating materials. In this regard, the paper focuses on lightweight geopolymers reinforced with hemp fibre grids. These novel composite materials, produ...

In the last decades, the use of natural fibers as replacement to synthetic fibers in reinforced composites has become a trending practice due to their attractive features. The main drawbacks associated with the use of natural fibers are the hydrophilic nature and the weak interaction between fiber and binder matrix, so they are often subjected to p...

Organic–inorganic hybrid foams were prepared by using metakaolin or diatomite as a partial (or total) replacement of metakaolin, as precursor and metal silicon and whipped protein as blowing agents. The foamed systems were cured at defined temperature and time and then characterized by chemical point of view through Fourier transformed infrared spe...

The extent of the dissolution of aluminosilicate compounds is crucial, since the amount of Si and Al initially dissolved is essential for the following polycondensation and can strongly influence physical and mechanical performances of the final product. In order to set up a method to test the ability of a material to react in alkaline media, diffe...

In this paper fly ash based geopolymer mortars have been prepared and their thermal behavior evaluated in order to assess the suitability of fly ash based alkali-activated binders for thermal energy storage in solar thermal plants. Different parameters, such as binder/aggregate ratio, percentage of fly ash replaced by slag, temperature and curing t...

In this paper four alternative chemical routes for the synthesis of lead-free piezoelectric material 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3–0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 (BZT–0.5BCT) are reported, based on the use of environmental friendly, non-hazardous and non-toxic reagents. Clear and stable precursor solutions were successfully produced, and then powder samples of BZT–0.5B...

Ba0.75Sr0.25Al2Si2O8 (BSAS) ceramic was synthetized starting from a (Ba, Sr)-exchanged zeolite A. The substitution of Ba with Sr helped the transformation of hexacelsian to monocelsian, which was attained by a 5 h thermal treatment at 1200 °C. BSAS systems were structurally and dielectrically characterized. In particular, the evaluation of dielectr...

Dredging activity in harbours and channels produces huge quantities of sediments, generally considered as waste soil (WS) to be disposed: the management of such sediments is a great environmental problem for many countries worldwide. Among the recycling possibilities, the use of dredged sediments for the manufacture of geopolymer-based materials se...

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles are among the most promising nanovectors for controlled release of active compounds. In this work we design a mesoporous silica-based delivery system in which the release of the active compound is controlled by specific pore/wall interactions and can also be triggered by an external stimulus, such as the simple addit...

This paper reports the characterization of Sr-, Zn- and Cd-exchanged zeolitic materials as water vapor adsorbents, in order to evaluate the influence of the extraframework species on their adsorption properties. Both synthetic and natural substrates are taken into account. Water vapor adsorption isotherms on each ion-exchanged sample have been obta...

Organic–inorganic hybrid foams were prepared by using metakaolin, diatomite as a partial (or total) replacement of metakaolin, as matrix, silicon and whipped protein as pore forming. The foamed systems were hardened at defined temperature and time and then characterized by mechanical point of view through compression tests and by functional point o...

In the last decades, eco-friendly materials are playing an increasingly important role in the building industry. Particularly, many studies deal with the use of natural fibers as replacement to synthetic fibers in reinforced composites. Natural fibers are already employed in many building materials, due to their attractive features, such as good me...

The management of reservoirs for water supply is a great environmental problem, since regular de-silting operations produce huge quantities of sediments. Among the recycling possibilities, the use of clay sediments for the manufacture of geopolymer-based materials seems to be an interesting alternative to disposal, due to their low cost and easy av...

Organic–inorganic hybrid foams based on an alkali alumino-silicate matrix were prepared using different foaming methods. Firstly, silico-aluminate inorganic matrix, activated through a sodium silicate solution, was prepared at room temperature. The obtained viscous paste was expanded by means of silicon metal redox reaction in alkaline media in com...

In a previous paper the authors demonstrated that adding glass fibers to hydraulic lime-based mortars leads to clear improvement in the post-cracking behavior. In order to enhance physical and mechanical performances of the above fiber reinforced mortars, the use of zeolitic addition was proposed. A phillipsite-rich tuff and a zeolite A [LTA] were...

The galeb of Kebili is a sun-dried brick belonging to the construction tradition of the homonymous “oasis city” of southern Tunisia, obtained by mixing water, fired gypsum-rich Sahara sand and palm wood ash. In recent years, great efforts have been made to enhance the features of these construction materials while preserving the traditional product...

Waste polymeric material, classified as secondary raw material, mainly consisting of selected polyolefins, PE and PP, and PET has brought great pressure on the environment, due to the large quantities produced by the urban lifestyles and economic activity. This research evaluated the possibility to reuse the plastic waste as aggregates in hydraulic...

The ion-exchange properties of a synthetic hydrosodalite (Na-hS) have been investigated by kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of exchange reactions of the original sodium form for lithium, potassium and calcium forms. Kinetic curves, modelled by a Langmuir-type equation, revealed that exchange rate for lithium and for potassium are of the same orde...

Mesoporous silicas have been long recognized as very promising materials for the preparation of drug delivery systems. In this work SBA-15 mesoporous silica has been functionalized with amino-silane to be used as carrier of antioxidant compound in the preparation of active food packaging materials exhibiting tailored release properties. Active film...

Organic-inorganic hybrid foams based on an alkali alumino-silicate matrix were prepared by using different foaming methods. Initially, the synthesis of an inorganic matrix by using aluminosilicate particles, activated through a sodium silicate solution, was performed at room temperature. Subsequently the viscous paste was foamed by using three d...

In this paper the interaction mechanism between recycled plastic aggregates and lime matrix in composite mortars was investigated by means of thermal, morphological and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. In order to assess the fire behavior of the composite mortars, a cone calorimeter method was adopted. The plastic aggregate,...

In this paper artificial aggregates based on recycled plastic materials, mostly polyolefin and polyethylene terephthalate waste, were used as partial replacement of natural aggregates for manufacturing hydraulic mortars. In particular, different amounts (10-50% by weight) of siliceous sand were substituted by the same weight of the above plastic wa...