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Soil stabilization is an important parameter when a structure is being constructed on the ground. It is important that the soil is having enough strength and stability to take up the structure load for its life span. In case when strength of soil is not enough, additional substances like cement, lime and other chemical compounds are used to increase the soil strength. RBI Grade 81 is one of those important chemical compounds having capability to increase the strength of expansive soils. In order to find patterns and trends in the field, this work presents a bibliometric analysis of research papers on RBI Grade 81 soil stabilization. The analysis made use of a specific set of papers from Scopus database. Important conclusions were drawn from the results regarding the dataset's core information, document content, authors' cumulative contributions over time, pertinent sources, affiliations, keyword clusters, and collaboration networks. The analysis showed a consistent annual growth rate in the volume of publications, pointing to rising interest and involvement of scholars in the field. The keyword analysis revealed recurrent topics and areas of study, indicating the necessity of additional research in subgrade soil and soil fibre reinforcement. This bibliometric analysis offers important insights into the patterns and trends in research on RBI Grade 81 soil stabilization, laying the groundwork for additional multidisciplinary fieldwork and future research paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection has risen to the top of the global agenda in this era, but basic waste disposal and management concepts are widely disregarded. People all around the world are aware of the harmful consequences of inadequate waste management, yet the lack of implementation leads to chaos. The present study was therefore undertaken to gather baseline data on waste management practices among residents of Kharar, Punjab, India. A well-designed, unbiased, and pre-tested questionnaire method was used in the present study. A total sample of 152 residents has been randomly surveyed in urban and rural areas of Kharar and data was statistically analyzed. The analysis of the survey incorporated information on waste collection services, facilities, willingness to avail waste collection services, preference for services, social behavior towards waste sorting, and the most potential reason for improper waste dumping. The findings of the survey indicated that a fairly high number of respondents (71%) were aware of the adverse impacts of improper waste management. It was further scrutinized that more than half of respondents followed a good practice of storing the waste in storage bins instead of open dumping. In context to social behavior towards waste segregation or sorting, it was found that the most of respondents have a clear vision and understanding towards waste segregation but less than half of residents were not aware of color-coded bins which made it difficult for them to segregate the biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. The research highlighted the importance of raising public knowledge about the consequences of waste disposal practices. Committed environmental education will be a helpful attribute in inculcating an appropriate environmental culture among people. As the study revealed awareness of waste management in certain areas is lacking so there is an urgent need to rectify this gap in knowledge and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDS analysis of agro-food wastes such as rice husk ashes and egg shells has indicated the presence of high percentage of SiO2 and CaO along with some alkali and alkaline earth metal oxides, respectively. Hence, these agro-food waste ashes can be used as value added substances for extracting larnite and rankite phases. Solid state reaction method is used to synthesize larnite and rankite phases from agro-food waste ashes. XRD analysis is used to study the phase transformation. It is found that initially Ca2SiO4 is formed without the addition of any dopant in both the cases, since agro-food wastes contain some trace elements. Later on, upon prolonged heat treatment the stable phase gets converted into monoclinic Ca3Si2O7 phase. Both these phases can be used in opto-electronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorous doped ZnO (PZO) films were synthesized by RF magnetron sputtering using powder targets. Crystalline nature, morphology and chemical composition of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XRD showed hexagonal wurtzite structure with strong c-axis orientation for both doped and undoped films. FESEM study revealed uniform deposition of nanocrystalline thin films and XPS confirmed the P incorporation into ZnO lattice. The optical characterization showed that the average transmittance of PZO thin films is about 90% in visible region and optical band gap energy increased from 3.20 to 3.31 (eV) with the concentration of P doping. All thin films showed sharp absorption edge near the ∼370 nm. Photoluminescence (PL) properties showed significant changes in P-doped ZnO, providing evidence for existence several types of defects such as zinc interstitials (Zni), oxygen interstitials (Oi), zinc vacancy (VZn), oxygen vacancy (Vo) and oxygen anti-site defects (OZn) in the grown nanostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, ZnO nanotube arrays were synthesized from hydrothermally grown ZnO nanowires by selective chemical etching, using KCl as dissolving solution. Synthesized ZnO nanotube arrays were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible and Raman spectroscopy. Room temperature gas sensing properties of these arrays were investigated towards various toxic gases and the results were compared to that of ZnO nanowire arrays. Samples of ZnO nano tube arrays showed better sensor response to both H2S (4.2 for 5 ppm) and NO2 (13 for 1.5 ppm) as compared to samples of ZnO nanowires array which exhibited a sensor response of ~ 3.7 towards 5 ppm H2S and ~1 towards 1.5 ppm NO2. The enhancement of sensor response in nanotube arrays can be attributed to the hollow morphology of the ZnO NT which offers higher surface area. Oxygen adsorption in this case takes place on both inner and outer surfaces of the tube resulting in larger change in resistance.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zn/ZnO nanostructures such as nanowires and nanotetrapods have been prepared by carbothermal evaporation under flowing argon and oxygen gases. Morphology of ZnO structures has been controlled by changing the time/temperature of the inlet and flow rate of the oxygen gas. Mechanism for the growth of nanowires and tetrapods has been discussed. It is seen that the nanostructure of prepared material is basically determined by conditions prevailing during formation of nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dependence of the resistance of metal-oxides thin films on environment is generally used to detect toxic gases at ppm levels. In order to obtain a fast response and recovery, sensing films are heated to high temperatures (upto 300°C). The heater assembly used to raise the film temperature not only makes the sensor bulky but also consumes high power. In our efforts to reduce the size of sensors, we have deposited SnO2: CuO thin film directly onto low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates with integrated heater and temperature sensor. Sensor films were investigated for their compatibility with LTCC substrate and results show a stable response towards hydrogen sulphide gas for over a year. The stability of heater and thermistor embedded in LTCC substrate has also been monitored. The results of our study show films on LTCC substrate can be successfully applied in sensor technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WO3 thin films deposited using a simple method of vacuum evaporation has been investigated for their NH3 sensing properties. Effect of process parameters namely operating temperature, film thickness and amount of Au in the WO3 host matrix have been investigated and correlated with the observed sensitivity values to obtain the optimum sensor with improved sensing characteristics towards NH3. Pure WO3 films with thickness of 600 nm and the Au incorporated WO3 containing 0.034 wt.% Au were observed to exhibit a superior sensing property towards NH3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gas sensing characteristics of ZnO nanowires (NWs) coated with different thickness of CuO film have been investigated. ZnO NWs were grown on Si/SiO2 by hydrothermal method and CuO films were deposited by thermal evaporation. It has been found that ZnO NWs exhibit characteristic n-type behavior upto a CuO thickness of 50 nm; whereas at higher thickness the samples show p-type behavior (typical of CuO). At a CuO thickness of 10 nm the sensitivity towards H2S was 500% more as compared to pure ZnO NWs films. In addition, the operating temperature was reduced to 200°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical heterostructures consisting of W18O49 nanowires grown on CuO nanowires have been prepared and studied for their gas sensing properties. SEM images show that W18O49 initially grow as an shell over core CuO nanowire with protusion like branches whose thickness depends on oxygen partial pressure. These CuO:W18O49 structures were dielectrophoretically isolated and studied for their gas sensing properties. The results show potential of use of tailored hierarchical heterostructures for the fabrication of gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth ferrite (BFO) and Ag substituted Bismuth ferrite with perovskite structure have been synthesized using sol-gel method and investigated for their gas sensing properties. Single phase and rhombohedral crystal structure of the samples were confirmed from XRD pattern. Oxidation state of the elements is confirmed using X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Since Ag substituted Bismuth ferrite exhibited pronounced response to H2S gas as compared to other gases, H2S gas sensing properties of Bismuth ferrite (BFO) and Ag substituted Bismuth ferrite were investigated in detail. Bi0.9Ag0.1FeO3 (BAFO) exhibits enhanced sensitivity, quick response and selectivity towards H2S as compared to BFO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnO thin films were synthesized using RF magnetron sputtering, with simultaneous incorporation of Indium (In) and Gallium (Ga). The structural, optical, chemical composition and surface morphology of the pure and co-doped (IGZO) thin films were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Raman spectroscopy. XRD revealed that these films were oriented along c-axis with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The (002) diffraction peak in the co-doped sample was observed at 33.76° with a slight shift towards lower 2θ values as compared to pure ZnO. The surface morphology of the two thin films was observed to differ. For pure ZnO films, round grains were observed and for IGZO thin films round as well as rod type grains were observed. All thin films synthesized show excellent optical properties with more than 90% transmission in the visible region and band gap of the films is observed to decrease with co-doping. The co doping of In and Ga is therefore expected to provide a broad range optical and physical properties of ZnO thin films for a variety of optoelectronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RF sputtered SnO2 films were investigated for their response for various toxic gases (CO, NO, NH3, H2S, CO2, Cl2). These films were found to be highly sensitive and selective towards H2S. H2S gas sensing characteristics of these films have been studied as a function of temperature and concentration. These films were found to show maximum sensitivity (S = 54 for 10 ppm H2S) at a temperature of 150°C. Further, at this temperature, sensor response is found to vary linearly with concentration over a wide range from 500 ppb to 500 ppm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kelvin Probe (KP) studies have been carried out on CuO:ZnO nanowires random networks before and after H2S exposure. The results show that on exposure to H2S, the work function of the CuO:ZnO NWs increases by 200 meV. Using conductance and KP data, both the components of work function i.e. band bending and electron affinity has been obtained. It was observed that the affinity values changed substantially with H2S gas exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth ferrite (BFO) and Ag substituted Bismuth ferrite with perovskite structure have been synthesized using sol-gel method and investigated for their gas sensing properties. Single phase and rhombohedral crystal structure of the samples were confirmed from XRD pattern. Oxidation state of the elements is confirmed using X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Since Ag substituted Bismuth ferrite exhibited pronounced response to H2S gas as compared to other gases, H2S gas sensing properties of Bismuth ferrite (BFO) and Ag substituted Bismuth ferrite were investigated in detail. Bi0.9Ag0.1FeO3 (BAFO) exhibits enhanced sensitivity, quick response and selectivity towards H2S as compared to BFO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]