Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS Simulations
The focus of the present study is on fibre-reinforced geopolymer composites, whose optimization and application necessarily need a detailed chemical characterization at the micro-nanoscale. In this regard, many geopolymer composites presenting micro and nanometric architectures pose a challenge for...
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doaj-e9c29dd6ad294b028b28a6f6c6cce7a72021-08-26T13:56:21ZengMDPI AGJournal of Composites Science2504-477X2021-08-01521421410.3390/jcs5080214Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS SimulationsDaniele Moro0Gianfranco Ulian1Giovanni Valdrè2Centro di Ricerca Interdisciplinare di Biomineralogia, Cristallografia e Biomateriali, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna “Alma Mater Studiorum”, Piazza P. San Donato, 1-40126 Bologna, ItalyCentro di Ricerca Interdisciplinare di Biomineralogia, Cristallografia e Biomateriali, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna “Alma Mater Studiorum”, Piazza P. San Donato, 1-40126 Bologna, ItalyCentro di Ricerca Interdisciplinare di Biomineralogia, Cristallografia e Biomateriali, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna “Alma Mater Studiorum”, Piazza P. San Donato, 1-40126 Bologna, ItalyThe focus of the present study is on fibre-reinforced geopolymer composites, whose optimization and application necessarily need a detailed chemical characterization at the micro-nanoscale. In this regard, many geopolymer composites presenting micro and nanometric architectures pose a challenge for scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDS) quantification, because of several potential sources of errors. For this reason, the present work reports a SEM-EDS Monte Carlo approach to carefully investigate the complex physical phenomena related to the cited quantification errors. The model used for this theoretical analysis is a simplified fibre-reinforced geopolymer with basalt-derived glass fibres immersed in a potassium-poly(sialate-siloxo) matrix. The simulated SEM-EDS spectra showed a strong influence on the measured X-ray intensity of (i) the sample nano-to-micro architecture, (ii) the electron beam probing energy and (iii) the electron probe-sample-EDS detector relative position. The results showed that, compared to a bulk material, the X-ray intensity for a nano-micrometric sized specimen may give rise to potential underestimation and/or overestimation of the elemental composition of the sample. The proposed Monte Carlo approach indicated the optimal instrumental setup depending on the sample and on the specific SEM-EDS equipment here considered.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-477X/5/8/214fibre-reinforced geopolymer compositesbasalt-derived glass fibresSEM-EDS Monte Carlonano-microanalysis |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Daniele Moro Gianfranco Ulian Giovanni Valdrè |
spellingShingle |
Daniele Moro Gianfranco Ulian Giovanni Valdrè Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS Simulations Journal of Composites Science fibre-reinforced geopolymer composites basalt-derived glass fibres SEM-EDS Monte Carlo nano-microanalysis |
author_facet |
Daniele Moro Gianfranco Ulian Giovanni Valdrè |
author_sort |
Daniele Moro |
title |
Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS Simulations |
title_short |
Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS Simulations |
title_full |
Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS Simulations |
title_fullStr |
Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS Simulations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Composites Micro-Nanochemistry by SEM-EDS Simulations |
title_sort |
fibre-reinforced geopolymer composites micro-nanochemistry by sem-eds simulations |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Journal of Composites Science |
issn |
2504-477X |
publishDate |
2021-08-01 |
description |
The focus of the present study is on fibre-reinforced geopolymer composites, whose optimization and application necessarily need a detailed chemical characterization at the micro-nanoscale. In this regard, many geopolymer composites presenting micro and nanometric architectures pose a challenge for scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDS) quantification, because of several potential sources of errors. For this reason, the present work reports a SEM-EDS Monte Carlo approach to carefully investigate the complex physical phenomena related to the cited quantification errors. The model used for this theoretical analysis is a simplified fibre-reinforced geopolymer with basalt-derived glass fibres immersed in a potassium-poly(sialate-siloxo) matrix. The simulated SEM-EDS spectra showed a strong influence on the measured X-ray intensity of (i) the sample nano-to-micro architecture, (ii) the electron beam probing energy and (iii) the electron probe-sample-EDS detector relative position. The results showed that, compared to a bulk material, the X-ray intensity for a nano-micrometric sized specimen may give rise to potential underestimation and/or overestimation of the elemental composition of the sample. The proposed Monte Carlo approach indicated the optimal instrumental setup depending on the sample and on the specific SEM-EDS equipment here considered. |
topic |
fibre-reinforced geopolymer composites basalt-derived glass fibres SEM-EDS Monte Carlo nano-microanalysis |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2504-477X/5/8/214 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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