Publications related to Expansive clay

Advances in heterogeneous catalysis for the synthesis of polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers

Our society is engaged in a major shift towards more sustainable industries. The required transition from fossils to renewable resources with low greenhouse gas emission is specifically challenging in the transportation sector where high thermal efficiency ...

EPFL2020

Impact of Mineralogical Composition on Geotechnical Properties of Opalinus Clay

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Eleonora Crisci

Opalinus Clay is the selected host geomaterial for the construction of underground geological disposals for radioactive waste in Switzerland. The formation has been studied in several sites, i.e. the Mont Terri laboratory, and several boreholes in the nort ...

2019

The influence of different hydro-mechanical paths on final properties of saturated MX80 bentonite samples

Lyesse Laloui, Alessio Ferrari, Patrycja Ewelina Baryla

Compacted bentonite is considered to be used for deep geological nuclear waste disposal due to its isolation properties such as low permeability, solute retention and swelling pressure. To ensure that these properties will remain favourable throughout the ...

2018

Investigation of the Intrinsic Permeability of MX-80 Bentonite through a 4-Scale Analysis of Its Fabric

Lyesse Laloui, Etienne André Cassini

MX-80 granular bentonite is expected to be used as a buffer material for high level nuclear waste storage in Switzerland. This material is composed of 85% of smectite clay and exhibits a particular structure with four different scales. MX-80 macroscopic pr ...

American Society of Civil Engineers2017

Release kinetics of volatiles from smectite clay minerals

Pascal Clausen

The focus of this thesis was on the mechanisms of release of volatile molecules from smectite clay minerals. The weight loss was monitored by thermogravimetry, differential calorimetry, and mass spectrometry under isothermal conditions and under ramp tempe ...

EPFL2009

Adsorption of low-molecular-weight molecules on the surface of a sodium smectite clay: an ab initio study

John Christopher Plummer, Wanda Andreoni, Pascal Clausen, Alessandro Curioni

We present a study of the adsorption of single molecules of volatiles, such as water, ethanol, ethyl acetate, pyridine, toluene, and n-octane, on the dry surface of a smectite clay using a series of calculations based on density functional theory. Our clay ...

2009

Impact of small amounts of swelling clays on the physical properties of debris-flow-like granular materials. Implications for the study of alpine debris flow

Paul Bowen, Pascal Boivin, Eric Bardou

The effect of the small fraction of clays on the rheological behaviour of alpine debris flow is poorly understood. This is partly due to the complexity of the debris flow mineralogy and the broad particle size distribution. This study has investigated this ...

2007

Correlating the rheological and mechanical response of polyurethane nanocomposites containing hyperbranched polymers

John Christopher Plummer, Marlene Rodlert

Cast polyurethane thermosets have been modified with randomly oriented exfoliated and intercalated montmorillonite clay usinghyperbranched polymers (HBP) as reactive additives to promote dispersion of the clay platelets. The influence of the clay content o ...

2005