Improvement of recoverability of a nanoporous energy absorption system by using chemical admixture

In this paper, the behaviors of nanoporous energy absorption systems subjected to cyclic loadings are investigated. The systems consist of hydrophobic mesoporous silica particles immersed in aqueous solutions of sodium chloride (NaCl). In the first loading-unloading loop, increasing NaCl concentration, c, causes only slight increases in infiltration pressure and energy absorption efficiency. In the following loops, however, the system behaviors are strongly dependent on c. As c increases from 0% to 25.9 wt. %, the recoverability is improved by a factor of 3, indicating clearly that the addition of NaCl has a beneficial effect to promoting the outflow in the nanoenvironment. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.