The thermal behavior of bituminous coal, coconut shell, and their blends during pyrolysis process was investigated in this study. The experiments were conducted at different weight percent of coconut shell (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 wt%) and temperatures ranging from 30°C to 900°C. The DTG data for fuel blends showed additive profiles that reflected behavior of the individual fuel. When coconut shell was mixed with coal under weight percent of 20–50%, the nature of peaks in DTG profiles changed from higher to lower in the third stage reaction, shifting devolatilization temperature from 400°C to 450°C. This led to a decrease in the maximum rate of mass loss from 10.6% to 7.4%/min. However, the 10 wt% blend caused a slight increase in the maximum rate of mass loss from 10.6% to 11%/min. In addition, co-pyrolysis kinetics of fuel blends indicated that the blending of coconut shell with coal at BBR higher than 30% can increase the value of activation energy and induce slow pyrolysis of blends.

An extensive investigation on the microstructural evolution of nanocrystalline–amorphous laminated alloys (NALAs) by molecular dynamics simulations and mechanistic analysis have been conducted to apprehend the interplay of complex phenomena governing structural changes in this alloy under neutron irradiation. It was discovered from the evolution profiles of free volumes, atomic unfilled spaces, and irradiation-induced vacancies that the profound structural response of the NALA was orchestrated by the rapid and spontaneous recovery of free volumes that indicate a self-healing ability in the amorphous zone, while the phenomenon of geometric atomic reconstitution in local structures governs the effective self-healing capacity for annihilated nanocrystal regions. Furthermore, a distinctive, self-migration/diffusion capture dynamics for the annihilation of defects by phase boundaries was discovered as an effective self-healing mechanism in NALAs. These findings will potentially facilitate the development of advanced nuclear materials with high irradiation resistance.