This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2016.04.01

We have fabricated a symmetric electrochemical capacitor with high energy and power densities based on a composite of graphene foam (GF) with ∼80 wt% of manganese oxide (MnO₂) deposited by hydrothermal synthesis. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements showed the presence of nanocrystalline MnO₂ on the GF, while scanning and transmission electron microscopies showed needle-like manganese oxide coated and anchored onto the surface of graphene. Electrochemical measurements of the composite electrode gave a specific capacitance of 240 Fg⁻¹ at a current density of 0.1 Ag⁻¹ for symmetric supercapacitors using a two-electrode configuration. A maximum energy density of 8.3 Whkg⁻¹ was obtained, with power density of 20 kWkg⁻¹ and no capacitance loss after 1000 cycles. GF is an excellent support for pseudo-capacitive oxide materials such as MnO₂, and the composite electrode provided a high energy density due to a combination of double-layer and redox capacitance mechanisms.

This paper presents the development of Bauxite residue (red mud) based cement composite mortar blocks for applications in pavement construction. The experimental techniques considered include the structural, thermal, morphological and microscopy analysis of the raw bauxite and red mud samples calcined at 800 °C. Composite mortar blocks of different batch formulations were produced and their physicochemical properties were investigated. The results show that the compressive strength of the as-prepared composite mortar blocks increased by ∼40% compared to the type M mortar strength of ∼2500 N/mm2. The load bearing applications of the composites are discussed to influence the adoption of the calcined red mud as supplement in the production of low-cost Portland cement based composite mortar blocks for the construction industry

The purpose of this dataset is to provide a comparison between synthesized and commercial 4A and 13X type zeolites. Metakaolin produced from the calcination of beneficiated kaolin at 750 °C for 4 h was dealuminated using sulphuric acid to get the required silica to alumina ratio for the zeolite synthesis. Zeolite 4A and 13X samples were characterized along-side with the commercial variants using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. These analyses revealed that, the zeolites synthesized are of comparatively acceptable quality. The pore size of 120.859 nm, pore volume of 0.0065 cm3/g and surface area of 22 m2/g were obtained from BET analyses for zeolite 4A synthesized from kaolin, while the commercial zeolite 4A used as control gave pore size of 58.143 nm, pore volume of 0.2462 cm3/g and surface area of 559.13 m2/g. In the same vein, the pore size of 10.5059 nm, pore volume of 0.135847 cm3/g and surface area of 324.584 m2/g were obtained from BET analyses for zeolite 13X synthesized from kaolin, while the commercial zeolite 13X gave pore size of 7.2752 nm, pore volume of 0.135951 cm3/g and surface area of 310.0906 m2/g.