Due to the rapid increase in environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources, the focus of researchers is shifted from economic to socio-environmental problems. Blockchain is a disruptive technology that has the potential to restructure the entire supply chain for sustainable practices. Blockchain is a distributed ledger that provides a digital database for recording all the transactions of the supply chain. The main purpose of this research is to explore the literature relevant to blockchain for sustainable supply chain management. The focus of this review is on the sustainability of the blockchain-based supply chain concerning environmental conservation, social equality, and governance effectiveness. Using a systematic literature review, a total of 136 articles were evaluated and categorized according to the triple bottom-line aspects of sustainability. Challenges and barriers during blockchain adoption in different industrial sectors such as aviation, shipping, agriculture and food, manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical, and textile industries were critically examined. This study has not only explored the economic, environmental, and social impacts of blockchain but also highlighted the emerging trends in a circular supply chain with current developments of advanced technologies along with their critical success factors. Furthermore, research areas and gaps in the existing research are discussed, and future research directions are suggested. The findings of this study show that blockchain has the potential to revolutionize the entire supply chain from a sustainability perspective. Blockchain will not only improve the economic sustainability of the supply chain through effective traceability, enhanced visibility through information sharing, transparency in processes, and decentralization of the entire structure but also will help in achieving environmental and social sustainability through resource efficiency, accountability, smart contracts, trust development, and fraud prevention. The study will be helpful for managers and practitioners to understand the procedure of blockchain adoption and to increase the probability of its successful implementation to develop a sustainable supply chain network.

Two‐dimensional unconfined flow and heat transfer across a long tapered trapezoidal bluff body are investigated for the range Re = 1 to 150 (thereby covering both steady and unsteady periodic regimes) and Pr = 0.7 (air). A number of engineering parameters, e.g. drag and lift coefficients, Strouhal and Nusselt numbers, and others, is calculated for the above range of conditions. No flow separation occurs from the surface of the trapezoidal cylinder for the range Re ≤ 5; however, flow starts to separate from the rear surface of the cylinder at Re = 6. Therefore, the onset of flow separation exits between Re = 5 and 6. The critical value of the Reynolds number (i.e. transition from steady to unsteady) exists between Re = 46 and 47. The drag coefficient decreases with increasing Reynolds number in the steady regime; however, the drag increases with Reynolds number in the unsteady regime. The Strouhal number and the average Nusselt number increase with increasing value of the Reynolds number. Finally, the simple correlation for the average Nusselt number is obtained in the steady flow regime. © 2012 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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An easy process to produce ZnO sphere-decorated CNT (ZSDC) fibers was established.

This is the first study that describes how semiconducting ZnO can act as an alignment agent in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) fibers. Because of the alignment of CNTs through the ZnO nanoparticles linking groups, the CNTs inside the fibers were equally distributed by the attraction of bonding forces into sheetlike bunches, such that any applied mechanical breaking load was equally distributed to each CNT inside the fiber, making them mechanically robust against breaking loads. Although semiconductive ZnO nanoparticles were used here, the electrical conductivity of the aligned CNT fiber was comparable to bare CNT fibers, suggesting that the total electron movement through the CNTs inside the aligned CNT fiber is not disrupted by the insulating behavior of ZnO nanoparticles. A high degree of control over the electrical conductivity was also demonstrated by the ZnO nanoparticles, working as electron movement bridges between CNTs in the longitudinal and crosswise directions. Well-organized surface interface chemistry was also observed, which supports the notion of CNT alignment inside the fibers. This research represents a new area of surface interface chemistry for interfacially linked CNTs and ZnO nanomaterials with improved mechanical properties and electrical conductivity within aligned CNT fibers.