Materials, Volume 2, Issue 3

The development of new materials for biological application requires in vitro testing of cell/surface interactions. Cell adhesion and spreading are difficult to quantify as most materials are non-transparent and transmission microscopy cannot be used...

Perovskite-type N-substituted SrTiO₃ thin films with a preferential (001) orientation were grown by pulsed laser deposition on (001)-oriented MgO and LaAlO₃ substrates. Application of N₂ or ammonia using a synchronized reactive gas pulse produces SrT...

Ion implantation, a common technology in semiconductor processing, has been applied to biomaterials since the 1960s. Using energetic ion bombardment, a general term which includes conventional ion implantation plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII)...

Technologically useful reversible thermochromic materials can be prepared using very simple polymer-embedded nanostructures. In particular, silver nanoparticles capped by long-chain alkyl-thiolate molecules (i.e., Agx(SC_nH2_n+1)_y, with n > 10) spontan...

Photo-induced phase transitions are characterized by the transformation from phase A to phase B through the absorption of photons. We have investigated the mechanism of the photo-induced phase transitions of four different ternary systems C_iE₄/alkane...

Effect of porosity on grain growth is both the most frequent and technologically important situation encountered in ceramic materials. Generally this effect occurs during sintering, however, for nuclear fuels it also becomes very important under reac...

This review compiles the work performed in the field of organic solid-state lasers with the hole-transporting organic molecule N,N´-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N´-diphenylbenzidine system (TPD), in view of improving active laser material properties. The op...

Amorphous Spherical Carbon with Nitrogen (SCN) active carbon has been prepared by carbonization of poly(vinylpyridine-divinylbenzene) (PVPDVB) copolymer. The PVPDVB dehydrogenation copolymer has been quantum chemically (QC) simulated using cluster an...

Nanostructured materials lie at the heart of fundamental advances in efficient energy storage and/or conversion, in which surface processes and transport kinetics play determining roles. Nanocomposite materials will have a further enhancement in prop...

A new nanostructured composite film based on thiol gold nanoparticles dispersed in polycarbonate and prepared by evaporating a solution of 1-dodecanthiol gold nanoparticles and polycarbonate was developed for applications as optical lenses. Lenses wi...

A shape memory composite (SMC) was fabricated with a shape memory alloy (SMA) and a shape memory polymer (SMP), and its two-way bending deformation and recovery force were investigated. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: (1) two kinds...

Poly(hydroxyalkanoate) (PHA), which is produced from renewable carbon resources by many microorganisms, is an environmentally compatible polymeric material and can be processed into films and fibers. Biodegradation of PHA material occurs due to the a...

Metal phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acids, metal phthalocyanine octacarboxylic acids, metal octakis(hexyloxymethyl)phthalocyanines, and metal anthraquinocyanines have been synthesized. Then, zinc bis(1,4-didecylbenzo)-bis(3,4-pyrido)porphyrazines, the...

For a comprehensive study of Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) surfaces, topographical data obtained by a contact-free optical method (chromatic aberration confocal imaging) were systematically acquired to characterise these surfaces with regard to their...

Concentration gradients of soluble and matrix-bound guidance cues in the extracellular matrix direct cell growth in native tissues and are of great interest for design of biomedical scaffolds and on implant surfaces. The focus of this review is to de...

Transmetalation between [CpFe(CO)₂I] and arylzinc iodide-lithium chloride complexes proceeds in the presence of catalytic amounts of palladium acetate and N,N,N’,N’-tetramethyl-1,2-cyclohexanediamine to yield the corresponding aryliron complexes [CpF...

This review aims to present recent advances in the synthesis and structure characterization as well as the properties of polymer layered silicate nanocomposites. The advent of polymer layered silicate nanocomposites has revolutionized research into p...

We have carried out an in vitro study on the interactions of human macrophages (J111 cell line) with different scaffolds made of type I and II collagen, isolated from horse tendon and from horse articular and trachea cartilage, in order to assess gro...

Nowadays it is commonly considered that high damping materials which have both the good mechanical properties as structural materials and the high damping capacity for vibration damping are the most direct vibration damping solution. In metals and al...

This study evaluated physical and mechanical properties of experimental strandboard panels with random flake alignment manufactured from eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) logs. Panels were made at two density levels of 0.65 g/cm³ and 0.78 g/...

The need for clinically relevant in vitro tests of dental materials is widely recognized. Nearly all dental impression materials are introduced into the mouth just after mixing and allowed to set in contact with the oral tissues. Under these conditio...

In recent years bio-based polymer composites have been the subject of many scientific and research projects, as well as many commercial programs. Growing global environmental and social concern, the high rate of depletion of petroleum resources and n...

Thermoelectric materials are sometimes prepared using a sintering process in which the achievement of a high density is often one of the objectives. However, it has recently been shown that the introduction of a highly porous material is desirable in...

Plywood manufactured from thin veneer sheets of different species is one of the most traditional structural composite panels. The objective of this study was to produce experimental plywood panels using a temperature of 100 °C, which is 10 to 30% low...

Water-soluble, commercially-available poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers are highly-branched, well-defined, monodisperse macromolecules having an ethylenediamine core and varying surface functional groups. Dendrimers are being employed in an increas...

Efficient and simple syntheses of [(n-C₄H₉)₄N]₄[a-Mo₈O₂₆] (I) and [(n-C₄H₉)₄N]₂[Mo₂O₇] (II) from MoO₃ and aqueous [(n-C₄H₉)₄N]OH are described. The yield is 72% for I and 73% for II.

An electrochemically-active high-temperature form of LiCoO₂ (HT-LiCoO₂)is prepared by thermally decomposing its constituent metal-nitrates at 700 ºC. The synthetic conditions have been optimized to achieve improved performance with the HT-LiCoO₂catho...

The use ofdegradable polymers in medicine largely started around the mid 20^th century with their initial use as in vivo resorbing sutures. Thorough knowledge on this topic as been gained since then and the potential applications for these polymers we...

Bone tissue engineering is an emerging interdisciplinary field in Science, combining expertise in medicine, material science and biomechanics. Hard tissue engineering research is focused mainly in two areas, osteo and dental clinical applications. Th...

Cork is a material which has been used for mankind for the last 5,000 years and it is a strategic material used for multiple applications, from wine bottles to aeronautics. Many of current cork materials are composites, in particular cork materials f...

During the W₁/O phase (in the W₁/O/W₂ process) of protein microencapsulation within poly-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA), hydrophobic interfaces are expanded where interfacial adsorption occurs followed by protein unfolding and aggregation. Spectroscopic...

The aim of this work was to estimate the biodegradation of a co-extruded starch/poly(lactic acid) polymeric material using a vermiculite based inert solid medium which could simulate compost medium and enable us to achieve complete carbon balances. A...

A study on the effects of controlling and operating parameters for a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell on the dynamic phenomena during the loading-up process is presented. The effect of the four parameters of load-up amplitudes and rates, oper...

Polyurethane films have potential applications in medicine, especially for packaging implantable medical devices. Although polyether-urethanes have superior mechanical properties and are biocompatible, achieving water resistance is still a challenge....

We investigate the dark and illuminated current density-voltage (J/V) characteristics of poly(2-methoxy-5-(2^’-ethylhexyloxy)1-4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV)/single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) composite photovoltaic cells. Using an exponential ban...