Materials, Volume 7, Issue 4

X-ray micro-computer aided tomography (μ-CT), together with optical microscopy and imaging, have been applied to the study of six moldavite samples. These techniques enabled a complete characterization to be made of the textural features of both Muon...

Well-ordered 3D mesoporous indium tin oxide (ITO) films obtained by a templated sol-gel route are discussed as conductive porous current collectors. This paper explores the use of such films modified by electrochemical deposition of zinc oxide (ZnO)...

The synthesis of zeolites from South African coal fly ash has been deemed a viable solution to the growing economical strain caused by the disposal of ash in the country. Two synthesis routes have been studied thus far namely the 2-step method and th...

Confinement and surface effects provided by nanoparticles have been shown to produce changes in polymer molecules affecting their macroscopic viscosity. Nanoparticles may induce rearrangements in polymer conformation with an increase in free volume s...

Surface modification with oxide nanostructures is one of the efficient ways to improve physical or biomedical properties of shape memory alloys. This work reports a fabrication of highly ordered Ti-Ni-O nanotube arrays on Ti-Ni alloy substrates throu...

Fullerene derivatives have been widely used for conventional acceptor materials in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) because of their high electron mobility. However, there are also considerable drawbacks for use in OPVs, such as negligible light absorpti...

Energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) is a technique for determining the distribution of elements in various materials. Here, we report a protocol for high-spatial-resolution X-ray elemental imaging and quantification in plant tissues at subce...

The main strategy to reduce the environmental impact of the concrete industry is to reuse the waste materials. This research has considered the combination of cement replacement by industrial by-products, and natural coarse aggregate substitution by...

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of microporous materials that possess framework flexibility, large surface areas, “tailor-made” framework functionalities, and tunable pore sizes. These features empower MOFs superior performances and b...

Gelatin has been used for many years in pharmaceutical formulation, cell culture and tissue engineering on account of its excellent biocompatibility, ease of processing and availability at low cost. Over the last decade gelatin has been extensively e...

Micro cracks occurring in concrete around tensile rebar is well known latent damage phenomenon. These micro cracks develop, and can be detected after reaching the surface of the concrete. Detection of these cracks before they are fully formed is pref...

The accurate characterization of nanolayered systems is an essential topic for today’s developments in many fields of material research. Thin high-k layers and gate stacks are technologically required for the design of current and future electronic d...

Coagulation of cement particles is an inevitable phenomenon of fresh cement-based materials undergoing solidification. Coagulation can be classified into two types, reversible flocculation and irreversible coagulation, wherein microstructural change...

To study the variation of the mechanical behavior of binary aluminum copper alloys with respect to their microstructure, a numerical simulation of their granular structure was carried out. The microstructures are created by a repeated inclusion of so...

The continuing quest for cost-effective and complex shaped aluminum castings with fewer defects for applications in the automotive industries has aroused the interest in rheological high pressure die casting (R-HPDC). A new machine, forced convection...

To enhance the hemocompatibility of silk fibroin fabric as biomedical material, polyelectrolytes architectures have been assembled through the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique on silk fibroin fabric (SFF). In particular, 1.5 and 2.5 bilayer of opposite...

The synthesis of nanostructured anionic-surfactant-templated mesoporous silica (AMS) recently appeared as a new strategy for the formation of nanostructured silica based materials. This method is based on the use of anionic surfactants together with...

Rammed earth is a sustainable material with low embodied energy. However, its development as a building material requires a better evaluation of its moisture-thermal buffering abilities and its mechanical behavior. Both of these properties are known...

Using liquid crystalline self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals, we achieve long-range alignment of anisotropic metal nanoparticles in colloidal nanocrystal dispersions that are then used to deposit thin structured films with ordering features highl...

The aim of this paper is to find out new alternative materials that respond to sustainable development criteria. For this purpose, an original utilization of straw for the design of lightweight aggregate concretes is proposed. Four types of straw wer...

Anatase nanoparticles synthesized by the sol-gel method were surface-functionalized with long alkyl chain coupling agents as compatibilizers for a nonpolar environment, containing different anchor groups for surface interaction namely phosphonate (d...

The current status of High K dielectrics in Very Large Scale Integrated circuit (VLSI) manufacturing for leading edge Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) applications is summarized along with the dep...

A novel strategy to fabricate a hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) sensor was developed by using platinum (Pt) electrodes modified with multi-wall carbon nanotube-platinum nanoparticle nanohybrids (MWCNTs/Pt nanohybrids). The process to synthesize MWCNTs/Pt na...

We study spin relaxation in n-type bulk GaAs, due to the Dyakonov–Perel mechanism, using ensemble Monte Carlo methods. Our results confirm that spin relaxation time increases with the electronic density in the regime of moderate electronic concentrat...

This study examines the feasibility of catalytically pretreated biochar derived from the dried exocarp or fruit peel of mangostene with Group I alkali metal hydroxide (KOH). The pretreated char was activated in the presence of carbon dioxide gas flow...

Zinc oxide can be called a multifunctional material thanks to its unique physical and chemical properties. The first part of this paper presents the most important methods of preparation of ZnO divided into metallurgical and chemical methods. The mec...

The high temperature corrosion behavior of sputtered nanocrystalline K38 coating with and without yttrium addition under mixed molten salt film in air was investigated. Accelerated corrosion occurred on the coating without yttrium (Y) addition locall...

Oxidation of ferritic/martensitic steel P92 was investigated in pure oxygen and in pure steam at 600–800 °C by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results sho...

Light scattering by semiconductor nanoparticles has been shown to be more complex than was believed until now. Both electric and magnetic responses emerge in the visible range. In addition, directional effects on light scattering of these nanoparticl...

Inorganic/organic hybrid solar cells have attracted a lot of interest due to their potential in combining the advantages of both components. To understand the key issues in association with photoinduced charge separation/transportation processes and...

A comprehensive study on the ternary dielectric, LaGdO₃, synthesized and qualified in our laboratory as a novel high-k dielectric material for logic and memory device applications in terms of its excellent features that include a high linear dielectr...

Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA) method for the preparation of mesoporous titanium dioxide materials is reviewed. The versatility of EISA method for the rapid and facile synthesis of TiO₂ thin films and powders is highlighted. Non-ionic surfa...

In this study, a three-dimensional continuum percolation model was developed based on a Monte Carlo simulation approach to investigate the percolation behavior of an electrically insulating matrix reinforced with conductive nano-platelet fillers. The...

We fabricated zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) with Al-doped ZnO (AZO) seed layers and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employed the ZnO NRs between a TiO₂ photoelectrode and a fluorine-doped SnO₂ (FTO) electrode. The growth rate of the NRs was stro...

Possible relations between the native oxide film formed spontaneously on the AZ31 and AZ61 magnesium alloy substrates with different surface finish, the chemistry of the outer surface of the conversion coatings that grows after their subsequent immer...

The pozzolanic activity of the spent catalyst produced by fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) has been studied by various methods in recent years. However, no quick and easy method has been reported for this activity based on the associated studies. In th...

Bismuth telluride and its alloys are widely used as materials for thermoelectric refrigeration. They are also the best materials for use in thermoelectric generators when the temperature of the heat source is moderate. The dimensionless figure of mer...

Until now, several attempts have been made to obtain axicons by using liquid crystals. Previous results had always a considerable deviation from the linear response and the resulting aperture is square. In addition, classical fabrications methods are...

Despite many advances in tissue engineering, there are still significant challenges associated with restructuring, repairing, or replacing damaged tissue in the body. Currently, a major obstacle has been trying to develop a scaffold for cartilage tis...

Time-temperature-precipitation (TTP) diagrams deliver important material data, such as temperature and time ranges critical for precipitation during the quenching step of the age hardening procedure. Although the quenching step is continuous, isother...

The presented report focuses on an in-depth detailed characterization of immobilized methyltrioxorhenium (MTO), giving catalysts with a wide spectra of utilization. The range of mesoporous materials with different SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratios, namely mesoporous...

Polythiophene (PT) is one of the widely used donor materials for solution-processable polymer solar cells (PSCs). Much progress in PT-based PSCs can be attributed to the design of novel PTs exhibiting intense and broad visible absorption with high ch...

Propylene is one type of plastic that is widely used in our everyday life. This study focuses on the identification and justification of the optimum process parameters for polypropylene production in a novel pilot plant based fluidized bed reactor. T...

Using ammonium bicarbonate (AB) particles as a porogen, chitosan (CS)-based hemostatic porous sponges were prepared in supercritical carbon dioxide due to its low viscosity, small surface tension, and good compatibility with organic solvent. Fourier...

Adequate selection of material constituents and test methods are necessary for workability specifications and performance of hardened concrete. An experimental program was performed to evaluate the suitability of various test methods for workability...

Detection of tumor markers is important for cancer diagnosis. Field-effect transistors (FETs) are a promising method for the label-free detection of trace amounts of biomolecules. However, detection of electrically charged proteins using antibody-imm...

In this study, the Bioeutectic^® blocks were inserted into the critical size defects of eight rabbits, using both tibiae, and the physical and chemical nature of the remodeled interface between the Bioeutectic^® implants and the surrounding bone were p...