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Materials, Volume 9, Issue 7

2016 July - 111 articles

Cover Story: Magnetism in Electronically Imbalanced Clathrate-like Compounds
The transition metals Fe, Co, and Ni substitute Cu in a clathrate-like compound Eu7Cu44As23 to modify its magnetic properties while keeping its crystal symmetry intact. Unlike typical clathrates, Eu7Cu44As23 is an electronically imbalanced compound allowing a wide range of heterovalent substitutions. Spins of the Eu2+ (4f7) cations that reside in oversized cages of the framework tend to order ferromagnetically; however, Ni-substituted compound shows an increase in TC to 25 K, whereas substitution of Fe for Cu suppresses ordering. View the paper
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Articles (111)

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
138 Citations
12,156 Views
16 Pages

Hydration of Hybrid Alkaline Cement Containing a Very Large Proportion of Fly Ash: A Descriptive Model

  • Inés Garcia-Lodeiro,
  • Shane Donatello,
  • Ana Fernández-Jiménez and
  • Ángel Palomo

22 July 2016

In hybrid alkaline fly ash cements, a new generation of binders, hydration, is characterized by features found in both ordinary portland cement (OPC) hydration and the alkali activation of fly ash (AAFA). Hybrid alkaline fly ash cements typically hav...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
6,155 Views
13 Pages

22 July 2016

Complex permittivity of conducting polypyrrole (PPy)-coated Nylon-Lycra textiles is measured using a free space transmission measurement technique over the frequency range of 1–18 GHz. The aging of microwave dielectric properties and reflection, tran...

  • Article
  • Open Access
43 Citations
12,346 Views
16 Pages

Design and Fabrication of a Precision Template for Spine Surgery Using Selective Laser Melting (SLM)

  • Di Wang,
  • Yimeng Wang,
  • Jianhua Wang,
  • Changhui Song,
  • Yongqiang Yang,
  • Zimian Zhang,
  • Hui Lin,
  • Yongqiang Zhen and
  • Suixiang Liao

22 July 2016

In order to meet the clinical requirements of spine surgery, this paper proposes the fabrication of the customized template for spine surgery through computer-aided design. A 3D metal printing-selective laser melting (SLM) technique was employed to d...

  • Article
  • Open Access
123 Citations
14,263 Views
17 Pages

Influence of Network Structure on Glass Transition Temperature of Elastomers

  • Katarzyna Bandzierz,
  • Louis Reuvekamp,
  • Jerzy Dryzek,
  • Wilma Dierkes,
  • Anke Blume and
  • Dariusz Bielinski

22 July 2016

It is generally believed that only intermolecular, elastically-effective crosslinks influence elastomer properties. The role of the intramolecular modifications of the polymer chains is marginalized. The aim of our study was the characterization of t...

  • Article
  • Open Access
33 Citations
8,925 Views
18 Pages

21 July 2016

The aim of this work was to evaluate the self-healing behaviors of bitumen using microcapsules containing rejuvenator by a modified fracture healing–refracture method through a repetitive tension test. Microcapsules had mean size values of 10, 20 and...

  • Article
  • Open Access
26 Citations
8,491 Views
17 Pages

Gas Diffusion Electrodes Manufactured by Casting Evaluation as Air Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC)

  • Sandipam Srikanth,
  • Deepak Pant,
  • Xochitl Dominguez-Benetton,
  • Inge Genné,
  • Karolien Vanbroekhoven,
  • Philippe Vermeiren and
  • Yolanda Alvarez-Gallego

21 July 2016

One of the most intriguing renewable energy production methods being explored currently is electrical power generation by microbial fuel cells (MFCs). However, to make MFC technology economically feasible, cost efficient electrode manufacturing proce...

  • Article
  • Open Access
59 Citations
7,921 Views
19 Pages

21 July 2016

In this article, ultrasonic guided wave propagation and interaction with the rivet hole cracks has been formulated using closed-form analytical solution while the local damage interaction, scattering, and mode conversion have been obtained from finit...

  • Article
  • Open Access
21 Citations
7,514 Views
17 Pages

Fiberglass Grids as Sustainable Reinforcement of Historic Masonry

  • Luca Righetti,
  • Vikki Edmondson,
  • Marco Corradi and
  • Antonio Borri

21 July 2016

Fiber-reinforced composite (FRP) materials have gained an increasing success, mostly for strengthening, retrofitting and repair of existing historic masonry structures and may cause a significant enhancement of the mechanical properties of the reinfo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
21 Citations
11,215 Views
12 Pages

Thermal Stability and Flammability of Styrene-Butadiene Rubber-Based (SBR) Ceramifiable Composites

  • Rafał Anyszka,
  • Dariusz M. Bieliński,
  • Zbigniew Pędzich,
  • Przemysław Rybiński,
  • Mateusz Imiela,
  • Mariusz Siciński,
  • Magdalena Zarzecka-Napierała,
  • Tomasz Gozdek and
  • Paweł Rutkowski

21 July 2016

Ceramifiable styrene-butadiene (SBR)-based composites containing low-softening-point-temperature glassy frit promoting ceramification, precipitated silica, one of four thermally stable refractory fillers (halloysite, calcined kaolin, mica or wollasto...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
6,791 Views
15 Pages

21 July 2016

The high alloying degree of Duplex stainless steels makes them susceptible to the formation of intermetallic phases during their exposure to high temperatures. Precipitation of these phases can lead to a decreasing of the corrosion resistance and som...

  • Article
  • Open Access
135 Citations
10,800 Views
14 Pages

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Co-Cr Dental Alloys Fabricated by Three CAD/CAM-Based Processing Techniques

  • Hae Ri Kim,
  • Seong-Ho Jang,
  • Young Kyung Kim,
  • Jun Sik Son,
  • Bong Ki Min,
  • Kyo-Han Kim and
  • Tae-Yub Kwon

20 July 2016

The microstructures and mechanical properties of cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) alloys produced by three CAD/CAM-based processing techniques were investigated in comparison with those produced by the traditional casting technique. Four groups of disc- (micr...

  • Article
  • Open Access
82 Citations
8,752 Views
14 Pages

20 July 2016

Fretting wear is the material damage of two contact surfaces caused by micro relative displacement. Its characteristic is that debris is trapped on the contact surfaces. Depending on the material properties, the shapes of the debris, and the dominant...

  • Article
  • Open Access
41 Citations
6,143 Views
11 Pages

20 July 2016

There is no standardized procedure for producing geopolymers; therefore, many researchers develop their own procedures for mixing and curing to achieve good workability and strength development. The curing scheme adopted is important in achieving max...

  • Feature Paper
  • Review
  • Open Access
187 Citations
15,118 Views
33 Pages

Recent Developments in Antimicrobial Polymers: A Review

  • Madson R. E. Santos,
  • Ana C. Fonseca,
  • Patrícia V. Mendonça,
  • Rita Branco,
  • Arménio C. Serra,
  • Paula V. Morais and
  • Jorge F. J. Coelho

20 July 2016

Antimicrobial polymers represent a very promising class of therapeutics with unique characteristics for fighting microbial infections. As the classic antibiotics exhibit an increasingly low capacity to effectively act on microorganisms, new solutions...

  • Article
  • Open Access
25 Citations
7,336 Views
14 Pages

Novel Mg-Doped SrMoO3 Perovskites Designed as Anode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

  • Vanessa Cascos,
  • José Antonio Alonso and
  • María Teresa Fernández-Díaz

19 July 2016

SrMo1−xMxO3−δ (M = Fe and Cr, x = 0.1 and 0.2) oxides have been recently described as excellent anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells at intermediate temperatures (IT-SOFC) with LSGM as the electrolyte. In this work, we have improved their prope...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
25 Citations
6,698 Views
10 Pages

19 July 2016

Two new mononuclear iron(II) compounds (1) and (2) of the general formula [Fe(L)2](BF4)2·nCH3CN (L = 4-(2-bromoethyn-1-yl)-2,6-bis(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine, n = 1 for (1) and n = 2 for compound (2)), were synthesized. The room temperature crystallizatio...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
6,126 Views
10 Pages

Binary Alkali-Metal Silicon Clathrates by Spark Plasma Sintering: Preparation and Characterization

  • Igor Veremchuk,
  • Matt Beekman,
  • Iryna Antonyshyn,
  • Walter Schnelle,
  • Michael Baitinger,
  • George S. Nolas and
  • Yuri Grin

19 July 2016

The binary intermetallic clathrates K8-xSi46 (x = 0.4; 1.2), Rb6.2Si46, Rb11.5Si136 and Cs7.8Si136 were prepared from M4Si4 (M = K, Rb, Cs) precursors by spark-plasma route (SPS) and structurally characterized by Rietveld refinement of PXRD data. The...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
7,245 Views
22 Pages

19 July 2016

There have been frequent cases of civil complaints and disputes in relation to floor impact noises over the years. To solve these issues, a substantial amount of sound resilient material is installed between the concrete slab and the foamed concrete...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
5,623 Views
17 Pages

19 July 2016

The reactions of enantiomeric glycerol-based 3-armed lactide oligomers (H3DLAO and H3LLAO) and a diethylene glycol-based 2-armed ɛ-caprolactone oligomer (H2CLO) with hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) produced polyesterurethane copolymer networks (PEU-...

  • Article
  • Open Access
55 Citations
9,059 Views
16 Pages

19 July 2016

A novel numerical method at the microscale for studying the mechanical behavior of an aluminum-particle-reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene (Al/PTFE) composite is proposed and validated experimentally in this paper. Two types of 2D representative volu...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
5,790 Views
13 Pages

Effect of Transition Metal Substitution on the Structure and Properties of a Clathrate-Like Compound Eu7Cu44As23

  • Igor V. Plokhikh,
  • Dmitri O. Charkin,
  • Valeriy Yu. Verchenko,
  • Ivan A. Ignatyev,
  • Sergey M. Kazakov,
  • Alexey V. Sobolev,
  • Igor A. Presniakov,
  • Alexander A. Tsirlin and
  • Andrei V. Shevelkov

19 July 2016

A series of substitutional solid solutions—Eu7Cu44−xTxAs23 (T = Fe, Co, Ni)—based on a recently discovered clathrate-like compound (Eu7Cu44As23) were synthesized from the elements at 800 °C. Almost up to 50% of Cu can be substituted by Ni, resulting...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
6,819 Views
12 Pages

Spectroscopic Study of Plasma Polymerized a-C:H Films Deposited by a Dielectric Barrier Discharge

  • Thejaswini Halethimmanahally Chandrashekaraiah,
  • Robert Bogdanowicz,
  • Eckart Rühl,
  • Vladimir Danilov,
  • Jürgen Meichsner,
  • Steffen Thierbach and
  • Rainer Hippler

19 July 2016

Plasma polymerized a-C:H thin films have been deposited on Si (100) and aluminum coated glass substrates by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) operated at medium pressure using C2Hm/Ar (m = 2, 4, 6) gas mixtures. The deposited films were characteri...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
94 Citations
11,810 Views
11 Pages

In Situ Thermal Generation of Silver Nanoparticles in 3D Printed Polymeric Structures

  • Erika Fantino,
  • Annalisa Chiappone,
  • Flaviana Calignano,
  • Marco Fontana,
  • Fabrizio Pirri and
  • Ignazio Roppolo

19 July 2016

Polymer nanocomposites have always attracted the interest of researchers and industry because of their potential combination of properties from both the nanofillers and the hosting matrix. Gathering nanomaterials and 3D printing could offer clear adv...

  • Review
  • Open Access
108 Citations
17,557 Views
26 Pages

Optimization of Layered Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

  • Christian Julien,
  • Alain Mauger,
  • Karim Zaghib and
  • Henri Groult

19 July 2016

This review presents a survey of the literature on recent progress in lithium-ion batteries, with the active sub-micron-sized particles of the positive electrode chosen in the family of lamellar compounds LiMO2, where M stands for a mixture of Ni, Mn...

  • Communication
  • Open Access
7 Citations
5,109 Views
7 Pages

18 July 2016

Diverse non-equilibrium eutectic structures have attracted numerous experimental and theoretical studies. One special type is the formation of a halo of one phase around a primary dendrite of another phase. In our experiments, it was occasionally obs...

  • Article
  • Open Access
35 Citations
9,927 Views
15 Pages

Superplasticizer Addition to Carbon Fly Ash Geopolymers Activated at Room Temperature

  • Lorenza Carabba,
  • Stefania Manzi and
  • Maria Chiara Bignozzi

18 July 2016

Present concerns about global warming due to the greenhouse emissions in the atmosphere have pushed the cement industry to research alternatives to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Geopolymer binder may constitute a possible breakthrough in the develo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
162 Citations
21,150 Views
12 Pages

UV-Assisted 3D Printing of Glass and Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Dual-Cure Polymer Composites

  • Marta Invernizzi,
  • Gabriele Natale,
  • Marinella Levi,
  • Stefano Turri and
  • Gianmarco Griffini

16 July 2016

Glass (GFR) and carbon fiber-reinforced (CFR) dual-cure polymer composites fabricated by UV-assisted three-dimensional (UV-3D) printing are presented. The resin material combines an acrylic-based photocurable resin with a low temperature (140 °C) the...

  • Article
  • Open Access
151 Citations
13,865 Views
15 Pages

16 July 2016

By taking advantage of cellulose, graphene oxide (GO), and the process for crosslinking using epichlorohydrin (ECH), we propose a simple and novel method to prepare GO/cellulose hydrogel with good potential to adsorb metal ions. GO nanosheets contain...

  • Article
  • Open Access
22 Citations
8,586 Views
17 Pages

15 July 2016

This study numerically investigates heat transfer augmentation using water-based Al2O3 and CuO nanofluids flowing in a triangular cross-sectional duct under constant heat flux in laminar flow conditions. The Al2O3/water nanofluids with different volu...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
4,918 Views
12 Pages

15 July 2016

Isoreticular metal organic frameworks (IRMOFs) have shown high uptake capabilities for storage of H2 (11.5 wt % at 77 K and 170 bar). A significant literature has employed fragment models and a single adsorbed H2 to identify adsorption sites within I...

  • Review
  • Open Access
35 Citations
8,241 Views
37 Pages

Physico-Chemical Alternatives in Lignocellulosic Materials in Relation to the Kind of Component for Fermenting Purposes

  • Alberto Coz,
  • Tamara Llano,
  • Eva Cifrián,
  • Javier Viguri,
  • Edmond Maican and
  • Herbert Sixta

15 July 2016

The complete bioconversion of the carbohydrate fraction is of great importance for a lignocellulosic-based biorefinery. However, due to the structure of the lignocellulosic materials, and depending basically on the main parameters within the pretreat...

  • Article
  • Open Access
30 Citations
7,799 Views
12 Pages

Nb5+-Doped SrCoO3−δ Perovskites as Potential Cathodes for Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells

  • Vanessa Cascos,
  • José Antonio Alonso and
  • María Teresa Fernández-Díaz

15 July 2016

SrCoO3−δ outperforms as cathode material in solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) when the three-dimensional (3C-type) perovskite structure is stabilized by the inclusion of highly-charged transition-metal ions at the octahedral positions. In a previous work...

  • Article
  • Open Access
51 Citations
12,704 Views
30 Pages

Optimizing and Characterizing Geopolymers from Ternary Blend of Philippine Coal Fly Ash, Coal Bottom Ash and Rice Hull Ash

  • Martin Ernesto Kalaw,
  • Alvin Culaba,
  • Hirofumi Hinode,
  • Winarto Kurniawan,
  • Susan Gallardo and
  • Michael Angelo Promentilla

15 July 2016

Geopolymers are inorganic polymers formed from the alkaline activation of amorphous alumino-silicate materials resulting in a three-dimensional polymeric network. As a class of materials, it is seen to have the potential of replacing ordinary Portlan...

  • Article
  • Open Access
24 Citations
9,413 Views
16 Pages

15 July 2016

As a renewable building material with low embodied energy characteristics, wood has gained more and more attention in the green and sustainable building industry. In terms of material resource and physical properties, scrimber composite not only make...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
10 Citations
7,554 Views
9 Pages

14 July 2016

The biodegradable cellular capsule, being prepared from simple vaporization of liquid marbles, is an ideal vehicle for the potential application of drug encapsulation and release. This paper reports the fabrication of cellular capsules via facile vap...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,248 Views
10 Pages

14 July 2016

This study investigated the residual tensile properties of plain woven jute fiber reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) during thermal cycling. Temperature ranges of thermal cycling tests were 35–45 °C and 35–55 °C. The maximum number of cycles was 103...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
7,369 Views
13 Pages

14 July 2016

Recently, a new high-pressure semiconductor phase of Ca2C (space group Pnma) was successfully synthesized, it has a low-pressure metallic phase (space group C2/m). In this paper, a systematic investigation of the pressure-induced phase transition of...

  • Article
  • Open Access
53 Citations
7,631 Views
19 Pages

A 3D Lattice Modelling Study of Drying Shrinkage Damage in Concrete Repair Systems

  • Mladena Luković,
  • Branko Šavija,
  • Erik Schlangen,
  • Guang Ye and
  • Klaas Van Breugel

14 July 2016

Differential shrinkage between repair material and concrete substrate is considered to be the main cause of premature failure of repair systems. The magnitude of induced stresses depends on many factors, for example the degree of restraint, moisture...

  • Article
  • Open Access
35 Citations
10,986 Views
16 Pages

14 July 2016

Spark plasma sintering (SPS) has been employed to consolidate a micron-sized zirconium carbide (ZrC) powder. ZrC pellets with a variety of relative densities are obtained under different processing parameters. The densification kinetics of ZrC powder...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
7,776 Views
9 Pages

13 July 2016

We report the influence of growth rate and external magnetic field on the eutectic lamellar spacing and properties of directionally-solidified Ag-Cu eutectic alloys. The results indicated that the relationship between the lamellar spacing of directio...

  • Article
  • Open Access
22 Citations
6,800 Views
15 Pages

An Experimental Study on Micro Clinching of Metal Foils with Cutting by Laser Shock Forming

  • Xiao Wang,
  • Cong Li,
  • Youjuan Ma,
  • Zongbao Shen,
  • Xianqing Sun,
  • Chaofei Sha,
  • Shuai Gao,
  • Liyin Li and
  • Huixia Liu

13 July 2016

This paper describes a novel technique for joining similar and dissimilar metal foils, namely micro clinching with cutting by laser shock forming. A series of experiments were conducted to study the deformation behavior of single layer material, duri...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
5,828 Views
17 Pages

Structural Transitions in Nanosized Zn0.97Al0.03O Powders under High Pressure Analyzed by in Situ Angle-Dispersive X-ray Diffraction

  • Chih-Ming Lin,
  • Hsin-Tzu Liu,
  • Shi-Yao Zhong,
  • Chia-Hung Hsu,
  • Yi-Te Chiu,
  • Ming-Fong Tai,
  • Jenh-Yih Juang,
  • Yu-Chun Chuang and
  • Yen-Fa Liao

12 July 2016

Nanosized aluminum-doped zinc oxide Zn1−xAlxO (AZO) powders (AZO-NPs) with x = 0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.09 and 0.11 were synthesized by chemical precipitation method. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated that the precursors were converted to oxi...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
22 Citations
6,824 Views
19 Pages

12 July 2016

The production of activated carbons (ACs) from rapeseed cake and raspberry seed cake using slow pyrolysis followed by physical activation of the obtained solid residues is the topic of this study. The effect of activation temperature (850, 900 and 95...

  • Article
  • Open Access
25 Citations
9,169 Views
9 Pages

12 July 2016

Supported iron oxide nanoparticles on mesoporous materials (FeNP@SBA-15) have been successfully utilized in the esterification of a variety carboxylic acids including aromatic, aliphatic, and long-chain carboxylic acids under convenient reaction cond...

  • Article
  • Open Access
26 Citations
8,858 Views
17 Pages

Characterizations of Rapid Sintered Nanosilver Joint for Attaching Power Chips

  • Shuang-Tao Feng,
  • Yun-Hui Mei,
  • Gang Chen,
  • Xin Li and
  • Guo-Quan Lu

12 July 2016

Sintering of nanosilver paste has been extensively studied as a lead-free die-attach solution for bonding semiconductor power chips, such as the power insulated gated bipolar transistor (IGBT). However, for the traditional method of bonding IGBT chip...

  • Article
  • Open Access
72 Citations
11,402 Views
22 Pages

12 July 2016

The bio-based industrial sector has been recognized by the European Union as a priority area toward sustainability, however, the environmental profile of bio-based products needs to be further addressed. This study investigated, through the Life Cycl...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
9,887 Views
22 Pages

12 July 2016

There are a great variety of joint types used in nature which can inspire engineering joints. In order to design such biomimetic joints, it is at first important to understand how biological joints work. A comprehensive literature review, considering...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
5,886 Views
13 Pages

12 July 2016

Biofilms consist of not only bacteria but also extracellular polymer substrates (EPS). They are groups of microorganisms that adhere to each other on a surface, especially as a result of exposure to water and bacteria. They can pose health risks to h...

  • Article
  • Open Access
15 Citations
7,973 Views
12 Pages

Modelling and Microstructural Characterization of Sintered Metallic Porous Materials

  • Wojciech Depczynski,
  • Robert Kazala,
  • Krzysztof Ludwinek and
  • Katarzyna Jedynak

12 July 2016

This paper presents selected characteristics of the metallic porous materials produced by the sintering of metal powders. The authors focus on materials produced from the iron powder (Fe) of ASC 100.29 and Distaloy SE. ASC 100.29 is formed by atomiza...

  • Feature Paper
  • Communication
  • Open Access
35 Citations
9,658 Views
13 Pages

Biomineralization of Engineered Spider Silk Protein-Based Composite Materials for Bone Tissue Engineering

  • John G. Hardy,
  • Jose Guillermo Torres-Rendon,
  • Aldo Leal-Egaña,
  • Andreas Walther,
  • Helmut Schlaad,
  • Helmut Cölfen and
  • Thomas R. Scheibel

11 July 2016

Materials based on biodegradable polyesters, such as poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) or poly(butylene terephthalate-co-poly(alkylene glycol) terephthalate) (PBTAT), have potential application as pro-regenerative scaffolds for bone tissue engineeri...

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Materials - ISSN 1996-1944