Addressing a critical challenge in current tissue-engineering practices, this study aims to enhance vascularization in 3D porous scaffolds by incorporating bioceramics laden with pro-angiogenic ions. Specifically, freeze-dried gelatin-based scaffolds were infused with sol-gel-derived powders of Cu-doped akermanite (CaMgSi2O) and bredigite (CaMgSiO) at various concentrations (10, 20, and 30 wt%). The scaffolds were initially characterized for their structural integrity, biodegradability, swelling behavior, impact on physiological pH, and cytocompatibility with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The silicate incorporation effectiveness in promoting vascularity was then assessed through HUVEC attachment, capillary tube formation, and chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane assays. The findings revealed significant improvements in both and vascularity of the gelatin scaffolds upon the addition of Cu-doped akermanite. The most effective concentrations were determined to be 10 and 20%, which led to notable HUVEC metabolic activity, a well-spread morphology with extensive peripheral filopodia and lamellipodia at 10% and a cobblestone phenotype indicative of endothelium at 20% during cell attachment, the formation of complex networks of tubular structures, and robust vascularization in chick embryo development. Moving forward, the incorporation of Cu-doped akermanite into tissue-engineering scaffolds shows great potential for addressing the limitations of vascularization, especially for critical-sized bone defects, by facilitating the controlled release of pro-angiogenic and pro-osteogenic ions.

Food packages have been detected carrying novel coronavirus in multi-locations since the outbreak of COVID-19, causing major concern in the field of food safety. Metal-based supported materials are widely used for sterilization due to their excellent antibacterial properties as well as low biological resistance. As the principal part of antibacterial materials, the active component, commonly referred to Ag, Cu, Zn, etc., plays the main role in inhibiting and killing pathogenic microorganisms by destroying the structure of cells. As another composition of metal-based antibacterial materials, the carrier could support and disperse the active component, which on one hand, could effectively decrease the usage amount of active component, on the other hand, could be processed into various forms to broaden the application range of antibacterial materials. Different from other metal-based antibacterial reviews, in order to highlight the detailed function of various carriers, we divided the carriers into biocompatible and adsorptable types and discussed their different antibacterial effects. Moreover, a novel substitution antibacterial mechanism was proposed. The coating and shaping techniques of metal-based antibacterial materials as well as their applications in food storage at ambient and low temperatures are also comprehensively summarized. This review aims to provide a theoretical basis and reference for researchers in this field to develop new metal-based antibacterial materials.

A study is made of relationships between composition, processing, structure and properties of biphasic zirconia bioceramics. The focus is on zirconia compositions with different yttria dopant contents used in modern dental restorations, namely 3 - 5 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia (3YSZ, 4YSZ, and 5YSZ). Crystallographies and densities are surveyed, sintering conditions examined, and microstructures characterized. Strength and optical tests are conducted on each YSZ, and dependencies on sintering temperature, cubic content and grain size analyzed. Strength correlates with the amount of tetragonal zirconia (-ZrO) crystals with large lattice distortions (tetragonality). YSZ translucency correlates with content of cubic zirconia (-ZrO) and -ZrO with low levels of tetragonality. Consistent with literature reporting, the materials rank in decreasing order 3YSZ, 4YSZ to 5YSZ for strength but increasing order for translucency. However, for a given composition, the data suggest that the strengths of densely sintered 3YSZ and 4YSZ actually increase with translucency, although that of 5YSZ remains undiminished. These trends are in apparent contradiction to prevailing experience, and offer potential future processing routes to optimization of clinical materials.

Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) was used to produce titanium oxide (TiO) coatings on Ti surface in potassium - phosphate electrolyte. The morphology, wettability, phase, and chemical compositions were studied as a function of processing parameters. The bioactivity of the coating was assessed by the ability to form biomimetic apatite using cell culture medium. studies using human mesenchymal stem cells were also conducted to evaluate cells' proliferation and viability of the treated Ti. The results revealed that the produced TiO coatings comprised pore features with the pore size increasing with applied current density and treatment duration due to high energy discharge channels at higher potential. The PEO treated Ti exhibited superhydrophilic characteristics with a contact angle <1°. The findings indicated that the large actual surface area produced by the PEO treatment and the presence of negatively charge are the key factors for the superhydrophilic behavior. The studies revealed that the PEO treated groups had higher amount of biomimetic apatite formation compared to the as-polished Ti. The PEO treatment significantly enhanced the cells' adhesion and growth after 24 and 72 hrs compared to the untreated Ti. A significant difference in the bioactivity was not observed between anatase and rutile.

Nanomedicine has seen a significant rise in the development of new research tools and clinically functional devices. In this regard, significant advances and new commercial applications are expected in the pharmaceutical and orthopedic industries. For advanced orthopedic implant technologies, appropriate nanoscale surface modifications are highly effective strategies and are widely studied in the literature for improving implant performance. It is well-established that implants with nanotubular surfaces show a drastic improvement in new bone creation and gene expression compared to implants without nanotopography. Nevertheless, the scientific and clinical understanding of mixed oxide nanotubes (MONs) and their potential applications, especially in biomedical applications are still in the early stages of development. This review aims to establish a credible platform for the current and future roles of MONs in nanomedicine, particularly in advanced orthopedic implants. We first introduce the concept of MONs and then discuss the preparation strategies. This is followed by a review of the recent advancement of MONs in biomedical applications, including mineralization abilities, biocompatibility, antibacterial activity, cell culture, and animal testing, as well as clinical possibilities. To conclude, we propose that the combination of nanotubular surface modification with incorporating sensor allows clinicians to precisely record patient data as a critical contributor to evidence-based medicine.

This paper reports the structural, morphological, spectroscopic, dielectric, ac conductivity, and impedance properties of nanocrystalline MnZnFeO. The nanocrystalline Mn-Zn ferrites were synthesized using a solvent-free combustion reaction method. The structural analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern reveals the single-phase of all the samples and the Rietveld refined XRD patterns confirmed the cubic-spinel structure. The calculated crystallite size values increase from 8.5 nm to 19.6 nm with the Zn concentration. The surface morphological analysis using field emission scanning electron microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy confirms the nano size of the prepared ferrites. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to study the ionic state of the atoms present in the samples. Further, the high-resolution Mn 2p, Zn 2p, Fe 2p, and O 1s spectra of MnZnFeO does not result in the appearance of new peaks with Zn content, indicating that the Zn substitution does not change the ionic state of Mn, Zn, Fe, and O present in nanocrystalline MnZnFeO. The investigated electrical properties show that the dielectric constant, tan δ and ac conductivity gradually decrease with increasing Zn substitution and the sample Mn Zn FeO has the lowest value of conductivity at 303 K. The ac conductivity measured at different temperatures shows the semiconducting nature of the ferrites. The impedance spectra analysis shows that the contribution of grain boundary is higher compared with the grain to the resistance. The obtained results suggest that the Zn substituted manganese ferrite nanoparticles can act as a promising candidate for high-frequency electronic devices applications.

In this paper, we used Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the effect of TiO/VO substitution on the radiation shielding properties of alkali borate glasses in the chemical form of 30LiO+55BO+5ZnO + xTiO+(10 - x)VO, where x = 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 mol%. Also, the optical properties were examined by evaluating several factors such as molar refraction (R), metallization criterion (M), molar polarizability (α), dielectric coefficients (static and optical), optical transmission (T), and reflection loss (R). The radiation shielding properties of the tested glasses were estimated by determining the mass attenuation coefficient, and other related factors such as the tenth value layer (TVL), the mean free path (MFP), the electron total stopping powers (Ψ) and the electron continuous slowing down approximation range (CSDA) (Φ) for different energy values. The results of Geant4 Monte Carlo were compared with the theoretical values calculated by XCOM platform. The results revealed that the TiO/VO substitution had a remarkable influence on the gamma shielding properties for the tested glasses. On the other hand, the optical properties slightly changed by the TiO/VO substitution. The gamma shielding properties of the tested glasses were compared with many samples in terms of MFP. The present glasses showed superior features to apply for optical and radiation shielding applications.

The objective of this study is to investigate the magnitude of structural degradation of a monolithic translucent zirconia caused by clinically relevant grinding and polishing procedures, when associated or not with low temperature degradation (LTD), induced by accelerated hydrothermal aging using autoclave or thermocycling Ninety disks (Ø12 × 1 mm) were prepared from dental zirconia for monolithic restorations (Vipi Block Zirconn Translucent, Vipi). The specimens were divided into 3 groups (n = 30) according to surface treatment: As Sintered (untreated), Grind (diamond bur), Grind + Polish (diamond bur + polish); and then subdivided according to aging method (n = 10): Baseline (no aging), Autoclave (134°C, 2.2 kgf/cm pressure for 5 h), and Thermocycling (200,000 cycles, 5°C and 55°C, for 15 s each). Roughness, biaxial flexural strength and percentage of monoclinic phase were evaluated. Regarding surface treatment, the Grind group presented higher roughness and greater flexural strength compared to As Sintered group, while Grind + Polish showed intermediate roughness and flexural strength similar to Grind group. Aging had little effect on roughness, but yielded a significant reduction in flexural strength. Tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformation was observed in all groups, caused by both mechanical stresses (grinding and polishing) and LTD, which was similarly induced by the traditional autoclave method, as well as the thermocycling method The use of diamond burs to grind zirconia surface may result in deleterious effects on the surface quality of monolithic zirconia restorations, yet has a potential toughening effect by phase transformation. However, when zirconia is exposed to LTD, regardless of the surface treatment, degradation of the surface quality and strength are observed.

PbNbO (PN)-based ceramics with tungsten bronze structure are promising piezoelectric materials in high-temperature devices such as piezoelectric vibration transducers. However, the PN-based ceramics usually exhibit a low bulk density, which greatly limits their practical applications. In this work, CuO was used as the sintering aid to form a liquid-phase bridge, leading to an obvious increase of the bulk density of PN-based ceramics by 11% (from 5.25 to 5.85 g cm) and the improvement of the piezoelectric constant ( ) (from 168 to 190 pC/N) and the Curie temperature ( ) from 367 to 395 °C. The positive influence of CuO on densification has been proved by SEM and fracture toughness. The XRD patterns confirmed that there was no secondary phase introduced by CuO addition. The Raman spectra revealed that part of Cu ions has probably diffused into host lattice of the PN and preferred to occupy on A-sites. These results not only demonstrate the high potential of the CuO added PN-based ceramics for high-temperature piezoelectric applications, but also reveal the corresponding structure-properties relationship as well as provide a way to improve the sinterability, , and simultaneously.

Brazed monolayer diamond grinding wheels have advantages of a high abrasive bonding strength, high protrusion, and a large chip disposal space. However, it is difficult to prepare ordered and fine-grained brazed diamond grinding wheels. This study presents a new method for grain-arranged, brazed diamond grinding wheels with microtextures with similar performance to ordered and fine-grained brazed diamond grinding wheels. First, coarse diamond grains (18/20 mesh) were orderly brazed to fabricate the end grinding wheels. Next, a series of microtextures were ablated on the diamond grains using a pulsed laser, and two types of textured end grinding wheels-TG-G (ablated microgrooves only) and TG-GH (ablated microgrooves and microholes)-were prepared. Then, an experiment involving the grinding of alumina ceramics was performed, and the grinding characteristics and grinding mechanism were analyzed. The results indicated that compared with untextured diamond end grinding wheels (TG), the textured diamond grinding wheels (TG-G and TG-GH) significantly reduced the grinding force and the roughness of the machined surface. The local stress concentration at the microtextures promoted the formation of microcracks in the diamond grains of TG-G and TG-GH, and the self-sharpness of the grinding wheel was significantly improved. The brittle fracture mode of ceramic materials in grinding included intergranular fracture and transgranular fracture. Ironing pressure action was a key material-removal mechanism. It had an important influence on the cutting force and plasticity characteristics of the TG machined surface. For the surfaces processed by TG-G and TG-GH, the effect of ironing was weakened, while shearing played a more important role. The TG-GH grinding wheel ablated with microgrooves and microholes was superior to the TG-G grinding wheel ablated with only microgrooves, with regard to the grinding force, roughness, and self-sharpening.

Researchers are taking great interest in the synthesis and characterization of MnZn ferrites due to their wide range of applications in many areas. MnZn ferrites are a class of soft magnetic materials that have very good electrical, magnetic and optical properties. The properties of MnZn ferrites include high value of resistivity, permeability, permittivity, saturation magnetization, low power losses and coercivity. The above mentioned advantageous features of MnZn ferrites make them suitable for the use in various applications. In biomedical field these ferrites are used for cancer treatment and MRI. MnZn ferrites are also used in electronic applications for making transformers, transducers and inductors. These ferrites are also used in magnetic fluids, sensors and biosensors. MnZn ferrite is highly useful material for several electrical and electronic applications. It finds applications in almost every household appliances like mobile charger, LED bulb, TV, refrigerator, juicer mixer, washing machine, iron, microwave oven, mobile, laptop, desktop, printer and so on. Therefore, the present review focuses on different techniques for synthesis of MnZn ferrites in literature, their characterization tools, effect of doping on the properties of MnZn ferrite and finally we will discuss about their applications.

Improving the physical, mechanical and biological properties of brushite cements (BrC) is of a great interest for using them in bone and dental tissue engineering applications. The objective of this study was to incorporate iron (Fe) at different concentrations (0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 wt.%) to BrC and study the role of Fe on phase composition, setting time, compressive strength, and interaction with human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). Results showed that increase in Fe concentration increases the β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP)/ dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) ratio and prolongs the initial and final setting time due to effective role of Fe on stabilizing the β-TCP crystal structure and retarding its dissolution kinetic, in a dose dependent manner where the highest setting time was recorded for 1.00 wt.% Fe-BrC sample. Addition of low concentrations of Fe (0.25 and 0.50 wt.%) did not have adverse effect on compressive strength and strength was in the range of 5.7-7.05 (±~1.4) MPa; however, presence of 1.00 wt.% Fe decreases the strength of BrC from 7.05 ± 1.57 MPa to 3.12 ± 1.06 MPa. Interaction between the BrCs and hDPSCs was evaluated by cell proliferation assay, scanning electron microscopy, and live/dead staining. Low concentrations of 0.25, and 0.50 wt.% of Fe did not have any adverse effect on cell attachment and proliferation; while significant decrease in cellular activity was evident in BrC samples doped with 1.00 wt. %. Together, these data show that low concentrations of Fe (equal or less than 0.50 wt. %) can be safely added to BrC without any adverse effect on physical, mechanical and biological properties in presence of hDPSCs.

Three novel glass compositions, identified as NCL2 (SiO-based), NCL4 (BO-based) and NCL7 (SiO-based), along with apatite-wollastonite (AW) were processed to form sintered dense pellets, and subsequently evaluated for their bioactive potential, resulting physico-chemical properties and degradation rate. Microstructural analysis showed the carbonated hydroxyapatite (HCA) precipitate morphology following SBF testing to be composition-dependent. AW and the NCL7 formulation exhibited greater HCA precursor formation than the NCL2 and NCL4-derived pellets. Moreover, the NCL4 borate-based samples showed the highest biodegradation rate; with silicate-derived structures displaying the lowest weight loss after SBF immersion. The results of this study suggested that glass composition has significant influence on apatite-forming ability and also degradation rate, indicating the possibility to customise the properties of this class of materials towards the bone repair and regeneration process.

The fabrication of zirconia dental restorations is a time-consuming process due to traditional slow sintering schemes; zirconia (Y-TZP) produced by these conventional routes are predominantly opaque. Novel speed sintering protocols have been developed to meet the demand for time and cost effective chairside CAD/CAM-produced restorations, as well as to control ceramic microstructures for better translucency. Although the speed sintering protocols have already been used to densify dental Y-TZP, the wear properties of these restorations remain elusive. Fast heating and cooling rates, as well as shorter sintering dwell times are known to affect the microstructure and properties of zirconia. Thus, we hypothesize that speed sintered zirconia dental restorations possess distinct wear and physical characteristics relative to their conventionally sintered counterparts. Glazed monolithic molar crowns of translucent Y-TZP (inCoris TZI, Sirona) were fabricated using three distinct sintering profiles: Super-speed (, 1580 °C, dwell time 10 min), Speed (, 1510 °C, dwell time 25 min), and Long-term (, 1510 °C, dwell time 120 min). Microstructural, optical and wear properties were investigated. Crowns that were super-speed sintered possessed higher translucency. Areas of mild and severe wear were observed on the zirconia surface in all groups. Micropits in the wear crater were less frequent for the LT group. Groups and exhibited more surface pits, which caused a scratched steatite surface that is associated with a greater volume loss. Tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformation, resulting from the sliding wear process, was present in all three groups. Although all test groups had withstood thermo-mechanical challenges, the presence of hairline cracks emanating from the occlusal wear facets and extending deep into the restoration indicates their susceptibility to fatigue sliding contact fracture.

This paper accounts for utilization of shear induced alignment method during ceramic stereolithography. Lateral oscillation mechanism, combined with 3d printed wall pattern, was employed to generate necessary shear to align fiber in desired direction. First, semicircular channel pattern was printed to assess the effect of difference between wall direction and oscillation direction on the fiber alignment. Then, flexural strength of ceramic matrix was tested with nickel coated carbon fiber and ceramic fiber reinforcements. The results demonstrated that the shear induced alignment further improves the flexural strength compare to randomly distributed samples. Flexural strength of aligned samples with 1.0 wt% carbon fiber loading was improved by ~90% compared to randomly orientated samples and by ~333% compared to unreinforced samples. Finally, fracture surface morphology of the flexural strength test specimens was evaluated. The main fracture mechanism was observed as fiber pull-out.

Layered ceramic systems are usually hit by residual thermal stresses created during cooling from high processing temperature. The purpose of this study was to determine the thermal residual stresses at different ceramic multi-layered systems and evaluate their influence on the bending stress distribution. Finite elements method was used to evaluate the residual stresses in zirconia-porcelain and alumina-porcelain multi-layered discs and to simulate the 'piston-on-ring' test. Temperature-dependent material properties were used. Three different multi-layered designs were simulated: a conventional bilayered design; a trilayered design, with an intermediate composite layer with constant composition; and a graded design, with an intermediate layer with gradation of properties. Parameters such as the interlayer thickness and composition profiles were varied in the study. Alumina-porcelain discs present smaller residual stress than the zirconia-porcelain discs, regardless of the type of design. The homogeneous interlayer can yield a reduction of ~40% in thermal stress relative to bilayered systems. Thinner interlayers favoured the formation of lower thermal stresses. The graded discs showed the lowest thermal stresses for a gradation profile given by power law function with p=2. The bending stresses were significantly affected by the thermal stresses in the discs. The risk of failure for all-ceramic dental restorative systems can be significantly reduced by using trilayered systems (homogenous or graded interlayer) with the proper design.

This paper presents fabrication of transparent lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) fibers using extrusion technique. The diameter of the sintered PLZT fiber is about 400-µm, and the fibers exhibit very good transparency. Measured dielectric constant, remnant polarization and coercive field of PLZT fiber were found to be 2340, 22.5-µC/cm, and 9.8-kV/cm, respectively. The transparent piezoelectric materials may exhibit great potential for Photoacoustic (PA) imaging and hybrid intravascular imaging combining OCT and ultrasound imaging by using the transparent fiber as the path of light propagation and ultrasonic transducer material. In our study, these transparent PLZT fibers were designed to fabricate two types of high-frequency ultrasonic transducers: small aperture single PLZT fiber/epoxy composite and large aperture 1-3 PLZT fiber/epoxy composite ultrasonic transducers. Besides, a 20-µm tungsten wire phantom and the cornea of the porcine eye were also imaged with the 1-3 PLZT fiber/epoxy composite ultrasonic transducer to demonstrate its imaging capability.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biaxial flexural stresses in classic bilayered and in graded zirconia-feldspathic porcelain composites. A finite element method and an analytical model were used to simulate the piston-on-ring test and to predict the biaxial stress distributions across the thickness of the bilayer and graded zirconia-feldspathic porcelain discs. An axisymmetric model and a flexure formula of Hsueh et al. were used in the FEM and analytical analysis, respectively. Four porcelain thicknesses were tested in the bilayered discs. In graded discs, continuous and stepwise transitions from the bottom zirconia layer to the top porcelain layer were studied. The resulting stresses across the thickness, measured along the central axis of the disc, for the bilayered and graded discs were compared. In bilayered discs, the maximum tensile stress decreased while the stress mismatch (at the interface) increased with the porcelain layer thickness. The optimized balance between both variables is achieved for a porcelain thickness ratio in the range of 0.30-0.35. In graded discs, the highest tensile stresses were registered for porcelain rich interlayers (p=0.25) whereas the zirconia rich ones (p=8) yield the lowest tensile stresses. In addition, the maximum stresses in a graded structure can be tailored by altering compositional gradients. A decrease in maximum stresses with increasing values of p (a scaling exponent in the power law function) was observed. Our findings showed a good agreement between the analytical and simulated models, particularly in the tensile region of the disc. Graded zirconia-feldspathic porcelain composites exhibited a more favourable stress distribution relative to conventional bilayered systems. This fact can significantly impact the clinical performance of zirconia-feldspathic porcelain prostheses, namely reducing the fracture incidence of zirconia and the chipping and delamination of porcelain.

The main complications of zirconia-based laminated systems are chipping and delamination of veneering porcelain, which has been found to be directly associated with the development of residual thermal stresses in the porcelain layer. This study investigates the effects of cooling rate and specimen geometry on the residual stress states in porcelain-veneered zirconia structures. Bilayers of three different shapes (bars, semi-cylindrical shells, and arch-cubic structures) with 1.5 mm and 0.7 mm thickness of dentin porcelain and zirconia framework, respectively, were subjected to two cooling protocols: slow cooling (SC) at 32 °C/min and extremely-slow cooling (XSC) at 2 °C/min. The residual thermal stresses were determined using the Vickers indentation method and validated by finite element analysis. The residual stress profiles were similar among geometries in the same cooling protocol. XSC groups presented significantly higher tensile stresses ( = 0.000), especially for curved interfaces. XSC is a time-consuming process that showed no beneficial effect regarding residual stresses compared to the manufacturer recommended slow cooling rate.

Developing yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) with high strength and translucency could significantly widen the clinical indications of monolithic zirconia restorations. This study investigates the mechanical and optical properties of three Y-TZP ceramics: High-Translucency, High-Strength and High-Surface Area. The four-point bending strengths (mean ± standard error) for the three Y-TZP ceramics ( = 10) were 990 ± 39, 1416 ± 33 and 1076 ± 32 MPa for High-Translucency, High-Strength and High-Surface Area, respectively. The fracture toughness values (mean ± standard error) for the three zirconias ( = 10) were 3.24 ± 0.10, 3.63 ± 0.12 and 3.21 ± 0.14 MPa m for High-Translucency, High-Strength and High-Surface Area, respectively. Both strength and toughness values of High-Strength zirconia were significantly higher than High-Surface Area and High-Translucency zirconias. Translucency parameter values of High-Translucency zirconia were considerably higher than High-Strength and High-Surface Area zirconias. However, all three zirconias became essentially opaque when their thickness reached 1 mm or greater. Our findings suggest that there exists a delicate balance between mechanical and optical properties of the current commercial Y-TZP ceramics.

Porous Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films may have promising applications in high frequency ultrasonic transducers for their capability to modify electrical properties for better electrical and acoustic matching. In this work, porous PZT films in range of several micrometers were fabricated using a chemical solution deposition (CSD) method modified with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a pore-foaming agent. The crystalline phase, microstructure and electrical properties of the porous films were investigated as a function of PVP contents, molecular weights and annealing temperatures. It was found that the electrical properties were closely associated with the porosity.