Design and Performance Comparison of Polymer-Derived Ceramic Ambigels and Aerogels.

This work reports the synthesis and characterization of preceramic- and polymer-derived SiOC aerogels obtained from a commercial siloxane resin. The preceramic aerogels were obtained by ambient pressure drying (ambigels) and CO supercritical drying. Despite different drying processes, the final ceramic ambi/aerogels have very similar microstructural features in density, porosity, pore size, and specific surface area.

Effect of Cultivation Conditions on Its Adsorption Performance for Anionic and Cationic Dyes.

Lab-cultivated mycelia of (FF), grown on a solid lignocellulose medium (FF-SM) and a liquid glucose medium (FF-LM), and naturally grown fruiting bodies (FF-FB) were studied as biosorbents for the removal of organic dyes methylene blue and Congo red (CR). Both the chemical and microstructural differences were revealed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential analysis, and scanning electron microscopy, illuminating the superiority of FF-LM and FF-SM over FF-FB in dye adsorption. The adsorption process of CR on FF-LM and FF-SM is best described by the Redlich-Peterson model with β constants close to 1, that is, approaching the monolayer Langmuir model, which reach maximum adsorption capacities of 48.

Spreadability of Metal Powders for Laser-Powder Bed Fusion via Simple Image Processing Steps.

This paper investigates the spreadability of the spherical CoCrWMo powder for laser- powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) by using image processing algorithms coded in MATLAB. Besides, it also aims to examine the spreadability dependence with the other characteristics such as powder size distribution, apparent density, angle of repose. Powder blends in four different particle size distributions are prepared, characterized, and spreadability tests are performed with the PBF-LB.

Extrusion-based additive manufacturing of fungal-based composite materials using the tinder fungus Fomes fomentarius.

Background: Recent efforts in fungal biotechnology aim to develop new concepts and technologies that convert renewable plant biomass into innovative biomaterials. Hereby, plant substrates become metabolized by filamentous fungi to transform them into new fungal-based materials. Current research is thus focused on both understanding and optimizing the biology and genetics underlying filamentous fungal growth and on the development of new technologies to produce customized fungal-based materials.

Gradient-Hierarchic-Aligned Porosity SiOC Ceramics.

This work describes a simple technique to produce porous ceramics with aligned porosity having very high permeability and specific surface area. SiOC-based compositions were processed from blends of three types of preceramic polymer and a catalyst, followed by curing and pyrolysis. The heating applied from the bottom of molds promoted the nucleation, expansion and rising of gas bubbles, and the creation of a ceramic matrix with axially oriented channels interconnected by small round pores.