Remarkable Effects of an Electrodeposited Copper Skin on the Strength and the Electrical and Thermal Conductivities of Reduced Graphene Oxide-Printed Scaffolds.

Architected Cu/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) heterostructures are achieved by electrodepositing copper on filament-printed rGO scaffolds. The Cu coating perfectly contours the printed rGO structure, but isolated Cu particles also permeate inside the filaments. Although the Cu deposition conveys a certain mass augment, the three-dimensional (3D) structures remain reasonably light (bulk density ≅ 0.

Study of corrosion in archaeological gilded irons by Raman imaging and a coupled scanning electron microscope-Raman system.

In this work, analytical and chemical imaging tools have been applied to the study of a gilded spur found in the medieval necropolis of Erenozar (Bizkaia, Spain). As a first step, a lot of portable equipment has been used to study the object in a non-invasive way. The hand-held energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence equipment allowed us to characterize the artefact as a rare example of an iron matrix item decorated by means of a fire gilding technique.

Microstructural and Wear Behavior Characterization of Porous Layers Produced by Pulsed Laser Irradiation in Glass-Ceramics Substrates.

In this work, wear behavior and microstructural characterization of porous layers produced in glass-ceramic substrates by pulsed laser irradiation in the nanosecond range are studied under unidirectional sliding conditions against AISI316 and corundum counterbodies. Depending on the optical configuration of the laser beam and on the working parameters, the local temperature and pressure applied over the interaction zone can generate a porous glass-ceramic layer. Material transference from the ball to the porous glass-ceramic layer was observed in the wear tests carried out against the AISI316 ball counterface whereas, in the case of the corundum ball, the wear volume loss was concentrated in the porous layer.

The role of reactive silicates on the structure/property relationships and cell response evaluation in polyurethane nanocomposites.

Precursors of polyurethane chains have been reacted by means of in situ polymerization with organically modified montmorillonite clay to obtain polyurethane nanocomposites containing from 1 to 4 wt % of nanoreinforcement. The effective final dispersion of inorganic component at nanometric scale was investigated by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the effect of the nanoreinforcement incorporation on thermal and mechanical behavior of polyurethane nanocomposites was evaluated.

A nanotechnology pathway to arresting phase separation in soft nanocomposites.

Direct observation of the miscibility improving effect of ultra-small polymeric nanoparticles (radius ≈4 nm) in model systems of soft nanocomposites is reported. We have found thermodynamically arrested phase separation in classical poly(styrene) (PS)/poly(vinyl methyl ether) blends when PS linear chains were totally replaced by ultra-small, single chain PS nanoparticles, as determined by thermo-optical microscopy measurements. Partial arrested phase splitting on heating was observed when only some of the PS chains were replaced by unimolecular PS nanoparticles, leading to a significant increase of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the system (up to 40 °C at 15 vol.