Novel and Reusable Graphene Oxide-Coated Reticulated Open-Cell Mullite Foams for Methylene Blue Dye Adsorption.

Reticulated open-cell mullite (ROM) foams coated with graphene oxide (GO) multilayers as novel and reusable composites (ROM/GO) were first fabricated and functionalized to remove methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions. In this study, the ROM foams were produced via a replica technique utilizing rice husk as a starting raw material of silica (SiO) mixed with commercially available alumina (AlO) in the step of slurry preparation. GO was synthesized by a modification of Hummer's method and dispersed in a fixed weight ratio in an aqueous solution.

A calibrated UV-LED based light source for water purification and characterisation of photocatalysis.

Photocatalysis has a potential to become a cost effective industrial process for water cleaning. One of the most studied photocatalysts is titanium dioxide which, as a wide band gap semiconductor, requires ultraviolet (UV) light for its photoactivation. This is at the wavelengths where the efficiency of present-day light emitting diodes (LEDs) decreases rapidly, which presents a challenge in the use of UV-LEDs for commercially viable photocatalysis.

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles formed under a wet mechanochemical method.

Hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles were synthesized using a wet mechanochemical method without a calcination process. Dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (CaHPO ·2H O) and calcium carbonate (CaCO ) were mixed and milled in a planary mill using ethanol or water as liquid media in the two different synthesized routes. Effects of rotation speed and milling time on the final products formed have been studied.

3D interconnected porous HA scaffolds with SiO2 additions: effect of SiO2 content and macropore size on the viability of human osteoblast cells.

3D interconnected porous scaffolds of HA and HA with various additions of SiO2 were fabricated using a polymeric template technique, to make bioceramic scaffolds consisting of macrostructures of the interconnected macropores. Three different sizes of the polyurethane template were used in the fabrication process to form different size interconnected macropores, to study the effect of pore size on human osteoblast cell viability. The template used allowed fabrication of scaffolds with pore sizes of 45, 60, and 75 ppi, respectively.

A synthesis route to nanoparticle dicalcium silicate for biomaterials research.

Dicalcium silicate (Ca₂ SiO₄) has been reported as an interesting candidate for biomaterials use due to its attractive bioactive properties. Here, we report on how dicalcium silicate was prepared by a sol-gel route using calcium nitrate tetrahydrate and tetraorthosilicate as the precursors chemicals for CaO and SiO₂ , respectively. The synthesized powders were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Anodised titania nanotubes prepared in a glycerol/NaF electrolyte.

This paper discusses the preparation of titania nanotubes by anodisation of Ti in a glycerol-based electrolyte containing 0.5% wt of sodium fluoride (NaF). The influence of anodisation voltage and anodisation time on nanotube wall thickness, diameter and length has been investigated.