Surface hardening of Ti-Al-V superalloy spinal implant by using the boronization method.

Background: We compared the raw Ti-Al-V super alloy transpedicular implant screws with boronized and surface-hardened transpedicular implant screws.

Objective: To improve patients' postoperative prognosis with the production of harder and less fragile screws.

Methods: Surface hardening was achieved by applying green-body encapsulation of the specimen with elemental boron paste which is sintered at elevated temperatures to ensure the boron-metal diffusion.

Defect-induced BC electrodes for high energy density supercapacitor devices.

Boron carbide powders were synthesized by mechanically activated annealing process using anhydrous boron oxide (BO) and varying carbon (C) sources such as graphite and activated carbon: The precursors were mechanically activated for different times in a high energy ball mill and reacted in an induction furnace. According to the Raman analyses of the carbon sources, the I(D)/I(G) ratio increased from ~ 0.25 to ~ 0.

Defect structure in aliovalently-doped and isovalently-substituted PbTiO3 nano-powders.

The defect structure of Fe(3+)-, Cu(2+)-, Mn(4+)- and Gd(3+)-doped PbTiO(3) nano-powders has been studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Analogous to the situation for 'bulk' ferroelectrics, Fe(3+) and Cu(2+) act as acceptor-type functional centers that form defect complexes with charge-compensating oxygen vacancies. The corresponding defect dipoles are aligned along the direction of spontaneous polarization, P(S), and possess an additional defect polarization, P(D).