Powder Metallurgy Processing to Enhance Superelasticity and Shape Memory in Polycrystalline Cu-Al-Ni Alloys: Reference Material for Additive Manufacturing.

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are functional materials with a wide range of applications, from the aerospace sector to the biomedical field. Nowadays, there is a worldwide interest in developing SMAs through powder metallurgy like additive manufacturing (AM), which allows innovative building processes. However, producing SMAs using AM techniques is particularly challenging because of the microstructure required to obtain optimal functional properties.

Additive Manufacturing of Fe-Mn-Si-Based Shape Memory Alloys: State of the Art, Challenges and Opportunities.

Additive manufacturing (AM) constitutes the new paradigm in materials processing and its use on metals and alloys opens new unforeseen possibilities, but is facing several challenges regarding the design of the microstructure, which is particularly awkward in the case of functional materials, like shape memory alloys (SMA), as they require a robust microstructure to withstand the constraints appearing during their shape change. In the present work, the attention is focused on the AM of the important Fe-Mn-Si-based SMA family, which is attracting a great technological interest in many industrial sectors. Initially, an overview on the design concepts of this SMA family is offered, with special emphasis to the problems arising during AM.

Thermal Stability of Cu-Al-Ni Shape Memory Alloy Thin Films Obtained by Nanometer Multilayer Deposition.

Cu-Al-Ni is a high-temperature shape memory alloy (HTSMA) with exceptional thermomechanical properties, making it an ideal active material for engineering new technologies able to operate at temperatures up to 200 °C. Recent studies revealed that these alloys exhibit a robust superelastic behavior at the nanometer scale, making them excellent candidates for developing a new generation of micro-/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS). The very large-scale integration (VLSI) technologies used in microelectronics are based on thin films.

Temperature-Dependent Anisotropic Refractive Index in β-GaO: Application in Interferometric Thermometers.

An accurate knowledge of the optical properties of β-GaO is key to developing the full potential of this oxide for photonics applications. In particular, the dependence of these properties on temperature is still being studied. Optical micro- and nanocavities are promising for a wide range of applications.

Protective effect of TPP-Niacin on microgravity-induced oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction of retinal epithelial cells.

Adverse effects of spaceflight on the human body are attritubuted to microgravity and space radiation. One of the most sensitive organs affected by them is the eye, particularly the retina. The conditions that astronauts suffer, such as visual acuity, is collectively called a spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS); however, the underlying molecular mechanism of the microgravity-induced ocular pathogenesis is not clearly understood.