Growth Mechanisms of Nano-to Micro-Sized Lead Sulfate Particles.

PbSO is a key component in the charging and discharging of lead acid batteries-such as the cycling of automotive batteries. PbSO is a poor conductor that forms on the positive and negative electrodes during discharging and dissolves during charging of a lead acid battery. Over time, buildup of PbSO occurs on the electrodes, ultimately reducing the efficiency of the battery.

Salt Preform Texturing of Absorbable Zn Substrates for Bone-implant Applications.

Surface roughness is an important factor in improving the bone-implant contact area to enhance bone regeneration, yet this aspect has not been applied to absorbable metals. Textured zinc surfaces with varying degrees of surface roughness were produced using a salt-preform method with fine- and coarse-grained salts and compared to a polished control sample. The resulting surfaces were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface roughness, corrosion rates, and cytotoxicity.

Designing Better Cardiovascular Stent Materials - A Learning Curve.

Cardiovascular stents are life-saving devices and one of the top 10 medical breakthroughs of the 21 century. Decades of research and clinical trials have taught us about the effects of material (metal or polymer), design (geometry, strut thickness, and the number of connectors), and drug-elution on vasculature mechanics, hemocompatibility, biocompatibility, and patient health. Recently developed novel bioresorbable stents are intended to overcome common issues of chronic inflammation, in-stent restenosis, and stent thrombosis associated with permanent stents, but there is still much to learn.

Micro-/Nanotopography on Bioresorbable Zinc Dictates Cytocompatibility, Bone Cell Differentiation, and Macrophage Polarization.

Bioresorbable metals are quickly advancing in the field of regenerative medicine for their promises of tissue restoration without adverse consequences from their lifelong presence. Zn has recently risen to the top of bioresorbable metals with great potential as a medical implant. However, cell adhesion and colonization on the Zn substrate surface remains challenging, which could damper interfacial tissue-implant integration.

Porous zinc scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications: A novel additive manufacturing and casting approach.

As a degradable metal, zinc (Zn) has attracted an immense amount of interest as the next generation of bioresorbable implants thanks to its modest corrosion rate and its vital role in bone remodeling, yet very few studies have thoroughly investigated its functionality as a porous implant for bone tissue engineering purposes. Zn bone scaffolds with two different pore sizes of 900 μm and 2 mm were fabricated using additive manufacturing-produced templates combined with casting. The compressive properties, corrosion rates, biocompatibility, and antibacterial performance of the bioscaffolds were examined and compared to a non-porous control.

A novel nano-particle strengthened titanium alloy with exceptional specific strength.

Various ecological and economical concerns have spurred mankind's quest for materials that can provide enhanced weight savings and improved fuel efficiency. As part of this pursuit, we have microstructurally tailored an exceptionally high-strength titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo (Ti6246) through friction stir processing (FSP). FSP has altered the as-received bimodal microstructure into a unique modulated microstructure comprised of fine acicular α″-laths with nano precipitates within the laths.

Biological Responses and Mechanisms of Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Zn and Mg Biomaterials.

Zn biomaterials attract strong attentions recently for load-bearing medical implants because of their mechanical properties similar to bone, biocompatibility, and degradability at a more matched rate to tissue healing. It has been shown previously that Zn alloys are beneficial for bone regeneration, but the supporting mechanisms have not been explored in detail. Here, we studied the biological responses of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) to Zn and the underlying cellular signaling mechanisms.

Archaeometallurgy using synchrotron radiation: a review.

Archaeometallurgy is an important field of study which allows us to assess the quality and value of ancient metal artifacts and better understand the ancient cultures that made them. Scientific investigation of ancient metal artifacts is often necessary due to their lack of well-documented histories. One important requirement of analytical techniques is that they be non-destructive, since many of these artifacts are unique and irreplaceable.

Giant magnetostriction in annealed Co(1-x)Fe(x) thin-films.

Chemical and structural heterogeneity and the resulting interaction of coexisting phases can lead to extraordinary behaviours in oxides, as observed in piezoelectric materials at morphotropic phase boundaries and relaxor ferroelectrics. However, such phenomena are rare in metallic alloys. Here we show that, by tuning the presence of structural heterogeneity in textured Co(1-x)Fe(x) thin films, effective magnetostriction λ(eff) as large as 260 p.

Matisse to Picasso: a compositional study of modern bronze sculptures.

Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used to determine the bulk metal elemental composition of 62 modern bronze sculptures cast in Paris in the first half of the twentieth century from the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As a result, a comprehensive survey of the alloy composition of the sculptures of many prominent European artists of the early twentieth century is presented here for the first time. The sculptures in this study consist of predominantly copper with two main alloying elements (zinc and tin).