In-vivo degradation of poly(carbonate-urethane) based spine implants.

Fourteen explanted Dynesys® spinal devices were analyzed for biostability and compared with a reference, never implanted, control. Both poly(carbonate-urethane) (PCU) spacers and polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) cords were analyzed. The effect of implantation was evaluated through the observation of physical alterations of the device surfaces, evaluation of the chemical degradation and fluids absorption on the devices and examination of the morphological and mechanical features.

Effect of ceria structural properties on the catalytic activity of Au-CeO2 catalysts for WGS reaction.

Two gold based catalysts supported on ceria prepared by different methods (urea gelation coprecipitation, UGC, and coprecipitation, CP) have been synthesized and tested in the WGS reaction, showing quite different catalytic behaviors. Interestingly, the two catalysts have the same gold loading (3 wt% Au was inserted by deposition-precipitation) and the FTIR spectroscopy of the adsorbed CO revealed the same amount of gold exposed sites. With the aim to elucidate how the preparation method affects the properties of the support, a morphological, structural and textural characterization has been performed by HRTEM, XRD, BET and Raman analyses, as well as FTIR spectroscopy to probe both the Au and the support exposed sites.

Soft synthesis of isocyanate-functionalised metal-organic frameworks.

We have developed an original synthetic pathway for the conversion of a MIL-68(In)-NH(2) metal-organic framework into its corresponding isocyanate (-NCO) derivative. This two-step soft post-modification technique leads to highly porous isostructural materials.

HYSCORE and Davies ENDOR study of irradiated ultra high molecular weight polyethylene.

Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has been studied with different magnetic resonance techniques to elicit information on the nature and the location of radicals generated during high energy irradiation. Field swept electron paramagnetic resonance, pulsed Davies electron nuclear double resonance and hyperfine sublevel correlation spectroscopic measurements allowed extracting for the first time the full (1) H hyperfine coupling tensors of the most abundant radical, i.e.

Low temperature activation and reactivity of CO2 over a Cr(II)-based heterogeneous catalyst: a spectroscopic study.

A new heterogeneous catalyst for CO(2) activation was identified in the Cr(II)/SiO(2) Phillips catalyst, one of the most important catalysts used industrially for olefin polymerization. Interestingly, it was found that Cr(II)/SiO(2) strongly activates CO(2) already at room temperature, making it available for chemicals synthesis. A preliminary attempt in this direction was done by following the reaction of CO(2) with ethylene oxide at room temperature by means of FT-IR spectroscopy, which showed the formation of ethylene carbonate.