BACKGROUND Numerous studies have reported that microgrooves on metal and polymer materials can affect cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation and guidance. However, our knowledge of the cell activity associated with microgrooves on ceramics, such as alumina, zirconia, hydroxyapatite and etc, is very incomplete, owing to difficulties in the engraving of microgrooves on the hard surface of ...

Lanthanide (Ln3+) doping in alumina has shown great promise for stabilizing and promoting desirable phase formation to achieve optimized physical and chemical properties. However, doping alumina with Ln elements is generally accompanied by formation of new phases (i.e. LnAlO3, Ln2O3), and therefore inclusion of Ln-doping mechanisms for phase stabilization of the alumina lattice is indispensable...

This paper considers the degradation of alumina and zirconia toughened alumina vs. alumina for hip implants. The materials are as assumed to be load bearing surfaces subjected to shocks in wet conditions. The load is a peak of force; 9 kN was applied over 15 ms at 2 Hz for 800,000 cycles. The volumetric wear and roughness are lower for ZTA than for alumina. The long ZTA ageing did not seem to h...

An alumina-supported nickel catalyst was prepared by impregnation of Ni2+ solution onto mesoporous alumina under microwave irradiation (denoted as M-Ni/Al2O3). For comparison, a catalyst with the same nickel content was prepared by conventional impregnation method (denoted as UM-Ni/Al2O3). Both M-Ni/Al2O3 and UM-Ni/Al2O3 catalysts were applied to the syngas (H2 + CO) production by methane oxy-s...

Anodic porous alumina has been widely investigated and used as a nanostructure template in various nanoapplications. The porous structure consists of numerous hexagonal cells perpendicular to the aluminum substrate and each cell has several tens or hundreds of nanoscale pores at its center. Because the nanomorphology of anodic porous alumina is limited by the electrolyte during anodizing, the d...

Experimental researches on adsorptive capacity of activated alumina, silica sand and anthracite coal for phosphorus were conducted. Results showed that performances of three filter media were all in line with Langmuir isotherm, and activated alumina adsorptive performance was much better than silica sand and anthracite coal for phosphorus removal. The adsorptive capacity of activated alumina, s...

Mono-phase bio-ceramics (alumina and zirconia) are widely used as femoral heads in total hip replacements (THR) as an alternative to metal devices. Unfortunately, the orthopaedic community reports significant in-vivo failures. Material scientists are already familiar with composites like alumina zirconia. Since both are biocompatible, this could prove to be a new approach to implants. This pape...

The transport of pure gases and of binary gas mixtures through a microporous composite membrane is discussed. The membrane consists of an alumina support with a mean pore diameter of 160 nm and an alumina top (separation) layer with pores of 2-4 nm. The theory of Knudsen diffusion, laminar flow and surface diffusion is used to describe the transport mechanisms. It appears for the composite memb...