INTRODUCTION In recent years there has been a steep increase in the number of orthopedic patients for many reasons. One major reason is osteomyelitis, caused by pyrogenic bacteria, with progressive infection of the bone or bone marrow and surrounding tissues. So antibiotics must be introduced during bone implantation to avoid prolonged infection. AIM The objective of the study reported here w...

In this study, new composite bisphosphonate delivery systems were obtained from polyurethanes (PUs) and nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HA). The biodegradable PUs were first synthesized from poly(ε-caprolactone) diols (PCL diols), poly(ethylene adipate) diol, 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate, 1,4-butanediol and HA. Moreover, the PCL diols were synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization cataly...

The remanence of an isotropic nanocrystalline exchange-coupled composite system (comprising hard and soft magnetic phases) is investigated analytically within a simple (onedimensional) micromagnetic model, in which only exchange and anisotropy energies are considered. For a soft grain with size much less than its own Bloch wall width, our analysis shows that the magnetization distribution in th...

Vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) Si nanotowers were coated with nanocrystalline SiC to form a Si-SiC core-shell composite. Due to a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE), the Si core was under a compressive stress following the deposition. The composite tower was then cross-sectioned using focused ion beam milling, exposing the Si core. Indentation into the Si showed an increased toug...

Composites of nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (NRGO) and nanocrystalline tin sulfides were synthesized, and their performance as lithium ion battery anodes was evaluated. Following the first cycle the composite consisted of Li2S/LixSn/NRGO. The conductive NRGO cushions the stress associated with the expansion of lithiation of Sn, and the noncycling Li2S increases the residual Coulombic ca...

The precursors of SnO2 or In2O3/SnO2 nanocrystlline powders have been prepared by the sol-precipitation method. The precursors were calcined at different temperatures to prepare SnO2 or In2O3/SnO2 nanocrystalline powders with different particle sizes. The nanocrystallites were examined by differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). An...

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)/ceria composite fibres were synthesized by using a sequential combination of polymer electrospinning, spray-coating with a sol, and a final calcination step to yield microstructured ceria tubes, which are composed of nanocrystalline ceria particles. The PMMA template is removed from the organic/inorganic hybrid material by radio frequency (rf) plasma etching follow...

This study explores a new concept of the synergy between two constituent shape memory alloys (SMAs) in composite to achieve wide superelastic temperature window. In this work, nanocrystalline NiTi/NiTiNbFe dual-SMA is designed, which SMAs are both capable stress-induced martensitic transformation, but within different ranges. Based on principle lattice strain matching SMAs, transformation one i...

The purpose of this research is to develop an optimal method for synthesizing of nanocrystalline Al2O3 monolayers at high growth rates on cemented carbides coated with an intermediate layer of pre-Al2O3-C (composite layers Al2O3-C/Al2O3). The use of quartz glass substrate allows for obtaining information about the quality of the layers such the thickness and density, because of its high transpa...