National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Durable biocompatible metal vascular implants are still one of the significant challenges of contemporary medicine. This work presents the preparation of ferromagnetic biomaterials with shape memory in metal strips based on FePd (30 at% Pd) that is either not doped or doped with Ga and Mn, coated with poly(benzofuran-co-arylacetic acid) or polyglutamic acid. The coating of the metal strips with polymers was achieved after the metal surface had been previously treated with open-air cold plasma. The final functionalization was performed to induce anti-thrombogenic/thrombolytic properties in the resulting materials. SEM-EDX microscopy and X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS) determined the morphology and composition of the metal strips covered with polymers. In vitro tests of standardized thromboplastin time (PTT) and prothrombin time (PT) were performed to evaluate the thrombogenicity of these biofunctionalized materials for future possible monitoring of the implant in patients.

Boron powders with Mg were coated with polytrifluorochloroethylene (PCTFE, fluorine content is 52.6 wt%) and perfluoropelargonic acid (PFPA, fluorine content is 69.6 wt%). They were used to fabricate propellants that were burnt in a reaction chamber designed and fabricated in our lab. Combustion products were studied by Raman spectroscopy, powder agglomeration analysis, electron microscopy, and thermal analysis. Results indicate that surface modification of the initial powder by fluorine-containing components decrease the agglomeration of the combustion products and the strongest effect is for PCTFE. Powders microstructural features and thermal stability of the coatings are discussed as being at the origin of different behavior during combustion of the propellants.(c) 2021 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ferrofluids investigated along for about five decades are ultrastable colloidal suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles, which manifest simultaneously fluid and magnetic properties. Their magnetically controllable and tunable feature proved to be from the beginning an extremely fertile ground for a wide range of engineering applications. More recently, biocompatible ferrofluids attracted huge interest and produced a considerable increase of the applicative potential in nanomedicine, biotechnology and environmental protection. This paper offers a brief overview of the most relevant early results and a comprehensive description of recent achievements in ferrofluid synthesis, advanced characterization, as well as the governing equations of ferrohydrodynamics, the most important interfacial phenomena and the flow properties. Finally, it provides an overview of recent advances in tunable and adaptive multifunctional materials derived from ferrofluids and a detailed presentation of the recent progress of applications in the field of sensors and actuators, ferrofluid-driven assembly and manipulation, droplet technology, including droplet generation and control, mechanical actuation, liquid computing and robotics.

MoO2-Fe2O3 nanoparticle systems were successfully synthesized by mechanochemical activation of MoO2 and alpha-Fe2O3 equimolar mixtures throughout 0-12 h of ball-milling. The role of the long-range ferromagnetism of MoO2 on a fraction of more defect hematite nanoparticles supporting a defect antiferromagnetic phase down to the lowest temperatures was investigated in this work. The structure and the size evolution of the nanoparticles were investigated by X-ray diffraction, whereas the magnetic properties were investigated by SQUID magnetometry. The local electronic structure and the specific phase evolution in the analyzed system versus the milling time were investigated by temperature-dependent Mossbauer spectroscopy. The substantially shifted magnetic hysteresis loops were interpreted in terms of the unidirectional anisotropy induced by pinning the long-range ferromagnetic order of the local net magnetic moments in the defect antiferromagnetic phase, as mediated by the diluted magnetic oxide phase of MoO2, to those less defect hematite nanoparticles supporting Morin transition. The specific evolutions of the exchange bias and of the coercive field versus temperature in the samples were interpreted in the frame of the specific phase evolution pointed out by Mossbauer spectroscopy. Depending on the milling time, a different fraction of defect hematite nanoparticles is formed. Less nanoparticles supporting the Morin transition are formed for samples exposed to a longer milling time, with a direct influence on the induced unidirectional anisotropy and related effects.

Despite being the lightest element in the periodic table, hydrogen poses many risks regarding its production, storage, and transport, but it is also the one element promising pollution-free energy for the planet, energy reliability, and sustainability. Development of such novel materials conveying a hydrogen source face stringent scrutiny from both a scientific and a safety point of view: they are required to have a high hydrogen wt.% storage capacity, must store hydrogen in a safe manner (i.e., by chemically binding it), and should exhibit controlled, and preferably rapid, absorption-desorption kinetics. Even the most advanced composites today face the difficult task of overcoming the harsh re-hydrogenation conditions (elevated temperature, high hydrogen pressure). Traditionally, the most utilized materials have been RMH (reactive metal hydrides) and complex metal borohydrides M(BH4)(x) (M: main group or transition metal; x: valence of M), often along with metal amides or various additives serving as catalysts (Pd2+, Ti4+ etc.). Through destabilization (kinetic or thermodynamic), M(BH4)(x) can effectively lower their dehydrogenation enthalpy, providing for a faster reaction occurring at a lower temperature onset. The present review summarizes the recent scientific results on various metal borohydrides, aiming to present the current state-of-the-art on such hydrogen storage materials, while trying to analyze the pros and cons of each material regarding its thermodynamic and kinetic behavior in hydrogenation studies.

We report the mechanical behavior of a bulk boron ceramic prepared by spark plasma sintering of commercially available beta-boron powder. In order to fabricate polycrystalline boron ceramic, we used a protective tantalum foil reacted with carbon from the graphite die or graphite foil forming a thin layer of TaB2 and TaC covering the boron specimen. This is the first study to show the high-temperature flexural strength, toughness, and Young's moduli of boron up to 1400 degrees C. At 1600 degrees C and above, boron will react with testing environment forming an outer shell. The flexural strength and fracture toughness at room temperature reached an average of 340 MPa and 4.1 MPa m (1/2) , respectively. Despite showing clear signs of plastic deformation on the strain-stress curves, the yield strength of the monolithic boron ceramic exceed 1 GPa at 1200 degrees C. It was determined that fracture at elevated temperatures follows a quasi-transgranular mechanism, where the sub-grains of the boron fracture as plate-like structures. An interpretation for the observed fracture behavior was proposed.

This paper presents the effect of Mn2+ substitution for Co2+, in CoFe2O4 embedded in SiO2 matrix, on the structural, surface, morphological and magnetic properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Mossbauer spectroscopy indicate the presence of a nanocrystalline mixed cubic spinel. In all cases, for the nanocomposites (NCs) heat-treated at 200 degrees C, a single, low crystalline ferrite phase was remarked, while for the other heat-treatment temperatures up to 1200 degrees C and with increasing Mn content, the secondary phase of alpha-Fe2O3 appears, accompanied also by the secondary phase of SiO2 at 1200 degrees C. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy confirms the consumption of starting metallic nitrates, the formation of Co-O, Mn-O, Fe-O bonds in ferrites@SiO2 matrix. The Mossbauer spectra show the characteristic magnetic patterns of Co and Mn spinels. According to the atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis, the particle size increases from 15 to 80 nm with the increase of Mn content. The specific surface area varies in the range 150-450 m(2)/g due to the substitution of Co2+ ion with Mn2+ ion and decreases with increasing heat treatment temperature, reaching values below 1 m(2)/g at 1200 degrees C. All NCs have pores within the mesoporous range, with high dispersion of pores' sizes. Furthermore, the release of fine nanoparticles in aqueous environment is facilitated by the powders' mesoporous structure preserved at 200, 500 and 800 degrees C heat treatment temperatures. The porous network collapse after heat treatment at 1200 degrees C leads to releasing of bigger nanoparticles, in good agreement with AFM observation. Magnetization, coercivity and anisotropy evolve proportionally with the particle size for the NCs heat-treated at 800 degrees C (M-s = 18.9-36.3 emu/g; M-R = 3.05-14.1 emu/g, H-c = 31.83-53.2 kA/m, K= 0.378.10(-3) -1.21.10(-3) erg/cm(-1)) and inverse proportionally for those heat-treated at 1200 degrees C (M-s = 30.7-19.4 emu/g; M-R = 11.60 7.20 emu/g, H-c= 127.3-15.9 kA/m, K= 2.45.10(-3)-0.19.10(-3) erg/cm(-1)). The NCs with high Mn content heat-treated at 1200 degrees C show superparamagnetic behavior, while those with low Mn content display ferrimagnetic behavior. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this work, thermoelectric properties of the nanocomposite materials produced via ball milling followed by spark plasma sintering from In0.2Yb0.2Co4Sb12 double filled skutterudite (SKT) with silicon and tungsten carbide inclusions are investigated. The nanocomposites with low volume ratios of beta-SiC and '-WC have a significantly increased power factor, while the lattice thermal conductivity is lowered only for beta-SiC composites. The power factor enhancement in '-WC/SKT composite compensates the increase of its thermal conductivity, and as a consequence, the maximum value of the figure of merit, 0.97, is attained for 0.33 v% 'WC at 450 degrees C, with 15% higher than that of the simple skutterudite sample. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Magnetic ceramic nanoparticles system xNd(2)O(3)-(1-x)alpha-Fe2O3 (x = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) was synthesized by mechanochemical activation starting from hematite and neodymium oxide precursors and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Rietveld refinement of XRD data evidenced the formation of neodymium orthoferrite NdFeO3 as an end-product with a particle size of about 22 nm, determined using the Scherrer method for x = 0.5. The Mossbauer spectra were typically analyzed considering 2 sextets, corresponding to hematite and neodymium orthoferrite and a doublet, representing superparamagnetic particles (SPM). The recoilless fractions were determined using our dual absorber method and were found consistent with a decrease in particle size as consequence of the ball milling process performed.

Zr0.8Sn0.2TiO3 (ZST) powders synthesized by solid-state reaction were subject to processing by spark plasma sintering (SPS). A single-phase ceramic with a high relative density of 95.7% and 99.6% was obtained for sintering temperatures of 1150 degrees C and 1200 degrees C, respectively, and for a dwell time of 3 min. In order to reduce the oxygen vacancies, as-sintered discs were annealed in air at 1000 degrees C. The dielectric loss of the annealed samples, expressed by the Q x f product, measured in the microwave (MW) domain, varied between 35 THz and 50 THz. The intrinsic losses (Q x f ~ 60 THz) were derived by using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS).