Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

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Calcium phosphate cements (CPCs), using B-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP, Ca3 (P04)2), dicalcium phosphate (DCP, CaHP04), calcium carbonate (Ca CO3), and hydroxylapatite (HAp, Ca10(P04)6(OH)2) as powder cement and disodium hydrogen phosphate (Na2HP04) solution as liquid component were prepared. After mixing the powder and liquid constituents, injectable and self-setting calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) were prepared with different liquid to powder ratios (UP) that formed hydroxylapatite and ß-tricalcium phosphate as the only end products, which were characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM techniques. The results showed that, at certain concentration of Na2HP04 (6 wt%), the initial and final setting times decreased by decreasing the UP ratio.

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Abstract: The PZT-based ceramics with a composition of Pb1.1-xLax (Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3, were prepared by conventional mixed oxide followed by mechanical alloying and sol-gel methods in which x was chosen in the range of 0.02–0.06. The samples were calcined in the range of 450 °C - 750 °C for 4h. The physical and electrical properties of the samples were determined as a function of the calcination temperature. The obtained data from two methods were compared with conventional mixed oxide method. Microstructural and compositional analyses of the samples were carried out using XRD and SEM. Dielectric properties of the samples were measured with an impedance analyzer. The ferroelectric properties of the PZT and PLZT samples were measured using the frequencies applying equipment and d33 tester. The results indicated a complete tetragonal phase prepared from both methods. It was shown that the addition of La and reduction in calcination temperature improved both the dielectric and piezoelectric properties. The dielectric constant tended to increase with doping content, giving the maximum value of about 2000 at 3 mol% La3+. In addition, the mechanical coupling factor (Qm) of the doped samples showed a significant decrease. Finally, the value of planar coupling factor (kp) reached the maximum value of 0.47 at 1 mol% La3+.

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In the present study, bioceramic composites based hydroxyapatite (HAp) reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was synthesized via sol-gel technique. The dried gels were individually heated at a rate of 5°C/min up to 600°C for 2 h in a muffle furnace in order to obtain HAp-MWCNTs mixed powder. Composites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TEM/SAED/EDX and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Results showed the synthesis of HAp particles in the MWCNTs sol which was prepared in advance, leads to an excellent dispersion of MWCNTs in HAp matrix. Apparent average size of crystallites increased by increasing the percentage of MWCNTs. The average crystallite size of samples (at 600°C), estimated by Scherrer’s equation was found to be ~50-60 nm and was confirmed by TEM. MWCNTs kept their cylindrical graphitic structure in composites and pinned and fastened HAp by the formation of hooks and bridges.

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Ceramic-matrix composites containing TiC-TiN have been used in a variety of application because of their superior properties such as high hardness, good wear resistance and high chemical stability. In this research, effect of coke and coke/calcium beds in synthesis of Al 2O3-Ti(C, N) composites using alumino-carbothermic reduction of TiO 2 has been investigated. Al, TiO 2 and active carbon with additives of extra carbon and NaCl and without additives, in separate procedures, have been mixed. Afterwards, mixtures were pressed and synthesized in 1200oC for 4hrs, in coke and coke/calcium beds, separately. Al 2O3-Ti(C,N) composite was synthesized in ternary system of Al-TiO 2 -C with excess carbon and NaCl additives in calcium/coke bed in 1200 . X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) results showed that existence of calcium in bed resulted in intensification of reduction atmosphere in samples and formation of Ti(C,N) phase enriched from carbon was accelerated. Crystallite sizes of synthesis Ti(C,N) at 1200 °C in reducing conditions were 22-28 nm.

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Synthesis of materials at nano scale is one of the main challenges in nanotechnology for different applications such as semiconductor, superconductors, electro-optics devices, advanced ceramics, refractories, diagnostic imaging and drug delivery. Semiconductors nanocrystals, known as “Quantum Dots”, have emerged as new generation of nanomaterials due to their unique optical, electrical and electrochemical properties, for variety of applications such as contrasts agents, fluorescent labels, localized targeted drug delivery and new generation of biosensors. Quantum dots advantages over traditional nanomaterials are due to quantum confinement effect, which bring broad absorption spectra, superior brightness and durability for different applications. The most important factor in developing nano carriers for biological applications is the toxicity, so recent researches have been focused on heavy metal-free formulations and nontoxic ceramics and polymers. So, one of the main goals in this paper is to explicate efficiencies and deficiencies of recent advances in quantum dot based formulations with the least toxicity for bioimaging, therapeutic and drug delivery applications. Another area of quantum dot’s application is the determination of dopamine (DA). Due to basic role of DA in some diseases like Parkinson and Schizophrenia, its determination is important and thus, it is desirable to develop new, simple and rapid analytical methods for the determination of DA with high selectivity and sensitivity, especially for diagnostic applications. Recently, developments in nanotechnology and preparations of semiconductors quantum dots cause open a new field in photo-electrochemical methods based on semiconductors quantum dots for determination of DA. In this review, an attempt was made to elaborate the mentioned goals of the paper in details.

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The graphene oxide -TiO₂ (GO-TiO₂) and pre-reduced graphene oxide -TiO₂ (rGO-TiO₂) nanocomposites were fabricated successfully by hydrothermal method. The microstructure of synthesized nanocomposites was investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. Moreover, galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods in three electrode system were applied to evaluate electrochemical properties. The results revealed that nanoparticles distributed more uniformly on graphene sheets, at lower concentrations of TiO₂. The rGO-TiO₂ and GO-TiO₂ nanocomposites showed 224 and 32 F/g specific capacitance at 5 mV s^-1 scan rate in 1 M KOH aqueous electrolyte, respectively. The pre-reduction of graphene oxide is the main reason for the better electrochemical performance of rGO-TiO₂ nanocomposite compared to GO-TiO₂ nanocomposite.

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Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) with a continuous and mesoporous silica (m-SiO₂) shell were synthesized using a one-step method, sourcing silica from rice husk ash (RHA). The rice husk was thermally treated to obtain ash, from which silica was extracted as sodium silicate and precipitated by pH reduction. This silica powder, combined with iron chloride salts, facilitated the synthesis of the core-shell NPs. Mint extract acted as a capping agent to prevent agglomeration, and CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) was used to create the porous SiO₂ shell. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization investigated the structure, size, and shell formation. Coating integrity and suspension stability were assessed through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). DLS analysis showed a relatively narrow particle size distribution with an average hydrodynamic size of 72.6 nm. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) provided insights into the meso- and nanoscale structure, while BET and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms confirmed the mesoporous nature of the silica shell. Magnetization measurements showed superparamagnetic behavior, with specific magnetization values of 57.9 emu/g for Fe₃O₄ and 27.5 emu/g for Fe₃O₄@m-SiO₂. These results confirm the successful synthesis of superparamagnetic magnetite NPs with a mesoporous silica coating from RHA.