Rapid Microstructure Homogenization of a Laser Melting Deposition Additive Manufactured Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si Alloy by Electropulsing.

The typical microstructure of the laser melting deposition (LMD) additive-manufactured Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si alloy (TC11) contains the heat-affected bands (HABs), the narrow bands (NBs) and the melting pools (MPs) that formed due to the reheating and superheating effects during the layer-by-layer manufacturing process. Characterization results indicated that the coarse primary α lath (αp) and transformed ß (ßt) structures were located in the HABs, while the fine basketweave structure was formed inside the MPs. The rapid modifications of microstructure and tensile properties of the LMD-TC11 via electropulsing treatment (EPT) were investigated. The initial heterogeneous microstructure transformed into a complete basketweave structure and the HABs vanished after EPT. Thus, a more homogeneous microstructure was achieved in the EPT sample. The ultrafast microstructural changes were mainly attributed to the solid state phase transformation during electropulsing. The tensile properties of the sample were basically stable, except that the yield strength decreased as EPT voltage increased. This study suggests that EPT could be a promising method to modify the microstructure and mechanical properties of the additive-manufactured alloys in a very short time.

Nanostructured gel scaffolds for osteogenesis through biological assembly of biopolymers via specific nucleobase pairing.

Biopolymer-based gel scaffolds have great potential in the field of tissue regenerative medicine. In this work, a nanostructured biopolymer gel scaffold via specific pairing of functionalized nucleobases was developed for specifically targeted drug delivery and in vitro osteogenesis. The biopolymer gel system was established by the Watson-Crick base pairing between thymine and adenine via the hydrogen bonding. As gel scaffold precursors, opposite charged polysaccharide derivatives, e.g. quaternized cellulose and heparin, could be additionally crosslinked by extra electrostatic interactions. The potential application of this gel scaffold in bone tissue engineering was confirmed by encapsulation behavior of osteoblasts. In combination with cell growth factor, e.g. bone morphogenetic protein, the nanostructured gel scaffold exhibited beneficial effects on osteoblast activity and differentiation, which suggested a promising future for local treatment of pathologies involving bone loss.