Biomechanical Performances of Networked Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate: Effect of Photoinitiator Concentration, Temperature, and Incubation Time.

Nutrient conduit networks can be introduced within the Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate (PEGDA) tissue construct to enable cells to survive in the scaffold. Nutrient conduit networks can be created on PEGDA by macrochannel to nanochannel fabrication techniques. Such networks can influence the mechanical and cell activities of PEGDA scaffold. There is no study conducted to evaluate the effect of nutrient conduit networks on the maximum tensile stress and cell activities of the tissue scaffold. The study aimed to explore the influence of the network architecture on the maximum tensile stress of PEGDA scaffold and compared with the nonnetworked PEGDA scaffold. Our study found that there are 1.78 and 2.23 times decrease of maximum tensile stress due to the introduction of nutrient conduit networks to the PEGDA scaffold at 23°C and 37°C temperature conditions, respectively. This study also found statistically significant effect of network architecture, PI concentration, temperature, and wait time on the maximum failure stress of PEGDA samples (P value < 0.05). Cell viability results demonstrated that networked PEGDA hydrogels possessed increased viability compared to nonnetworked and decreased viability with increased photoinitiator concentrations. The results of this study can be used for the design of PEGDA scaffold with macrosize nutrient conduit network channels.

Effect of additive particles on mechanical, thermal, and cell functioning properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) cement.

The most common bone cement material used clinically today for orthopedic surgery is poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Conventional PMMA bone cement has several mechanical, thermal, and biological disadvantages. To overcome these problems, researchers have investigated combinations of PMMA bone cement and several bioactive particles (micrometers to nanometers in size), such as magnesium oxide, hydroxyapatite, chitosan, barium sulfate, and silica. A study comparing the effect of these individual additives on the mechanical, thermal, and cell functional properties of PMMA would be important to enable selection of suitable additives and design improved PMMA cement for orthopedic applications. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the effect of inclusion of magnesium oxide, hydroxyapatite, chitosan, barium sulfate, and silica additives in PMMA on the mechanical, thermal, and cell functional performance of PMMA. American Society for Testing and Materials standard three-point bend flexural and fracture tests were conducted to determine the flexural strength, flexural modulus, and fracture toughness of the different PMMA samples. A custom-made temperature measurement system was used to determine maximum curing temperature and the time needed for each PMMA sample to reach its maximum curing temperature. Osteoblast adhesion and proliferation experiments were performed to determine cell viability using the different PMMA cements. We found that flexural strength and fracture toughness were significantly greater for PMMA specimens that incorporated silica than for the other specimens. All additives prolonged the time taken to reach maximum curing temperature and significantly improved cell adhesion of the PMMA samples. The results of this study could be useful for improving the union of implant-PMMA or bone-PMMA interfaces by incorporating nanoparticles into PMMA cement for orthopedic and orthodontic applications.

Thermal explosion in Al-Ni system: influence of mechanical activation.

The influence of short-term (5-15 min) highly energetic ball milling on the ignition characteristics of a gasless heterogeneous Ni-Al reactive system has been investigated. By using Al-Ni clad particles (30-40 microm diameter Al spheres coated by a 3-3.5 microm layer of Ni, that corresponds to a 1:1 Ni/Al atomic ratio), it was shown that such mechanical treatment leads to a significant decrease in the self-ignition temperature of the system. For example, after 15 min of ball milling, the ignition temperature appears to be approximately 600 K, well below the eutectic (913 K) in the considered binary system, which is the ignition temperature for the initial clad particles. Thus, it was demonstrated that the thermal explosion process for mechanically treated reactive media can be solely defined by solid-state reactions. Additionally, thermal analysis measurements revealed that mechanical activation results in a substantial decrease in the effective activation energy (from 84 to 28 kcal/mol) of interaction between Al and Ni. This effect, that is, mechanical activation of chemical reaction, is connected to a substantial increase of contact area between reactive particles and fresh interphase boundaries formed in an inert atmosphere during ball milling. It is also important that by varying the time of mechanical activation one can precisely control the ignition temperature in high-density energetic heterogeneous systems.

Novel apparatus for joining of carbon-carbon composites.

A novel apparatus for joining carbon-carbon (C-C) composites is presented. This device was designed and built based on the concept of self-sustained oxygen-free high-temperature reactions. A layer of reactive mixture is contained between two disks of C-C composite that are to be joined. The stack is held in place between two electrodes, which are connected to a dc power supply. dc current is used to uniformly initiate the reaction in the reactive layer. The electrodes are also part of the pneumatic system, which applies a load to the stack. The designed hydraulic system is effective, lending to low cost and simplified, rapid, accurate operation. It provides a very short response time ( approximately 10 ms), which is important for the considered applications. All operational parameters such as initial and final loads, applied current, delay time between ignition and final load application, duration of Joule heating, and safety interlocks are controlled by a programable logic controller system. These features make it an efficient, user-friendly and safe machine to join refractory materials. The entire joining process takes place on the order of seconds, rather than hours as required for solid-state joining methods. The mechanical properties of the obtained joints are higher than those for the C-C composites.