Characterizing Hierarchical Structures of Natural Ivory

1991 ◽  
Vol 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. B. Zhang ◽  
F. Z. Cui ◽  
S. Wang ◽  
H. D. Li

AbstractThis paper presents a detailed investigation of the hierarchical and structural organization of the collagen-based aggregates in ivory. Ivory from African elephants is selected as the prototype in this study. A sophisticated architecture composed of collagen fibers and hydroxyapatite-like particles is revealed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction and TEN with selected area diffraction are employed to analyze the structure. Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis and infrared absorption spectroscopy give information about the composition and chemical environment of the atoms in ivory. It is found that the structure of ivory has a three-level hierarchical organization, which includes both organic and inorganic materials. In the structure the inorganic material exists inside an organic framework, located outside of the collagen fibrils in the extrafibrillar volume. This inorganic structure has a polycrystalline form. Both the chemical compositions and the chemical environment of the atoms in the hydroxyapatite-like particles in ivory are different from those in natural hydroxyapatite.

Clay Minerals ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dekayir ◽  
M. Amouric ◽  
J. Olives

AbstractClay minerals occur as replacements of olivine, pyroxenes, plagioclase and interstitial materials, and as vesicle fillings, in altered basalts from the Middle Atlas (Morocco). Phyllosilicates are the main components of this alteration process. They have been characterized here by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy as saponite, talc, corrensite and chlorite. The homogeneity of the chemical compositions of these phyllosilicates, in different alteration environments, probably means that they are controlled by the composition of the hydrothermal fluid. Talc-saponite-corrensite (with dominant saponite) is the clay mineral association most frequently observed (corrensite being more abundant in the vesicular levels of the basalts). Such an association, with no evidence of albite and zeolite, suggests that these basalts have suffered minimal alteration at relatively low temperatures. Another association, chlorite-corrensite, was detected in a deeper (vesicular) sample, probably resulting from a slightly higher temperature. Lastly, only discrete phyllosilicates (i.e. no random mixed-layer minerals) were observed. This suggests that near-equilibrium conditions prevailed during this alteration stage and that a dissolution-crystallization process was the main mechanism of transformation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-32
Author(s):  
Andreas Taubert

The synthesis of inorganic materials of a specific size and shape is a key aspect in modern powder technology. During the past two decades, solution-based precipitation reactions have been explored for controlled particle formation. A wide variety of particle shapes, sizes, and compositions has been demonstrated. However, several questions, especially concerning particle nucleation, remain. Some of these questions are currently addressed by investigating precipitate (ex situ) at different reaction stages by means of powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Karamian ◽  
Amirsalar Khandan ◽  
Mahmood Reza Kalantar Motamedi ◽  
Hesam Mirmohammadi

The surface characteristics of implant which influence the speed and strength of osseointegration include surface chemistry, crystal structure and crystallinity, roughness, strain hardening, and presence of impurities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the bioactivity and roughness of a novel natural hydroxyapatite/zircon (NHA/zircon) nanobiocomposite, coated on 316L stainless steel (SS) soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF). NHA/zircon nanobiocomposite was fabricated with 0 wt.%, 5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, and 15 wt.% of zircon in NHA using ball mill for 20 minutes. The composite mixture was coated on 316L SS using plasma spray method. The results are estimated using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation to evaluate surface morphology, X-ray diffraction (XRD) to analyze phase composition, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique to evaluate the shape and size of prepared NHA. Surfaces roughness tester was performed to characterize the coated nanocomposite samples. The maximum averageRa(14.54 μm) was found in the NHA 10 wt.% of zircon coating. In addition, crystallinity (Xc) was measured by XRD data, which indicated the minimum value (Xc = 41.1%) for the sample containing 10 wt.% of zircon. Maximum bioactivity occurred in the sample containing 10 wt.% of zircon, which was due to two reasons: first, the maximum roughness and, second, the minimum crystallinity of nanobiocomposite coating.


Author(s):  
R. Gronsky

The phenomenon of clustering in Al-Ag alloys has been extensively studied since the early work of Guinierl, wherein the pre-precipitation state was characterized as an assembly of spherical, ordered, silver-rich G.P. zones. Subsequent x-ray and TEM investigations yielded results in general agreement with this model. However, serious discrepancies were later revealed by the detailed x-ray diffraction - based computer simulations of Gragg and Cohen, i.e., the silver-rich clusters were instead octahedral in shape and fully disordered, atleast below 170°C. The object of the present investigation is to examine directly the structural characteristics of G.P. zones in Al-Ag by high resolution transmission electron microscopy.


Author(s):  
Vicki L. Baliga ◽  
Mary Ellen Counts

Calcium is an important element in the growth and development of plants and one form of calcium is calcium oxalate. Calcium oxalate has been found in leaf seed, stem material plant tissue culture, fungi and lichen using one or more of the following methods—polarized light microscopy (PLM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffraction.Two methods are presented here for qualitatively estimating calcium oxalate in dried or fixed tobacco (Nicotiana) leaf from different stalk positions using PLM. SEM, coupled with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS), and powder x-ray diffraction were used to verify that the crystals observed in the dried leaf with PLM were calcium oxalate.


Author(s):  
J. T. Sizemore ◽  
D. G. Schlom ◽  
Z. J. Chen ◽  
J. N. Eckstein ◽  
I. Bozovic ◽  
...  

Investigators observe large critical currents for superconducting thin films deposited epitaxially on single crystal substrates. The orientation of these films is often characterized by specifying the unit cell axis that is perpendicular to the substrate. This omits specifying the orientation of the other unit cell axes and grain boundary angles between grains of the thin film. Misorientation between grains of YBa2Cu3O7−δ decreases the critical current, even in those films that are c axis oriented. We presume that these results are similar for bismuth based superconductors and report the epitaxial orientations and textures observed in such films.Thin films of nominally Bi2Sr2CaCu2Ox were deposited on MgO using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These films were in situ grown (during growth oxygen was incorporated and the films were not oxygen post-annealed) and shuttering was used to encourage c axis growth. Other papers report the details of the synthesis procedure. The films were characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).


Author(s):  
G. A. Bertero ◽  
W.H. Hofmeister ◽  
N.D. Evans ◽  
J.E. Wittig ◽  
R.J. Bayuzick

Rapid solidification of Ni-Nb alloys promotes the formation of amorphous structure. Preliminary results indicate promising elastic properties and high fracture strength for the metallic glass. Knowledge of the thermal stability of the amorphus alloy and the changes in properties with temperature is therefore of prime importance. In this work rapidly solidified Ni-Nb alloys were analyzed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) during in-situ heating experiments and after isothermal annealing of bulk samples. Differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were also used to characterize both the solidification and devitrification sequences.Samples of Ni-44 at.% Nb were electromagnetically levitated, melted, and rapidly solidified by splatquenching between two copper chill plates. The resulting samples were 100 to 200 μm thick discs of 2 to 3 cm diameter. TEM specimens were either ion-milled or alternatively electropolished in a methanol-10% sulphuric acid solution at 20 V and −40°C.


Author(s):  
R H Dixon ◽  
P Kidd ◽  
P J Goodhew

Thick relaxed InGaAs layers grown epitaxially on GaAs are potentially useful substrates for growing high indium percentage strained layers. It is important that these relaxed layers are defect free and have a good surface morphology for the subsequent growth of device structures.3μm relaxed layers of InxGa1-xAs were grown on semi - insulating GaAs substrates by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), where the indium composition ranged from x=0.1 to 1.0. The interface, bulk and surface of the layers have been examined in planar view and cross-section by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The surface morphologies have been characterised by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and the bulk lattice perfection of the layers assessed using Double Crystal X-ray Diffraction (DCXRD).The surface morphology has been found to correlate with the growth conditions, with the type of defects grown-in to the layer (e.g. stacking faults, microtwins), and with the nature and density of dislocations in the interface.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 6801-6810
Author(s):  
Rahmayeni Rahmayeni ◽  
Zulhadjri Zulhadjri ◽  
Yeni Stiadi ◽  
Agusnar Harry ◽  
Syukri Arief

Nanocomposite ZnO/ZnFe2O4 photocatalysts with different proportions of ZnFe2O4 were synthesized in organic-free media using metal nitric as precursors. The ZnO phase with hexagonal wurtzite structure and low crystallinity of ZnFe2O4 was confirmed using XRD (X-Ray diffraction). Different morphologies of the nanocomposites were obtained ranging from rice grain-like with a porous surface to homogeneous sphere-like nanoparticles as shown in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and TEM Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) studies. Magnetic properties measured by Visible Sampler Magnetometer (VSM) showed diamagnetic and paramagnetic behavior for the nanocomposites. Analysis with Diffuse Reflectance Spectrophotometer (DRS) UV-vis showed an increase the composition of ferrite in composites increasing its ability to absorb visible light. Photocatalytic activities of ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites on the degradation of Rhodamine B dye reached 95.6% after 3 h under natural sunlight suggesting their suitability for sunlight driven photocatalytic applications. 


2002 ◽  
Vol 716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seok Woo Hong ◽  
Yong Sun Lee ◽  
Ki-Chul Park ◽  
Jong-Wan Park

AbstractThe effect of microstructure of dc magnetron sputtered TiN and TaN diffusion barriers on the palladium activation for autocatalytic electroless copper deposition has been investigated by using X-ray diffraction, sheet resistance measurement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and plan view transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The density of palladium nuclei on TaN diffusion barrier increases as the grain size of TaN films decreases, which was caused by increasing nitrogen content in TaN films. Plan view TEM results of TiN and TaN diffusiton barriers showed that palladium nuclei formed mainly on the grain boundaries of the diffusion barriers.


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