Study on the Mechanism of Stabilizing Loess with Lime: Analysis of Mineral and Microstructure Evolution

X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique was adopted to test the mineral composition of quicklime-solidified loess with different lime-adding rates at different curing periods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption were used to analyze the microporous structure of the solidified loess. The unconfined compressive strength and limit moisture content of solidified loess were combined to analyze the evolution mechanism of mineral composition and microstructure of solidified loess with the change of curing period and clarify the mechanism of quicklime-solidified loess. The results showed reduced content of clay minerals and decrease in the number of large pores due to increase of hydrates and pozzolanic products during extended curing period. The solidified soil fabric transformed from a compact structure into a mesh structure composing of acicular crystal and cementation. The main reasons for strength increase and change of liquid and plastic limits with the lime-solidified loess after extended curing are the change of the substance and the microstructure.

Investigation on physicochemical properties of graphene oxide/nano-hydroxyapatite composites and its biomedical applications

Graphene oxide/nano-hydroxyapatite (GO/nHAP) composites were synthesized by simultaneous titration method. The GO powder was uniformly dispersed ultrasonically in a solution containing Ca(NO3)2. It was co-titrated with (NH4)2HPO4, during which NH3·H2O was used to maintain pH of about 10. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that HAP had a drusy acicular crystal structure with 100–200 nm length in the composite. The Ca2+ ions were attracted by the negatively charged oxygen functional groups present on GO sheets. They also oriented the growth of hydroxyapatite preferentially along (112) plane, which was also consistent with X-ray diffractometry (XRD) results. According to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) results, the peak intensities of the C–O and C–C groups increased in the GO/nHAP composite. However, the number of –COO– and C–O–C groups was reduced as well as the position of peaks shifted due to electrostatic interactions. These results were also corroborated with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). MTT assay indicated that GO/nHAP composites had a significant effect on proliferation of 293T cells and good biomimetic mineralization as shown by in vitro bioactivity assays. EDS spectroscopy confirmed that the Ca/P ratio in calcium phosphate deposits was 1.62, which was close to the ratio of 1.64 in natural bone. The biological performance of GO/nHAP composite proved it to be a promising candidate for bone regeneration and implantation.

Synthesis of New-structured PbTiO3 Nanowires With Reversible Bending Properties

One-dimensional PbTiO3 nanowires 40–500 nm in diameter and ~400 μm in length were synthesized via a hydrothermal strategy and characterized by X-ray diffraction, electron backscatter diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the PbTiO3 nanowires exhibit a new acicular crystal structure, which is a tetragonal superstructure composed of a large unit cell of 40 atoms (Pb : Ti : O = 1 : 1 : 3) with a = 12.35 Å, c = 3.83 Å. The PbTiO3 has a feature of unidirectional bending when observed through transmission electron microscopy several times. The bending can be controlled by the electron beam intensity in transmission electron microscopy and the bending process is reversible. Moreover, a possible mechanism for the bending behaviour was also studied, which indicates that macroscopic polarization is in the {110} plane and the direction is not consistent with the electric field, giving the possible driving force for the bending.

Crystal Morphology and Thermal Properties of PA6/PP-g-MAH/POE Blends

The crystal morphology and thermal properties of the PA6/PP-g-MAH/POE blends prepared by twin-screw extruder were studied by polarized optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) respectively. The results suggest that the crystal morphology of PA6 is acicular crystal while PP-g-MAH is micro-spherulites; The acicular crystals form across POE phase to PA6 phase, and the acicular crystals of PA6 in the POE phase have better regularity in dimension than those in amorphous PA6 phase. Acting as a compatibilizer, PP-g-MAH improves the miscibility of PA6 and POE, leading to the glass transition temperature of the blends decreases gradually with increasing POE contents. PA6 and PP-g-MAH can crystallize individually, and the formed PA6 crystals induced the crystallization of PP-g-MAH at higher temperature; furthermore, PP-g-MAH and POE components can increase the crystallization rate of PA6.

Preparation and Characterization of Silk Fibroin/Calcium Phosphate Composite

In this paper, calcium phosphate cement (CPC) was prepared with tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP)/dicalcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA) system as solid phase and phosphate buffered solution (PBS) as liquid phase, then silk fibroin (SF) was added into CPC to form silk fibroin/calcium phosphate composite. To study the effect of SF on the properties of composite, different mass fraction of SF was added into the composite. The surface morphology was observed by Scanning Electron Microscope. The setting time was investigated by ISO Cement Standard Consistency Instrument. The structure of the composite was studied by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Mechanical properties of samples were tested by Instron Universal Testing Machine. The results showed that the particles of SF could be seen obviously in the surface of all composite, and acicular crystal of hydroxyapatite (HA) was formed in the hardening body of both the composite and the pure CPC. The acicular crystal of HA derived from composite with SF appeared to be thinner. The setting times of the composites were all between 9 to 15min. Compared to pure CPC, the compressive strength and work-of-compressive of composites were all improved. The compressive strength of the composite with 1% SF increased obviously.

Effect of Silk Fibroin on the Properties of Calcium Phosphate Cement

To improve the physicochemical properties of calcium phosphate cement (CPC), silk fibroin (SF) in the different forms were added into CPC. The structure of the composites was studied by X-ray diffraction. The setting time was investigated by ISO Cement Standard Consistency Instrument. Scanning Electron Microscope was used to observe the surface morphology. Mechanical properties of samples were tested by Instron Universal Testing Machine. The results indicated that acicular crystal of hydroxyapatite (HA) was formed in the hardening body of both CPC with SF and the pure CPC. Addition of SF had no significant effect on the structure of SF/CPC composite. The setting time of CPC with SF was significantly shorter than that of the pure CPC (30.3 mins). The setting time of CPC by adding silk fibroin powder I (SFP) and silk fibroin fiber (SFF) was greatly shortened, which was only 11.7 minutes. The setting time of CPC with SFP decreased approximately by 1/3, while the setting time of the CPC with SFF decreased nearly by 1/2. With the adding of SF, the compressive strength of CPC increased significantly. There was a distinct increase in the work-of-compressive of CPC with the adding of SFF.

The Interface Reaction between an Ag+-Doped TiO2 Film and Stainless Steel Substrate

Ag+-doped TiO2 films on stainless steel were prepared by a sol-gel method and their microstructures and compositions were studied with X-Ray Diffractometer, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. It was shown that Fe atoms in untreated stainless steel react with Ag+ in the TiO2 film and form FeTiO3, which has an acicular crystal form under SEM observation. As a result, Ag+ in the film is reduced to the silver atom, which degrades the antibacterial property of the film. However, after an oxidization of the substrate, a layer of ferric oxide is formed, which reacts with Fe atoms that would otherwise react with and reduce Ag+, and then forms FeTiO3. Thus, the penetration of Fe atoms is stopped and Ag+ in the anatase-structure TiO2 film is protected from the reduction, which enhanced antibacterial property of the film.