Innovative directions of development of ceramic materials for dentistry

The need to improve the level of dental health of the population of Ukraine was identified. The prospects for the use of ceramic prostheses to provide quality medical care in dentistry have been established. An analytical review of various types of ceramic and glass-ceramic materials used as dental prostheses for tooth replacement: porcelain, alumina, zirconium oxide, glass-ceramics based on leucite and lithium disilicate and mica with the addition of fluorides. Peculiarities of the structure and operational properties of ceramic and glass-ceramic materials for dentistry have been identified, their advantages and disadvantages have been established. The effectiveness of the use of glass-ceramic materials based on lithium disilicate for dental prosthetics is substantiated. The basic lithium silicate system was selected and glasses for obtaining glass-ceramic crowns based on lithium disilicate by the method of high-temperature pressing and calcium phosphate-silicate system for obtaining glass-ceramic coatings were synthesized. The methodological approach to the development of glass-ceramic prostheses based on lithium disilicate is determined. The limits of the compositions of oxide components are determined and raw materials for the synthesis of the glass matrix are selected. The technological parameters of melting (T = 1350 – 1400ºС) and heat treatment with simultaneous formation of products (stage of nucleation T = 600 – 650ºС, τ = 30 – 60 min; stages of formation T = 900ºС, τ ≈ 20 min) are selected. The composition of fluoroapatite glass-ceramic coating for glazing of glass-ceramics and the mode of its firing (T = 800 – 850ºС, τ ≈ 1,0 – 1,5 min) were determined. The serviceability of the developed glass-ceramic samples DL st.glass, which were obtained by the technology of high-temperature pressing, are determined. The comparative analysis of glass-ceramic prostheses for dentistry allowed to establish that the operational properties of the developed glass-ceramic prostheses according to ISO 6872:2015 are at the level of world analogues. This will allow them to successfully compete in the Ukrainian market with well-known foreign counterparts and help ensure the social priorities of the state in the field of health care.

Feedback mechanisms in mineral replacement networks: an experimental investigation of the ultramafic model system

<p>The overall rates of multi-component reaction networks are known to be controlled by feedback mechanisms. Feedback mechanisms represent loop systems where the output of the system is conveyed back as input and the system is either accelerated or regulated (positive and negative feedback respectively). In other words, feedback mechanisms control the rate of a reaction network without external influences. Feedback mechanisms are well-studied in a variety of reaction networks (e.g. bio-chemical, atmospheric); however, in fluid-rock interaction systems they are not researched as such. Still, indirect evidence, theoretical considerations and direct observations attest to their existence [e.g. 1, 2, 3]. It remains unknown how mass and energy transport between distinct reaction sites affect the overall reaction rate and outcome through feedback mechanisms. We propose that feedback mechanisms are a missing critical ingredient to understand reaction progress and timescales of fluid-rock interactions. We apply the serpentinization of ultramafic silicates as a relatively simple reaction network to investigate feedback mechanisms during fluid-rock interactions. Recent studies show that theoretical timescale-predictions appear inconsistent with natural observations [e.g. 4, 5]. The ultramafic silicate system is ideal for investigating feedback mechanisms as it is relevant to natural processes, is reactive on timescales that can be explored in the laboratory, and natural peridotite typically consists of less than four phases. Our preliminary observations indicate a feedback between pyroxene dissolution and olivine serpentinization. Olivine serpentinization appears to proceed faster in the presence of pyroxene. Furthermore, the bulk system reaction rate increases with increasing fluid salinity, which is opposite to the salinity effect on the monomineralic olivine system. Dunite (>90% olivine) is rare, which is why it is crucial to explore the more common pyroxene-bearing systems. The salinity effect is important to investigate due to the inevitable increase in fluid salinity from the boiling-induced phase separation and OH-uptake in the formation of serpentine. Here we present preliminary textural and chemical observations, which will subsequently be used for kinetic modelling of feedback.</p><p>[1] Ortoleva P., Merino, E., Moore, C. & Chadam, J. (1987). American Journal of Science <strong>287</strong>, 997-1007.</p><p>[2] Centrella, S., Austrheim, H., & Putnis, A. (2015). Lithos <strong>236–237</strong>, 245–255.</p><p>[3] Nakatani, T. & Nakamura, M. (2016). Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems <strong>17</strong>, 3393-3419.</p><p>[4] Ingebritsen, S. E. & Manning, C. E. (2010). Geofluids <strong>10</strong>, 193-205.</p><p>[5] Beinlich, A., John, T., Vrijmoed, J.C., Tominaga, M., Magna, T. & Podladchikov, Y.Y. (2020). Nature Geoscience <strong>13</strong>, 307–311.</p>

F/OH ratio in a rare fluorine-poor blue topaz from Padre Paraíso (Minas Gerais, Brazil) to unravel topaz’s ambient of formation

Topaz [Al2SiO4(F,OH)2] is one of the main fluorine-bearing silicates occurring in environments where variably acidic (F)/aqueous (OH) fluids saturate the silicate system. In this work we fully characterized blue topaz from Padre Paraíso (Minas Gerais, Brazil) by means of in situ synchrotron X-Ray and neutron powder diffraction measurements (temperature range 298–1273 K) combined with EDS microanalyses. Understanding the role of OH/F substitution in topaz is important in order to determine the hydrophilicity and the exchange reactions of fluorine by hydroxyl groups, and ultimately to characterize the environmental redox conditions (H2O/F) required for mineral formation. The fluorine content estimated from neutron diffraction data is ~ 1.03 a.f.u (10.34 wt%), in agreement with the chemical data (on average 10.0 wt%). The XOH [OH/(OH + F)] (0.484) is close to the maximum XOH value (0.5), and represents the OH- richest topaz composition so far analysed in the Minas Gerais district. Topaz crystallinity and fluorine content sharply decrease at 1170 K, while mullite phase starts growing. On the basis of this behaviour, we suggest that this temperature may represent the potential initial topaz’s crystallization temperature from supercritical fluids in a pegmatite system. The log(fH2O/fHF)fluid (1.27 (0.06)) is coherent with the fluorine activity calculated for hydrothermal fluids (pegmatitic stage) in equilibrium with the forming mineral (log(fH2O/fHF)fluid = 1.2–6.5) and clearly different from pure magmatic (granitic) residual melts [log(fH2O/fHF)fluid < 1]. The modelled H2O saturated fluids with the F content not exceeding 1 wt% may represent an anomalous water-dominant / fluorine-poor pegmatite lens of the Padre Paraíso Pegmatite Field.

Integrated modifying zinc-containing additive for construction silicate compositions

Sodium silicate binders are a promising binder base for obtaining effective granular thermal insulation materials. Increasing water resistance, first of all, will expand the scope of their application in construction. At the same time, the features of the modification of sodium silicate binders by compounds of polyvalent metals have not been fully studied, the interaction with which leads to the formation of hardly soluble silicates. The purpose of this work was to develop a modifying complex based on a zinc-containing compound - zinc acetate to increase the water resistance and thermal characteristics of the porous granular material. The proposed modifying additive is a complex consisting of zinc acetate and an organic alcohol solvent. It is shown that the properties of porous granular material can be controlled by changing the composition of the zinc acetate solvent. Qualitative and quantitative dependences of the properties of porous granules (strength, water resistance, density, thermal conductivity) on the type of zinc-containing solution and its content in the compositions have been obtained. The concept of the mechanism of formation of sparingly soluble complexes during the modification of sodium silicate binders with zinc-containing aqueous-alcoholic solutions has been developed. X-ray phase analysis showed that the sodium silicate system modified with an aqueous alcohol solution of zinc acetate, in contrast to an aqueous solution of zinc acetate, is completely in an amorphous state. We believe that compounds of the Zn2SiO4H2O, ZnSiO3 type are in the amorphous state. The obtained research results made it possible to determine the rational composition of granular heat-insulating material with increased operational and functional characteristics (ρ = 200-280 kg / m3, λ = 0.052-0.063 W / (m °C), R = 1.3-1.8 MPa, Kr = 0.89-0.92, W = 16- 18 %).

Nano- and micromorphological evidences of the colloidal structure of ring silicate crystal inclusions

The substance released naturally during mechanical opening of growth inclusions of aquamarine, beryl and tourmaline crystals (Transbaikalia, Russia) has been studied by scanning atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electron microscopy (SEM). The liquid part of the substance of the inclusions is a sufficiently concentrated colloidal sol-gel-silicate system. The diffused silicate colloid forms a film, poorly removable from the chip surface, which is reliably detected by AFM and transformed under prolonged exposure to an electron beam into a foam-glass. The latter fact can be used to create sub-micron textures that are stable under normal conditions by electron-beam lithography. The study of quartz and phenacite (Ural, Russia) did not reveal such films. In contrast to aquamarine, the inner walls of cavities of quartz and phenacite inclusions, according to AFM data, are covered with growth hills, grown by the dislocation mechanism. This indicates a relatively low degree of polymerization of the silicate component in the initial hydrothermal mother liquor for quartz and phenacite compared to the degree of polymerization in the mineral-forming media of ring silicate crystals.

Alumina silicate glass-ceramic materials for electrical purposes

The prospects for use of glass-ceramic materials as electrical products were analyzed. The priority of a self-organized macro- and nanostructure formation of the glass-ceramic materials under conditions of low-temperature heat treatment to ensure their high physical and chemical properties was shown. The choice of an alumina silicate system of materials for obtaining high-strength glass-ceramic materials with improved electrical properties was substantiated, taking into account the aspects of energy saving. The technological modes of cooking, forming and heat treatment of glass-ceramic materials were determined. Resistance, dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent at 106 Hz were measured using an E6-13A teraometer on a trielectrode system at a temperature of +29 °C and a DE-5000 RLC meter. Electric strength (Em) and cold crushing strength were determined according to GOST 24409-80. Tensile strength according to GOST 32281.1-2013 (EN 1288-1: 2000). The decisive influence on the electrical properties of glass-ceramic materials the crystalline phases of α-cordierite, β-spodumene or lithium disilicate, as well as the residual glass phase composition has been established. The structure influence of the alumina silicate glass-ceramic materials on the provision of their electrical (tgδ∙104 = 70 ÷ 80; ε = 8.0 ÷ 9.3 (at f = 106 Hz); lg ρv = 12.9 ÷ 15.0 (ρv, Ohm·cm at Т = 20 °C) and mechanical (K1C = 3.15 ÷ 4.3 МPа∙м1/2; σ comp = 630 ÷ 700 МPа, σbend = 300 ÷ 350 МPа; KCU = 4.8 ÷ 5.9 kJ/m2) properties. It was found that, the defining condition for the developed glass-ceramic materials use as insulating materials under repeated exposure to high-temperature operations is their high breakdown strength Em = 37 ÷ 42 MV/m and thermal shock resistance due to low TCLE (α∙107 = 21.5 ÷ 31.8 deg-1). The influence of phase composition and structure of the alumina silicate glass-ceramic materials on their electrical and mechanical properties was analyzed. A comparative assessment of the known ceramic and glass-ceramic materials for electrical purposes has made it possible to establish the feasibility of using the developed materials as substrates in the design of a hybrid integrated circuit, vacuum-tight shell and capacitor dielectrics.

Effects of electrolyte system on the microstructure and properties of MAO ceramics coatings on 7050 high strength aluminum alloy

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of different electrolyte systems on the properties of micro-arc oxidation coating on 7050 high strength aluminum alloy. Design/methodology/approach The coatings were prepared in silicate system with Na2SiO3 as main component, borate system with Na2B4O7 as main component and aluminate solution with Na2AlO2 as main salt, respectively. Findings The results show that the 7050 high strength aluminum alloy shows the best properties in silicate system. Originality/value This manuscript studied the crucial influence of different electrolyte systems on the microstructure and properties of the aluminum alloy micro-arc oxidation layer.