Mechanical and FEA-Assisted Characterization of 3D Printed Continuous Glass Fiber Reinforced Nylon Cellular Structures

The main objective of this study was to investigate the mechanical behavior of 3D printed fiberglass-reinforced nylon honeycomb structures. A Continuous Fiber Fabrication (CFF) 3D printer was used since it makes it possible to lay continuous strands of fibers inside the 3D printed geometries at selected locations across the width in order to optimize the bending behavior. Nylon and nylon/fiberglass honeycomb structures were tested under a three-point bending regime. The microstructure of the filaments and the 3D printed fractured surfaces following bending tests were examined with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The modulus of the materials was also evaluated using the nanoindentation technique. The behavior of the 3D printed structures was simulated with a Finite Element Model (FEM). The experimental and simulation results demonstrated that 3D printed continuous fiberglass reinforcement is possible to selectively adjust the bending strength of the honeycombs. When glass fibers are located near the top and bottom faces of honeycombs, the bending strength is maximized.

Evaluation of New, Sputtered Carbon SPME Fibers with a Multi-Functional Group Test Mixture

We report the first fabrication of sputtered carbon, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers. These fibers have competitive extraction capabilities compared with the commercial carbon wide range (CWR) SPME fiber. This report also includes a demonstration of a newly developed SPME test mix that includes 15 different compounds with a wide range of functional groups and chemical properties. The fiber fabrication process involves sputtering carbon onto fused silica fibers, and the effects of throw distance on the morphology of the carbon coatings were studied. Four different carbon coating thicknesses were evaluated, with PDMS added as a stationary phase. These fibers were characterized with multiple analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact angle (WCA) goniometry, as well as headspace (HS) and direct immersion (DI)–SPME–GC–MS. The best (11.5 µm) sputtered carbon SPME fibers, with and without PDMS, were evaluated using the new evaluation mix and compared with the commercial CWR fiber and a previously sputtered/developed silicon fiber. The new probe mix helped elucidate differences among the fibers, which would have been missed by current commercial test mixes. The sputtered carbon SPME fibers showed similar functional group selectivity as commercial CWR fibers. However, the sputtered carbon fibers showed higher responses per volume compared with the commercial CWR fiber, indicating the porous morphology of the sputtered carbon has the ability to overcome large phase thickness/volume discrepancies and increase the relative recovery for various compounds.

Biocompatible and Biodegradable Polymer Optical Fiber for Biomedical Application: A Review

This article discusses recent advances in biocompatible and biodegradable polymer optical fiber (POF) for medical applications. First, the POF material and its optical properties are summarized. Then, several common optical fiber fabrication methods are thoroughly discussed. Following that, clinical applications of biocompatible and biodegradable POFs are discussed, including optogenetics, biosensing, drug delivery, and neural recording. Following that, biomedical applications expanded the specific functionalization of the material or fiber design. Different research or clinical applications necessitate the use of different equipment to achieve the desired results. Finally, the difficulty of implanting flexible fiber varies with its flexibility. We present our article in a clear and logical manner that will be useful to researchers seeking a broad perspective on the proposed topic. Overall, the content provides a comprehensive overview of biocompatible and biodegradable POFs, including previous breakthroughs, as well as recent advancements. Biodegradable optical fibers have numerous applications, opening up new avenues in biomedicine.

One-Step Thermal Processing of BaCe0.8Y0.2O3-δ Hydrogen Permeable Multi-Channel Hollow Fiber Membrane

Yttrium-doped barium cerate (BaCeYO, BCY) is the most widely studied proton conducting material and is frequently fabricated as dense membranes for hydrogen separation. However, the difficulty to prepare dense BCY membranes is the extremely high sintering temperature, normally higher than 1500 oC. Herein, the BCY 7-channel hollow fiber membrane was prepared by one-step thermal processing (OSTP). It proved that adding CoO as sintering aid is beneficial to the densification and 1wt% CoO was the optimum addition to form a homogeneous phase structure. The dense sintering temperature was greatly reduced from over 1500 to 1350 C. The hydrogen permeation flux of the BCY hollow fiber membrane reached up to 0.34 ml mincm at 900 C. The long-term stability test last for 300 h. The properties of OSTP samples were demonstrated to be essentially higher than samples made by conventional ceramic hollow fiber fabrication methods.

Laser Synthesis of Nanostructured Glass for Selective Cell Proliferation or Apoptosis

The state-of-the-art in synthesis of nanostructured cell and contra-cell surfaces relies on techniques that utilize elaborate precursor chemicals, catalysts, or vacuum conditions, and any combination thereof. Two types of nanostructures, Na2O nanotips and SiO2 nanofibers, have been fabricated on soda-lime glass using ultrafast laser ablation. Control over nanotip width was demonstrated via laser dwell time and a new tip formation mechanism is proposed. The nanofibers generated in this work display a level of nanomorphology unseen in other fiber fabrication methods. The resulting fibers show striking morphological similarity to proteins that comprise the natural extra cellular matrix. The interaction of both nanostructures with NIH 3T3 fibroblasts was explored by incubating nanostructured glass with fibroblasts over periods of 12 hours, 1 day, or 1 week. Nanotip structures appeared to induce apoptosis in cells while nanofibers influenced cells to display unique, healthy characteristics such as preferential adhesion to nanofibers and increased microvilli generation.