Formation of Quasicrystalline Phases and Their Close Approximants in Cast Al-Mn Base Alloys Modified by Transition Metals
The aim of the presented research was to study the influence of Cr, Co, Ni, and Cu additions on the formation of quasicrystalline particles in the 94Al-6Mn base alloy during casting at intermediate cooling rates. Based on the obtained results, Cu and Ni enhance quasicrystalline phase nucleation compared to the unmodified binary composition. In the case of Cu addition, formation of a quasicrystalline phase takes place along whole thickness of the prepared casting, but its fraction and morphology depends on the cooling rates present in different parts of the sample. Based on the previous works on the beneficial effect of Fe addition, a quaternary alloy containing both Fe and Cu was prepared to evaluate the effect of the simultaneous presence of these elements on the microstructure of the obtained castings.
Corrosion phenomena in a powder-processed Al alloy containing icosahedral quasicrystalline dispersoids
Abstract The corrosion behaviour of a powder-processed Al-Cr-Mn-Co-Zr alloy upon immersion in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution has been studied using a combination of electron microscopy and X-ray techniques. The alloy contains an FCC Al matrix, 25 vol.% of quasicrystalline I-phase dispersoids, and minority boundary phases. Corrosion proceeds by dissolution of the FCC Al matrix. This effect is enhanced at prior particle boundaries and at cathodic Al9Co2 precipitates, but even then the depth of attack is
Novel polymeric hydrogel composites: Synthesis, physicochemical, mechanical and biocompatible properties
In this research study, novel hydrogel composite films were constructed using different ratios of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/kappa-carrageenan (KC) (PVA90/KC10%, PVA80/KC20%, PVA70/KC30%, PVA60/KC40%) crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (0.025%) and investigated their physicochemical characteristics such as mechanical, thermal, morphological, swelling behaviour, and cell viability. SEM and FTIR revealed that surface morphology changed to heterogeneous and the presence of molecular interaction among the polymers. PVA90KC10 and PVA60KC40 exhibited smaller and larger pores on surface respectively. The change in the proportion of PVA and KC also triggered the tensile strength (Ts) of the film and the highest Ts observed were 21.60 MPa for PVA60KC40. Moreover, the thermal analysis showed three-phase degradation, and an increase in KC40 concentration results inversely proportional to a decrease in the rate of thermal degradation. Further, swelling and in-vitro biodegradation study confirmed the enhanced perseverance of water uptake for PVA60KC40 (286%) due to pores structure of the hydrogel film and PVA and KC alone degraded faster as compare to other films results suggested higher concentration of PVA90KC10 showed lower degradation rate and highest for PVA60KC40 about 6% and 22% respectively. Further, the cell viability was studied with MTT assay method by using NIH3T3 and HEK-293 cells for biocompatibility study revealed NIH3T3 cells were more biocompatible than HEK-293 and cell viability percent for PVA60KC40 showed the highest cell attachment about 99%. Overall corroborating data obtained from the study attested to the average swelling, appreciable mechanical characters, good interaction between molecules, and cell viability of the constructed PVA/KC hydrogel film, these all characters pave to be used as a potential template for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering and drug delivery.