Abstract Background: The daily usage of maxillofacial prostheses causes them to mechanically deteriorate with time. This study was aimed to evaluate the reinforcement of VST50F maxillofacial silicone by using yttrium oxide (Y2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) to resist aging and mechanical deterioration. Materials and Method: Y2O3 NPs (30–45nm) were loaded into VST50F maxillofacial silicone in two weight percentages (1 and 1.5 wt%), which were predetermined in a pilot study as the best rates for improving tear strength with minimum increase in hardness values. A total of 120 specimens were prepared and divided into the control and experimental groups (with 1 and 1.5 wt% Y2O3 addition). Each group included 40 specimens, 10 specimens for each parameter tested (i.e., tear strength, surface roughness, hardness, tensile strength and elongation percentage). Specimens were artificially aged in a weathering chamber for 150 h and then tested. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD). Statistical significance was set to P ≤ 0.05. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were also conducted. Results and Discussion: SEM results showed that Y2O3 NPs were distributed well within the silicon matrix. FTIR results indicated that the NPs were physically dispersed within VST50F silicone without chemical interaction. After 150 h of accelerated artificial aging, adding Y2O3 NPs significantly increased the tear strength, hardness, surface roughness, and elongation percentage. Tensile strength increased non significantly. Conclusion: Adding Y2O3 NPs as fillers improved the mechanical properties of artificially aged maxillofacial silicone elastomer. Keywords: maxillofacial silicone, Y2O3, nanoparticles, fillers, artificial aging.
The structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnS films prepared by vacuum evaporation technique on glass substrate at room temperature and treated at different annealing temperatures (323, 373, 423)K of thickness (0.5)µm have been studied. The structure of these films is determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The X-ray diffraction studies show that the structure is polycrystalline with cubic structure, and there are strong peaks at the direction (111). The optical properties investigated which include the absorbance and transmittance spectra, energy band gab, absorption coefficient, and other optical constants. The results showed that films have direct optical transition. The optical band gab was found to be in the range t
... Show MoreIn this work, γ-Al2O3NPs were successfully biosynthesized, mediated aluminum nitrate nona hydrate Al(NO3)3.9H2O, sodium hydroxide, and aqueous clove extract in alkali media. The γ-Al2O3NPs were characterized by different techniques like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy–dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The final results indicated the γ-Al2O3NPs nanoparticle size, bonds nature, element phase, crystallinity, morphology, surface image, particle analysis – threshold detection, and the topography parameter. The id
... Show MoreBismuth oxide nanoparticle Bi2O3NPs has a wide range of applications and less adverse effects than conventional radio sensitizers. In this work, Bi2O3NPs (D1, D2) were successfully synthesized by using the biosynthesis method with varying bismuth salts, bismuth sulfate Bi2(SO4)3 (D1) or bismuth nitrate. Penta hydrate Bi(NO3)3.5H2O (D2) with NaOH with beta-vulgaris extract. The Bi2O3NPs properties were characterized by different spectroscopic methods to determine Bi2O3NPs structure, nature of bonds, size of nanoparticle, element phase, presence, crystallinity and morphology. The existence of the Bi2O3 band was verified by the FT-IR. The Bi2O3 NPs revealed an absorption peak in the UV-visible spectrum, with energy gap Eg = 3.80eV. The X-ray p
... Show MoreThe Cu2SiO3 composite has been prepared from the binary compounds (Cu2O, and SiO2) with high purity by solid state reaction. The Cu2SiO3 thin films were deposited at room temperature on glass and Si substrates with thickness 400 nm by pulsed laser deposition method. X-ray analysis showed that the powder of Cu2SiO3 has a polycrystalline structure with monoclinic phase and preferred orientation along (111) direction at 2θ around 38.670o which related to CuO phase. While as deposited and annealed Cu2SiO3 films have amorphous structure. The morphological study revealed that the grains have granular and elliptical shape, with average diameter of 163.63 nm. The electrical properties which represent Hall effect were investigated. Hall coeffici
... Show MoreThermal conductivity for epoxy composites filled with Al2O3 and Fe2O3 are
calculated, it found that increasing the weight ratio of Al2O3 and Fe2O3 lead to
increase in the values of thermal conductivity, but the epoxy composite filled with
Fe2O3, have values of thermal conductivity less than for epoxy composite filled with
Al2O3, for the same weight ratio. Also thermal conductivity calculated for epoxy
composites by contact to every two specimens (like sandwich) content same weight
ratio of alumina-oxide and ferrite-oxide, its found that the value of thermal
conductivity lays between the values of epoxy filled Al2O3 and of epoxy filled Fe2O3
The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of Nd:YAG laser shock processing (LSP) on micro-hardness and surface roughness of 86400Cu-Zn alloy. X-ray fluorescence technique was used to analyze the chemical composition of this alloy. LSP treatment was performed with a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The results show that laser shock processing can significantly increase. The micro-hardness and surface roughness of the LSP-treated sample. Vickers diamond indenter was used to measure the micro-hardness of all samples with different laser pulse energy and the different number of laser pulses. It is found that the metal hardness can be significantly increased to more than 80% by increasing the laser energy and t
... Show MoreA new class of biologically active nanocomposites and modified polymers based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with some organic compounds [II, IV, V and VI] were synthesized using silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). All compounds were synthesized using nucleophilic substitution interactions and characterized by FTIR, DSC and TGA. The biological activity of the modified polymers was evaluated against: gram (+) (staphylococcus aureus) and gram (-): (Es cherichia coli bacteria). Antimicrobial films are developed based on modified poly (vinyl alcohol) MPVA and Ag-NPs nanoparticles. The nanocomposites and modified polymers showed better antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli (Gram negative) than against Staphyloc
... Show MoreFifty-four Sprague-Dawley albino adult male rats were classified into three main groups each of 18 rats treated for a particular duration (1,2, and 4) weeks respectively. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups each of six rats treated as follows; group (1) serve as normal control, group (2, and 3) intra-peritoneal treated with TiO2NPs (50,200) mg/kg respectively, body *weight of all rats was measured before and after the experiment, then rats were dissected at the end of each experiment and the weights of the thyroid was measured. The result showed a highly significant decrease (p<0.01) in thyroid gland weight, a highly significant increase (p<0.01) in body weights and TSH, while a highly significant decrease (p&
... Show MoreThe study effect Graphene on optical and electrical properties of glass prepared on glass substrates using sol–gel dip-coating technique. The deposited film of about (60-100±5%) nm thick. Optical and electrical properties of the films were studied under different preparation conditions, such as graphene concentration of 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt%. The results show that the optical band gap for glass-graphene films decreasing after adding the graphene. Calculated optical constants, such as transmittance, extinction coefficient are changing after adding graphene. The structural morphology and composition of elements for the samples have been demonstrated using SEM and EDX. The electrical properties of films include DC electrical conductivity; we
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