Resilient polymeric materials such as silicone elastomers are currently used for maxillofacial prostheses construction but the strength of these materials and their clinical performance need to be optimized with the addition of reinforcing fillers. This study investigates the effect of zirconia nanopowder addition on tear strength, tensile strength, elongation at break, Shore A hardness, surface roughness and cytotoxicity of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. Silicone base was mixed with different amounts (1%, 2% and 3%) of zirconia nanopowder using a vacuum mixer. Silicone without filler was used as control for comparison. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were utilized to assess the efficiency of high-shear vacuum mixing as filler dispersion method and the surface topography, respectively. Both SEM and AFM images showed that the zirconia nanopowder were distributed fairly well within the polymer. Statistically, highly significant increase in tear strength, tensile strength and hardness with non-significant decrease in elongation at break and non-significant increase in surface roughness were seen with 1% and 2% groups. Whereas with 3% group, there was significant improvement in tear strength, tensile strength and hardness but there was significant undesirable decrease in elongation and increase in roughness. Cytotoxicity test revealed that the addition of zirconia nanopowder was nontoxic to Rat Embryonic Fibroblast (REF) cells and there was non-significant change in the cell viability of all study groups after 24- and 72-hours incubation periods. In conclusion, the addition of 2% by weight nano zirconia to VST-50 maxillofacial silicone could be beneficial in enhancing its performance.
This paper defines a method for sputtering high strength, extremely conductive silver mirrors on glass substrates at temperatures ranging from 20o to 22o C. The silver coated layer thicknesses in this work ranges from 7.5 to 16.1 nm using sputtering time from 10 to 30 min at power 25 W, 13.7 to 29.2 nm for time 10 to 30 min at 50 W, 15.7 to 26.4 nm for time 10 to 30 min at 75 W and 13.8 to 31.1 nm for time 10 to 30 min at 100 W. The optimum values of pressure and electrode gape for plasma sputtering system are 0.1 mbar and 5 cm respectively. The effect of DC sputtering power, sputtering duration or (sputtering time), and thickness on optical properties was investigated using an ultraviolet-visible spectrophot
... Show MoreThis study was conducted on the effect of the sedimentary source (the sediments coming from both the Iraqi-Iranian borderline and the Tigris river) on the optical and textural features, especially sphericity and roundness of feldspar minerals (potassium and plagioclase types) in soils of the southern part of the alluvial plain. Eight pedons were selected to represent the study area, five of them represented sediments coming from the borderline, which included pedons of (Badra, Taj Al-Din, Al-Shihabi, Jassan, and Galati), while two of them represent the sediments of the Tigris River (Essaouira, Al-Dabouni), the pedon of Ali Al-Gharbi was represented the mixing area of sediments of all the floods coming from the borderline and the sediments o
... Show More
In past years, structural pavement solution has been combined with destructive testing; these destructive methods are being replaced by non-destructive testing methods (NDT). Because the destructive test causes damage due to coring conducted for testing and also the difficulty of adequately repairing the core position in the field. Ultrasonic pulse velocity was used to evaluate the strength and volumetric properties of asphalt concrete, of binder course. The impact of moisture damage and testing temperature on pulse velocity has also been studied. Data were analyzed and modeled. It was found that using non-destructive testing represented by pulse velocity could be useful to predict the quality of asphalt c
... Show More
Copper oxide thin films were synthesized by using spray pyrolysis deposition technique, in the temperature around 400°C in atmosphere from alcoholic solutions. Copper (II) chloride as precursor and glass as a substrate. The textural and structural properties of the films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). The average particle size determined from the AFM images ranged from 30 to 90 nm and the roughness average was equal to 9.3 nm. The XRD patterns revealed the formation of a polycrystalline hexagonal CuO. The absorption and transmission spectrum, band gap, film thickness was investigated. The films were tested as an |
In the present work, the ternary compound MgxZn7-x O7Wurtzoid with variable Zn and Mg contents was analyzed using density functional theory with B3LYP 6-311G**basis set. The electronic and vibrational properties of MgxZn7-xO7 wurtzoids, were investigated, including energy gaps, bond lengths, spectral properties, such like infrared spectra and Raman. IR and Raman spectra were compared with experimental longitudinal optical modes frequency results. The theoretical results agree well with experiments and previous data. It has been found that the energy gap is increasing with the increased Mg concentration, and that the longitudinal optical position exposes a UV shift movement with an increase in the concentration.
Four new copolymers were synthesized from reaction of bis acid monomer 3-((4-carboxyphenyl) diazenyl)-5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzoic acid with five diacidhydrazide in presence of poly phosphoric acid. The resulted monomers and copolymers have been characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR spectroscopy as well as EIMs technique. The number averages of molecular weights of the copolymers are between 4822 and 9144, and their polydispersity indexes are between 1.02 and 2.15. All the copolymers show good thermal stability with the temperatures higher than 305.86 C when losing 10% weight under nitrogen. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurement and the electrochemical band gaps (Eg) of these copolymers are found below 2.00 ev.
Different thicknesseses of polycrystalline ZnTe films have been deposited on to glass substrates by vacuum evaporation technique under vacuum 2.1x10-5 mbar. The structural characteristics studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the films are polycrystalline and have a cubic (zinc blende ) structure. The calculated microstructure parameters revealed that the crystallite size increases with increasing film thicknesses. The optical measurements on the deposited films were performed in different thicknesseses [ 400 , 450 and 500]nm, to determine the transmission spectrum and the absorption spectra as a function of incident wavelength. The optical absorption coefficient (α) of the films was determined from transmittance spectra in t
... Show More