Background: The daily cleaning routine of the silicone maxillofacial prostheses by the patient may cause some alteration in the materials properties. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of different disinfection procedures on some properties of silicon dioxide reinforced Cosmesil M511 HTV maxillofacial silicone. Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixty (160) specimens were prepared by mixing 5% SiO2 nano particles and 0.5% intrinsic cream color into the silicone polymer according to manufacturer's instructions. Specimens were divided into 4 groups according to the performed test (tear strength, surface hardness, surface roughness and color) with 40 specimens each. Each group was further subdivided according to the disinfection procedure conducted (control, microwave exposure, neutral soap and 4% chlorhexidine gluconate). Measurements for tear strength were done using universal testing machine. Surface hardness test was carried out with a Shore A Durometer. Surface roughness was analyzed with a portable digital Profilometer. Color change was established with a Spectrophotometer. After the initial testing, all specimens were submitted to disinfection procedure 3 times a week for 60 days. Measurements were repeated and data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Fisher's LSD or Games-Howell test. Results: Spectrophotometer results showed non-significant decrease in the light absorbance of all experimental groups after disinfection, indicating a strong integration between the nano filler and the polymeric chains, which was not broken during the disinfection procedure. Highly-significant increase in Shore A hardness was recorded, while the decrease in surface roughness was highly significant in all experimental groups. Tear strength reduced significantly after disinfection in all experimental groups. Conclusion: Disinfection seemed to cause different amount of alteration in all of the tested properties of silicone. High color stability is expected in this type of maxillofacial silicone after disinfection.Although microwave exposure had increased the hardness of the material, it is considered a satisfactory disinfection procedure since it caused the least effect on the tear strength and surface roughness of the material. Therefore, microwave exposure is recommended for the disinfection of maxillofacial silicone prostheses.
(Cu1-x,Agx)2ZnSnSe4 alloys have been fabricated with different Ag content(x=0, 0.1, and 0.2) successfully from their elements. Thin films of these alloys have been deposited on coring glass substrate at room temperature by thermal evaporation technique under vacuum of 10-5Torr with thickness of 800nm and deposition rate of 0.53 nm/sec. Later, films have been annealed in vacuum at (373, and 473)K, for one hour. The crystal structure of fabricated alloys and as deposited thin films had been examined by XRD analysis, which confirms the formation of tetragonal phase in [112] direction, and no secondary phases are founded. The shifting of main polycrystalline peak (112) to lower Bragg’s angle as compared to Cu2ZnSnSe4 angle refers to incorpora
... Show MoreConstruction joints are stopping places in the process of placing concrete, and they are required because in many structures it is impractical to place concrete in one continuous operation. The amount of concrete that can be placed at one time is governed by the batching and mixing capacity and by the strength of the formwork. A good construction joint should provide adequate flexural and shear continuity through the interface.
In this study, the effect of location of construction joints on the performance of reinforced concrete structural elements is experimentally investigated.
Nineteen beam specimens with dimensions of 200×200×950 mm were tested. The variables investigated are the location of the construction joints
... Show MoreThis study included preparation for the unsaturated polyester samples before and after reinforced by Alumina oxide powder and copper oxide powder of different volume fraction amounting (3%,5%,8%). And this reearch included study of some of mechanical properties such as (hardness,compressive and wear).The results showed that increase of the hardness and compressive strength after the reinforced and increase with the volume fraction increase.As the wear test show that the wear rate increases with applied load from the different load(5,10,15)N,and the wear rate decreases with the volume fraction increase.
In this study, composite materials were prepared using unsaturated polyester resin as binder with two types of fillers (sawdust and chopped reeds). The molding method is used to prepare sheets of UPE / sawdust composite and UPE / chopped reeds composite. The mechanical properties were studied including flexural strength and Young's modulus for the samples at normal conditions (N.C). The Commercial wood, UPE and its composite samples were immersed in water for about 30 days to find the weight gain (Mt%) of water for the samples, also to find the effect of water on their flexural strength and Young's modulus. The results showed that the samples of UPE / chopped reeds composite gained highest values of flexural strength (24.
... Show MoreSludge from stone-cutting (SSC) factories and stone mines cannot be used as decorative stones, stone powder, etc. These substances are left in the environment and cause environmental problems. This study aim is to produce artificial stone composite (ASC) using sludge from stone cutting factories, cement, unsaturated resin, water, silicon carbide nanoparticles (SiC-NPs), and nano-graphene oxide (NGO) as fillers. Nano graphene oxide has a hydrophobic plate structure that water is not absorbed due to the lack of surface tension on these plates. NGO has a significant effect on the properties of artificial stone due to its high specific surface area and low density in the composite. Its uniform distribution in ASC is very low due to its hydropho
... Show MoreBackground: The most widely used material for fabrication of denture base is poly methyl methacrylate, despite its popularity, the main problems associated with it as a denture base material are poor strength particularly under fatigue failure inside the patient mouth, impact failure outside the patient mouth, which are the main causes for fracture of denture, several studies was done to increase mechanical properties of denture base. The present study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effect of addition single walled carbon nanotubes in different concentrations to polymethyl methacrylate on some mechanical properties (surface hardness, surface roughness, impact strength and transverse strength). Materials and methods: Forty eight
... Show MoreBackground: Failure of resin bases were a major disadvantage recorded in the constructed dentures. Reinforcements of the repair joint with nano fillers represent an attempt to enhance the strength and durability. The purpose of the research was to estimate the influence of nano fillers reinforcement with (ZrO2 and Al2O3) on impact and transverse strength of denture bases repaired with either cold or hot processing acrylic resin. Materials and methods: A hundred and forty (140) samples were processed with hot cured resin and organized in subgroups depending on the repair materials and condition (without repair (control), repair with hot cure, cold cure, hot and cold cure reinforced with either (5% Zr2O or 0.5% Al2O3). The samples in these
... Show MoreSuperconducting thin films of Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu2.2Zn0.8O10 system were prepared by depositing the film onto silicon (111) substrate by pulsed laser deposition. Annealing treatment and superconducting properties were investigated by XRD and four probe resistivity measurement. The analysis reveals the evolution of the minor phase of the films 2212 phase to 2223 phase, when the film was annealed at 820 °C. Also the films have superconducting behavior with transition temperature ≥90K.
Thin films of Mn2O3 doped with Cu have been fabricated using the simplest and cheapest chemical spray pyrolysis technique onto a glass substrate heated up to 250 oC. Transmittance and absorptance spectra were studied in the wavelength range (300 -1100) nm. The average transmittance at low energy was about 60% and decrease with Cu doping, Optical constants like refractive index, extinction coefficient and dielectric constants (εr), (εi) are calculated and correlated with doping process.
In this study, the ZnTe thin films were deposited on a glass substrate at a thickness of 400nm using vacuum evaporation technique (2×10-5mbar) at RT. Electrical conductivity and Hall effect measurements have been investigated as a function of variation of the doping ratios (3,5,7%) of the Cu element on the thin ZnTe films. The temperature range of (25-200°C) is to record the electrical conductivity values. The results of the films have two types of transport mechanisms of free carriers with two values of activation energy (Ea1, Ea2), expect 3% Cu. The activation energy (Ea1) increased from 29meV to 157meV before and after doping (Cu at 5%) respectively. The results of Hal
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