Journal of Advanced Materials in Engineering (Esteghlal)

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Tarnish and Corrosion behavior of three Commercial dental amalgams namely Am.1, Am.2, Am.3, have been investigated by utilizing in vitro tests. The corrosion and/or dissolution rate of the three dental amalgams were studied in 0.9 wt% NaCl Solution, artificial saliva and Ringer's solution. Potentiodynamic polarization technique was employed to study cathodic and anodic polarization behavior, from which the corrosion potentials and corrosion current densities were calculated. The corrosion potential and the corrosion current density of each amalgam was found to be affected by the nature of electrolyte used, as well as the Pre-immersion time. However, the order of corrosion potentials and corrosion current densities of the three dental amalgams examined, was found to be independent of the electrolyte used.

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In this study, forsterite nanopowder was prepared by mechanical alloying and post-heat treatment method. Bioactive properties of forsterite nanopowder were studied by immersing the powder in the SBF. Nanostructure forsterite bulk dense form was prepared by the two step sintering method. It was found that pure forsterite nanopowder with 25-60nm particle size was produced. The results of soaking of forsterite nanopowder in the SBF showed that forsterite nanopowder is bioactive. Also, forsterite dense bulk with the optimal hardness of 940 Hv and fracture toughness of 3.61 MPa.m1/2 was produced. These findings suggest that forsterite nanostructure ceramics possess good biocompatibility, bioactivity and mechanical properties and could be suitable for orthopedic and dental implant materials.

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In the last decade, Calcium Titanate has been introduced as a bioceramic with acceptable mechanical and biological properties for orthopaedic implant applications. In this study, CaTiO3 nano-structure coating was produced by sol-gel dip-coating route for biomedical applications. Calcium nitrate and titanium isopropoxide were used as a precursor. After coating process, the specimen was subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 800°C. The phase structure, functional groups and surface morphology of coating were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Uniform crack-free nano-structured coatings were obtained with perovskite crystal structure.

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Due to its biocompatibility, bioactivity and high durability properties, hydroxyapatite (HA) has a wide range of applications in medical cases such as bone defect treatment and bone tissue regeneration. Biological apatite as the most important integrity of the mineral part of hard tissues consists of tiny hydroxyapatite crystals in nanoregime. It seems that using the artificial hydroxyapatite with similar structure and chemical composition to biological apatite could increase its durability inside the natural hard tissues. The aim of the present work was the synthesis of nano structured hydroxyapatite via different routes, comparison of their characterization and enhancement of the bioactivity and bioresorbability of prepared hydroxyapatite by controlling its crystal size and chemical composition. Nano structured hydroxyapatite was prepared by mechanical activation and sol-gel routes. X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the prepared hydroxyapatite powders. The synthesized powder was soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF) for various periods of time in order to evaluate its bioresorbability and bioactivity after immersion in SBF. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to determine the dissolution rate of calcium ions in SBF media. Results showed that the mechanical activation prepared HA powder had nano scale structure with mean size of 29 nm and the sol gel prepared HA powder had nano scale structure with mean size of 25 nm. Ionic dissolution rate of prepared nano structured powders was higher than the conventional HA (with micron size) and were similar to biological apatite. It could be concluded that bioactivity behavior of hydroxyapatite powder is affected by its crystalline size. By using the nano structure HA powder with less than 50 nm crystalline size, the optimum bioactivity and bioresorbability would be achieved.

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Short life of current total hip replacement metallic implants is generally dependent on the aseptic loosening of the implant, which occurs due to mismatch of elastic modulus between bone and metallic implant materials. Decreasing in elasticmodulus of implant could be successful. Forsterite is biocompatible and bioactive ceramic which has suitable mechanical properties. In presented research the composite materials based on Co-Cr-Mo alloy with 10, 15 and 20wt% of forsteritenanopowder as reinforcement were fabricated and mechanical behavior of the composites were evaluated. Composites were fabricated by ball milling, cold pressing and sintering. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for characterization and evaluation phase composition and microstructure of the composites. Density, microhardness, compressive strength and elastic modulus of fabricated composites were evaluated. Obtained results showed elastic modulus of composite materials based on Co-Cr-Mo alloy reinforced with 10, 15 and 20wt% of forsteritenanopowder decreased significantly. Results also showed that the compressive strength of Co-base alloy composites reinforced with 10, 15 and 20 wt% forsterite were lower than cast Co-Cr-Mo alloy. With increasing in the content of reinforcement, compressive strength of the composites were decreased. Microhardness of prepared composites were higher than cast Co-Cr-Mo alloy. With increasing in content of bioceramic reinforcement, microhardness of the composites were increased.

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The objective of this study was to synthesize glass ionomer–forsterite nanocomposite and study the effect of incorporating forsterite nanoparticles to the ceramic part of glass ionomer cement in order to improve mechanical properties and bioactivity. So, Forsterite nanoparticles were made by the sol-gel process using different weight percentages added to the ceramic part of commercial GIC (Fuji II GC). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used in order to characterize and determine grain size of the produced forsterite nanopowder. In order to study the mechanical properties of the produced glass ionomer cement-forsterite nanocomposite, the compressive strength (CS), three-point flexural strength (FS) and diametral tensile strength (DTS) of specimens were measured. Statistical analysis was done by one Way ANOVA and differences were considered significant if P‹0.05. The morphology of fracture surface of specimens was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique. Bioactivity of specimens was investigated by Fourier transitioned-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The results of XRD analysis confirmed the nanocrystalline and pure forsterite synthesis. According to the mechanical properties measurements, the optimum weight percentages of forsterite nanoparticles for enhancement of CS, FS, and DTS were obtained equal to 3, 1 and 1 wt.%, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that the differences between all the groups were significant (P<0.05). SEM images and results of the ICP-OES and FTIR tests confirmed the bioactivity of the nanocomposite. Glass ionomer-forsterite nanocomposite containing 1 to 3 wt.%-forsterite nanoparticles can be a suitable candidate for dentistry and orthopedic applications due to the improvement of mechanical properties and bioactivity.