During the production of titanium stabilized stainless steel, as titanium in steel has a tendency to reacting with SiO2 in mould fluxes to generate TiO2 into mould fluxes and mould powder can inevitably pick up Ti-bearing inclusions floating up from steel, TiO2 content in the molten mould fluxes gradually increases so that physiochemical properties of the fluxes change. To evaluate the effect of TiO2 increase in mould fluxes on the structure of the mould flux, the glassy slag system CaO-SiO2-CaF2-TiO2 for stainless steel casting fluxes was studied by combining Raman spectroscopy with 29 in tetrahedral coordination, which cannot change the degree of polymerization of the silicate network. A small amount of Ti enters into the silicate network as the role of network formation, which slightly enhances the degree of polymerization of the silicate network. According to 19 F MAS-NMR spectra, most of the fluorine is exclusively coordinated by Ca 2+ corresponding to F-Ca(n) site and only a few Si-F bonds were observed in samples. Increase of TiO2 content has no significant effects on the F-bonds.

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Biomimetic giant membrane vesicles, with size and lipid compositions comparable to cells, have been recognized as an attractive experimental alternative to living systems. Due to the similarity of their membrane structure to that of body cells, cell-derived giant plasma membrane vesicles have been used as a membrane model for studying lipid/protein behavior of plasma membranes. However, further application of biomimetic giant membrane vesicles has been hampered by the side-effects of chemical vesiculants and the utilization of osmotic buffer. We herein develop a facile strategy to derive giant membrane vesicles (GMVs) from mammalian cells in biofriendly medium with high yields. These GMVs preserve membrane properties and adaptability for surface modification and encapsulation of exogenous molecules, which would facilitate their potential biological applications. Moreover, by loading GMVs with therapeutic drugs, GMVs could be employed for drug transport to tumor cells, which represents another step forward in the biomedical application of giant membrane vesicles. This study highlights biocompatible GMVs with biomimicking membrane surface properties and adaptability as an ideal platform for drug delivery strategies with potential clinical applications.

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