Tantalum (Ta) metal is receiving increasing interest as biomaterial for load-bearing orthopedic applications and the synthetic properties of Ta can be tailored by altering its grain structures. This study evaluates the capability of sliding friction treatment (SFT) technique to modulate the comprehensive performances of pure Ta. Specifically, novel nanocrystalline (NC) surface with extremely small grains (average grain size of ≤20 nm) was fabricated on conventional coarse-grained (CG) Ta by SFT. It shows that NC surface possessed higher surface hydrophilicity and enhanced corrosion resistance than CG surface. Additionally, the NC surface adsorbed a notably higher percentage of protein as compared to CG surface. The in vitro results indicated that in the initial culture stages (up to 24 h), the NC surface exhibited considerably enhanced osteoblast adherence and spreading, consistent with demonstrated superior hydrophilicity on NC surface. Furthermore, within the 14 days culture period, NC Ta surface exhibited a remarkable enhancement in osteoblast cell proliferation, maturation and mineralization as compared to CG surface. Ultimately, the improved osteoblast functions together with the good mechanical and anti-corrosion properties render the SFT-processed Ta a promising alternative for the load-bearing bone implant applications.

We report on the transport and magnetization properties of MgB2 wires fabricated by a powder-in-tube (PIT) technique. Temperature and magnetic-field-dependent resistivity displays a high conductivity and upper critical field Hc2 generally observed in dense samples. The electronic mass anisotropy γ≈1.3±0.15 predicts some texturing in the wire. Our data on transition temperature TC, Hc2, and both magnetic and transport critical current density Jc indicate that MgB2 can be manufactured in a wire form using a PIT technique and required engineering Jc can be achieved on further optimization.

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Multifunctional materials with more than two good properties are widely required in modern industries. However, some properties are often trade-off with each other by single microstructural designation. For example, nanostructured materials have high strength, but low ductility and thermal stability. Here by means of spark plasma sintering (SPS) of nitrided Ti particles, we synthesized bulk core-shell structured Ti alloys with isolated soft coarse-grained Ti cores and hard Ti-N solid solution shells. The core-shell Ti alloys exhibit a high yield strength (~1.4 GPa) comparable to that of nanostructured states and high thermal stability (over 1100 °C, 0.71 of melting temperature), contributed by the hard Ti-N shells, as well as a good plasticity (fracture plasticity of 12%) due to the soft Ti cores. Our results demonstrate that this core-shell structure offers a design pathway towards an advanced material with enhancing strength-plasticity-thermal stability synergy.

The influence on silver colloids of the addition of KCI was directly investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that the particle size increased and the surfaces of the crystal particles of the silver became covered with an overlayer. Additionally, the pattern of aggregation was found to be chain-like. These changes were very different from those caused by adding pyridine. The mechanism affecting the colloid and the intensity of the surfaceenhanced Raman scattering signals of adsorbed molecules on adding KCI to silver colloid is discussed.