Shells of the bivalve Arctica islandica are used to reconstruct paleo-environmental conditions (e.g. temperature) via biogeochemical proxies, i.e. biogenic components that are related closely to environmental parameters at the time of shell formation. Several studies have shown that proxies like element and isotope-ratios can be affected by shell growth and microstructure. Thus it is essential ...

The relationship between the rheological behavior and microstructure of glucono-δ-lactone (GDL) induced cold-set soybean glycinin (Gly)–locust bean gum (LBG) mixed gels was studied. In the presence of 0.05%, 0.10% and 0.15% w/v LBG, the onset of Gly network formation (4.0%, w/v) occurred progressively earlier and the viscoelastic modulus was enhanced significantly as the LBG concentration incre...

Polymer hydrogels containing positively charged functional groups were used to investigate the critical material and biological components of FVII activation and subsequent fibrin formation in citrated plasma. A FVIIa ELISA confirmed the ability of the polymer to induce FVII activation and provided insight into the material parameters which were influential in this activation. Experiments utili...

Microstructure evolution in complex nonlinear systems is of great interest from both scientific and engineering viewpoints. Here, we consider an important case of such an evolution, a coherent decomposition of a homogeneous parent phase involving the symmetry-lifting crystal lattice rearrangement of the product phase. It is shown that under certain conditions the transformation develops as a ps...

Designing nanostructured materials with high dosimetric efficiency is a great challenge in radiation dosimetry research. From rare-earth series, yttrium oxide is considered as excellent host matrix for rare-earth ions, leading to formation of advanced functional materials with optical, mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties notably improved. Nevertheless, there is a lack of information wh...

Freeze casting for Al2O3 was accomplished at room temperature with nonaqueous sublimable vehicles in the naphthalene– camphor eutectic system with a eutectic temperature of 31°C. A fully dense sintered body (>99.5% of theoretical density (T.D.)) was obtained with a eutectic composition vehicle, whereas at most 90% T.D. was obtained with an off-eutectic (i.e., hypoor hypereutectic) composition v...

A catalytic technique to enhance graphite formation in nongraphitizing carbons was adapted to work with three-dimensional wood-derived scaffolds. Unlike many synthetic graphite precursors, wood and other cellulosic carbons remain largely disordered after high temperature pyrolysis. Using a nickel nitrate liquid catalyst and controlled pyrolysis conditions, wood-derived scaffolds were produced s...

Nanohydroxyapatite (n-HA)/nylon 6,6 composite scaffolds were produced by means of the salt-leaching/solvent casting technique. NaCl with a distinct range size was used with the aim of optimizing the pore network. Composite powders with different n-HA contents (40%, 60%) for scaffold fabrication were synthesized and tested. The composite scaffolds thus obtained were characterized for their micro...

The effects of increasing nickel from 3 to 7 and 9 wt. % were investigated in high strength steel weld metals with 2 wt. % manganese. It was found that nickel additions were positive for strength but negative for impact toughness. Significant segregation of nickel and manganese to interdendritic regions was observed with the two higher nickel contents. In these weld metals a mainly martensitic ...

The microstructure of the starting hydrogel has extremely important role in the synthesis of the microporous materials. Due to the fact that very limited number of experimental methods (techniques) can be used for gel analysis, there are still a lot of missing informations about the processes on molecular level, which occur before and during the nuclei formation. In this paper, various methods ...