Thin films of titanium carbonitride (TiCN) were fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering on medical grade steel. The biocompatibility of the coating was further enhanced by growing hydroxyapatite crystals over the TiCN-coated substrates using biologically activated ammonia from synthetic urine. The coatings were characterized using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning elec...

Varying contents of carbon, titanium and boron were used in the base steel composition 0.30 wt% Si, 2.0 Mn, 0.006 S, 0.03 Nb, 30–35 ppm N. Hot ductility tests performed with Gleeble-3800, after sample was in-situ melted, solidified, cooled to test temperature. Investigation completed thermodynamic kinetic simulations. The best results obtained for steels containing 58–100 B 35 Ti. They showed v...

Cathode materials always limit the performance of fuel cells while the commercial platinum-based catalysts hardly meet the requirements of low cost, durable and stable. Here a non-precious metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electocatalyst based on titanium nitride/titanium carbonitride hierarchical structures (TNTCNHS) is demonstrated as high activity as Pt/C. In alkaline condition, tuning i...

The structure and electronic properties of polymer-derived silicoboron–carbonitride ceramics are reported. Structural analysis using radial-distribution-function formalism showed that the local structure is comprised of Si tetrahedra with B, C, and N at the corners. Boron doping of SiCN leads to enhanced p-type conductivity ~0.1 V cm at room temperature!. The conductivity variation with tempera...