Strong and ductile titanium-oxygen-iron alloys by additive manufacturing.

Titanium alloys are advanced lightweight materials, indispensable for many critical applications1,2. The mainstay of the titanium industry is the α-ß titanium alloys, which are formulated through alloying additions that stabilize the α and ß phases3-5. Our work focuses on harnessing two of the most powerful stabilizing elements and strengtheners for α-ß titanium alloys, oxygen and iron1-5, which are readily abundant. However, the embrittling effect of oxygen6,7, described colloquially as 'the kryptonite to titanium'8, and the microsegregation of iron9 have hindered their combination for the development of strong and ductile α-ß titanium-oxygen-iron alloys. Here we integrate alloy design with additive manufacturing (AM) process design to demonstrate a series of titanium-oxygen-iron compositions that exhibit outstanding tensile properties. We explain the atomic-scale origins of these properties using various characterization techniques. The abundance of oxygen and iron and the process simplicity for net-shape or near-net-shape manufacturing by AM make these α-ß titanium-oxygen-iron alloys attractive for a diverse range of applications. Furthermore, they offer promise for industrial-scale use of off-grade sponge titanium or sponge titanium-oxygen-iron10,11, an industrial waste product at present. The economic and environmental potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the energy-intensive sponge titanium production12 is substantial.

HDL subfractions determined by microfluidic chip electrophoresis predict the vulnerability of intracranial plaque: A HRMRI study.

AIM: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) can be divided into several subfractions based on density, size and composition. Accumulative evidence strongly suggests that the subfractions of HDL have very different roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to further delineate the relationship between HDL subfractions extracted by microfluidic chip electrophoresis and the vulnerability of plaques in patients with intracranial atherosclerosis with a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) study. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled patients with single atherosclerotic plaque in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) or basilar artery (BA) between July 2020 and Dec 2022 and performed 3-tesla HRMRI on the relevant artery. The HDL cholesterol concentration and HDL subfractions (HDL-2a, HDL-2b and HDL-3) percentage were analyzed in serum samples from the same patients by electrophoresis on a microfluidics system. RESULTS: A total of 81 MCA or BA plaques [38 (46.9%) symptomatic and 43 (53.1%) asymptomatic] in 81 patients were identified on HRMRI. Patients with symptomatic plaques had a significantly lower HDL-2b level than asymptomatic plaques [symptomatic vs. asymptomatic: 0.16 (0.10-0.18) vs. 0.27(0.21-0.34), p = 0.001]. After adjusting for demographics and vascular risk factors, logistic regression showed that HDL-2b was inversely associated with asymptomatic plaques (B = -0.04, P = 0.017). According to receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve model analysis, the cutoff point of HDL-2b in predicting asymptomatic plaques was 0.21 mmol/L (Area under curve: 0.719, specificity: 73.7%, sensitivity: 72.1%). Furthermore, plaque enhancement on HRMRI (P < 0.001), positive remodeling (P < 0.001), plaque load (P < 0.001) and luminal stenosis (P < 0.001) were superior among patients with HDL-2b < 0.21 mmol/L. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that serum HDL-2b levels may serve as a biomarker for predicting vulnerability in intracranial atherosclerotic plaques.

The dual role of the novel Wnt receptor tyrosine kinase, ROR2, in human carcinogenesis.

The Wnt signaling pathway is involved in the development and progression of many human cancers, yet attempts to target the pathway therapeutically have been disappointing to date. The recent discovery that the ROR2 receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) is a novel Wnt receptor provides the potential to target the non-canonical Wnt pathway for cancer treatments. As a member of the RTK superfamily of surface receptors ROR2 appears to possess dual roles as a tumor suppressor or activator depending on tumor type. This review will explore the dual role of ROR2 in tumorigenesis and provide an up to date analysis of current literature in this rapidly expanding field.

Decoupling of nutrient stoichiometry in Suaeda glauca (Bunge) senesced leaves under salt treatment.

The stoichiometry of senesced leaves is pivotal in nutrient cycling and can be significantly influenced by soil salinization, a rising global issue threatening the functionality of ecosystems. However, the impacts of soil salinization on senesced leaf stoichiometry are not fully understood. In this study, we conducted a pot experiment with varying soil salt concentrations to examine their influence on the concentrations and stoichiometric ratios of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and zinc (Zn) in the senesced leaves of Suaeda glauca (Bunge). Compared to the control group, salt treatments significantly enhanced Na concentration while diminishing the concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Zn, N, and P. Interestingly, as salinity levels escalated, N concentration maintained stability, whereas P concentration exhibited an increasing trend. Moreover, K, Ca, and Mg significantly declined as salt levels rose. Salt treatments brought about significant changes in stoichiometric ratios, with the N:P, K:Na, N:Na, N:Mg, and Ca : Mg ratios dropping and the N:Ca and N:K ratios rising, illustrating the varying nutrient coupling cycles under different salt conditions. These findings shed light on the plasticity of stoichiometric traits in S. glauca senesced leaves in response to soil salinization shifts, which could potentially offer insights into nutrient cycling reactions to soil salinization.

Titanium Multi-Topology Metamaterials with Exceptional Strength.

Additively manufactured metamaterials are architectured cellular materials that can be engineered through structural innovations to achieve unusual mechanical and multifunctional properties. Among these, hollow-strut lattice (HSL) metamaterials have proven to allow outstanding structural efficiency, with a multifunctional architecture ideal for lightweight, biomedical, microfluidic, and thermal engineering. To capitalize on their structural efficiency and significantly extend their mechanical envelope, a thin-plate lattice topology is seamlessly integrated into the inner hollow space of an HSL topology. This integration serves a dual purpose: to radically enhance the resistance of the irregular HSL nodes to deformation and to uniformly distribute the applied stresses in the new topology for unparalleled strength. Fabricated in titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V with densities of 1.0-1.8 g cm-3 , this thin-plate integrated hollow-strut lattice (TP-HSL) metamaterials achieve relative yield strength that well surpasses the empirical upper limit of all cellular metals, including HSL and solid-strut lattice (SSL) metamaterials made from various metallic alloys. Furthermore, their absolute yield strength drastically exceeds that of magnesium alloys with comparable densities while inheriting the high corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, heat resistance, and other unique attributes of Ti-6Al-4V. Titanium multi-topology metamaterials expand the boundaries of lightweight multifunctional metallic materials.

Migration of solidification grain boundaries and prediction.

Solidification processing is essential to the manufacture of various metal products, including additive manufacturing. Solidification grain boundaries (SGBs) result from the solidification of the last liquid film between two abutting grains of different orientations. They can migrate, but unlike normal GB migration, SGB migration (SGBM) decouples SGBs from solidification microsegregation, further affecting material properties. Here, we first show the salient features of SGBM in magnesium-tin alloys solidified with cooling rates of 8-1690 °C/s. A theoretical model is then developed for SGBM in dilute binary alloys, focusing on the effect of solute type and content, and applied to 10 alloy systems with remarkable agreement. SGMB does not depend on cooling rate or time but relates to grain size. It tends to occur athermally. The findings of this study extend perspectives on solidification grain structure formation and control for improved performance (e.g. hot or liquation cracking during reheating, intergranular corrosion or fracture).

Image-Based Geometrical Characterization of Nodes in Additively Manufactured Lattice Structures.

Additive manufacturing (AM) enables the fabrication of lattice structures with optimal mechanical, fluid, and thermal properties. However, during the AM fabrication process, defects are produced in the strut and node elements, which comprise the lattice structure. This leads to discrepancies between the AM fabricated lattice and its idealized computer-aided design (CAD) model, negatively affecting the ability to predict the mechanical behavior of the fabricated lattice via numerical models. Current research is focused on quantification of geometric uncertainties in the strut elements of the lattice; as-manufactured node geometries remain relatively unexplored on an individual scale, despite their criticality to the mechanical response of the structure. Understanding the geometrical properties of as-manufactured nodes relative to CAD idealizations can be used to improve lattice designs and numerical models. In this research, X-ray microcomputed tomography (µCT) is used to analyze and quantify the as-manufactured nodal geometry, found in face-centered cubic and face-centered cubic with axial struts lattices fabricated via selective laser melting. A custom tool is developed that enables auto-isolation and classification of nodal joints from µCT-derived cross-sectional slices. Geometrical properties are extracted from the isolated nodal cross sections and compared with their idealized CAD model counterpart. Quantification of geometrical defects provides insight into how nodes within an AM lattice structure differ from each other and their idealized design. Overall, this research is an initial step toward developing accurate and efficient numerical models, as well as better node design for AM.

Heterogeneous nucleation on convex spherical substrate surfaces: A rigorous thermodynamic formulation of Fletcher's classical model and the new perspectives derived.

Fletcher's spherical substrate model [J. Chem. Phys. 29, 572 (1958)] is a basic model for understanding the heterogeneous nucleation phenomena in nature. However, a rigorous thermodynamic formulation of the model has been missing due to the significant complexities involved. This has not only left the classical model deficient but also likely obscured its other important features, which would otherwise have helped to better understand and control heterogeneous nucleation on spherical substrates. This work presents a rigorous thermodynamic formulation of Fletcher's model using a novel analytical approach and discusses the new perspectives derived. In particular, it is shown that the use of an intermediate variable, a selected geometrical angle or pseudocontact angle between the embryo and spherical substrate, revealed extraordinary similarities between the first derivatives of the free energy change with respect to embryo radius for nucleation on spherical and flat substrates. Enlightened by the discovery, it was found that there exists a local maximum in the difference between the equivalent contact angles for nucleation on spherical and flat substrates due to the existence of a local maximum in the difference between the shape factors for nucleation on spherical and flat substrate surfaces. This helps to understand the complexity of the heterogeneous nucleation phenomena in a practical system. Also, it was found that the unfavorable size effect occurs primarily when R<5r( *) (R: radius of substrate and r( *): critical embryo radius) and diminishes rapidly with increasing value of R/r( *) beyond R/r( *)=5. This finding provides a baseline for controlling the size effects in heterogeneous nucleation.

Porous Titanium Scaffolds Fabricated by Metal Injection Moulding for Biomedical Applications.

Biocompatible titanium scaffolds with up to 40% interconnected porosity were manufactured through the metal injection moulding process and the space holder technique. The mechanical properties of the manufactured scaffold showed a high level of compatibility with those of the cortical human bone. Sintering at 1250 °C produced scaffolds with 36% porosity and more than 90% interconnected pores, a compressive yield stress of 220 MPa and a Young's modulus of 7.80 GPa, all suitable for bone tissue engineering. Increasing the sintering temperature to 1300 °C increased the Young's modulus to 22.0 GPa due to reduced porosity, while reducing the sintering temperature to 1150 °C lowered the yield stress to 120 MPa, indicative of insufficient sintering. Electrochemical studies revealed that samples sintered at 1150 °C have a higher corrosion rate compared with those at a sintering temperature of 1250 °C. Overall, it was concluded that sintering at 1250 °C yielded the most desirable results.

A comparative study of the effect of submicron porous and smooth ultrafine-grained Ti-20Mo surfaces on osteoblast responses.

The surface of an orthopaedic implant plays a crucial role in determining the adsorption of proteins and cell functions. A detailed comparative study has been made of the in vitro osteoblast responses to coarse-grained (grain size: 500 µm), ultrafine-grained (grain size: 100 nm), coarse-porous (pore size: 350 nm), and fine-porous (pore size: 155 nm) surfaces of Ti-20Mo alloy. The purpose was to provide essential experimental data for future design of orthopaedic titanium implants for rapid osseointegration. Systematic original experimental data was produced for each type of surfaces in terms of surface wettability, cell morphology, adhesion, growth, and differentiation. Microscopic evidence was collected to reveal the detailed interplay between each characteristic surface with proteins or cells. Various new observations were discussed and compared with literature data. It was concluded that the coarse-porous surfaces offered the optimum topographical environment for osteoblasts and that the combination of ultrafine grains and considerable grain boundary areas is not an effective way to enhance cell growth and osteogenic capacity. Moreover, pore features (size and depth) have a greater effect than smooth surfaces on cell growth and osteogenic capacity. It proves that cells can discern the difference in pore size in the range of 100-350 nm. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 2020-2033, 2018.

Microstructure and mechanical behavior of metal injection molded Ti-Nb binary alloys as biomedical material.

The application of titanium (Ti) based biomedical materials which are widely used at present, such as commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) and Ti-6Al-4V, are limited by the mismatch of Young's modulus between the implant and the bones, the high costs of products, and the difficulty of producing complex shapes of materials by conventional methods. Niobium (Nb) is a non-toxic element with strong ß stabilizing effect in Ti alloys, which makes Ti-Nb based alloys attractive for implant application. Metal injection molding (MIM) is a cost-efficient near-net shape process. Thus, it attracts growing interest for the processing of Ti and Ti alloys as biomaterial. In this investigation, metal injection molding was applied to the fabrication of a series of Ti-Nb binary alloys with niobium content ranging from 10wt% to 22wt%, and CP-Ti for comparison. Specimens were characterized by melt extraction, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Titanium carbide formation was observed in all the as-sintered Ti-Nb binary alloys but not in the as-sintered CP-Ti. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns revealed that the carbides are Ti2C. It was found that with increasing niobium content from 0% to 22%, the porosity increased from about 1.6% to 5.8%, and the carbide area fraction increased from 0% to about 1.8% in the as-sintered samples. The effects of niobium content, porosity and titanium carbides on mechanical properties have been discussed. The as-sintered Ti-Nb specimens exhibited an excellent combination of high tensile strength and low Young's modulus, but relatively low ductility.