Surface treatments and its effects on the fatigue behavior of a 5% mol yttria partially stabilized zirconia material.

This study evaluated the effect of distinct surface treatments on the fatigue behavior (biaxial flexural fatigue testing) and surface characteristics (topography and roughness) of a 5% mol yttria partially stabilized zirconia ceramic (5Y-PSZ). Disc-shaped specimens of 5Y-PSZ (IPS e.max ZirCAD MT Multi) were manufactured (ISO 6872-2015) and allocated into six groups (n = 15) considering the following surface treatments: Ctrl - no-treatment; GLZ - low-fusing porcelain glaze application; SNF - 5 nm SiO2 nanofilm; AlOx - aluminum oxide particle air-abrasion; SiC - silica-coated aluminum oxide particles (silica-coating); and 7%Si - 7% silica-coated aluminum oxide particles (silica-coating). The biaxial flexural fatigue tests were performed by the step-stress method (20Hz for 10,000 cycles) with a step increment of 50N starting at 100N and proceeding until failure detection. The samples were tested with the treated surface facing down (tensile stress side). Topography, fractography, roughness, and phase content assessments of treated specimens were performed. GLZ group presented the highest fatigue behavior, while AlOx presented the lowest performance, and was only similar to SiC and 7%Si. Ctrl and SNF presented intermediary fatigue behavior, and were also similar to SiC and 7%Si. GLZ promoted a rougher surface, Ctrl and SNF had the lowest roughness, while the air-abrasion groups presented intermediary roughness. No m-phase content was detected (only t and c phases were detected). In conclusion, the application of a thin-layer of low-fusing porcelain glaze, the deposition of silica nanofilms and the air-abrasion with silica-coated alumina particles had no detrimental effect on the fatigue behavior of the 5Y-PSZ, while the air-abrasion with alumina particles damaged the fatigue outcomes.

Air-abrasion using new silica-alumina powders containing different silica concentrations: Effect on the microstructural characteristics and fatigue behavior of a Y-TZP ceramic.

This study assessed the fatigue performance (biaxial flexure fatigue strength), surface characteristics (topography and roughness) and structural stability (t-m phase transformation) of a Y-TZP ceramic subjected to air-abrasion using new powders (7% and 20% silica-coated aluminum oxide particles) in comparison to commercially available powders. Disc-shaped specimens were manufactured (ISO 6872-2015) and randomly allocated into four groups considering the air-abrasion materials: SiC: commercially available silica-coated aluminum oxide; AlOx: commercially available aluminum oxide; 7%Si and 20%Si: experimentally produced materials consisting of 7% and 20% silica-coated AlOx, respectively. Air-abrasion was executed by a blinded researcher (1 cm distance from the tip to the specimen surface, under 2.8 bar pressure for 10 s). The fatigue tests (n = 15) were performed by the staircase method under a piston-on-three-balls assembly. Topography and roughness assessments (n = 30) of abraded samples and fractography of failed discs were performed. The highest fatigue strength (MPa) was observed for 7%Si (887.20 ±â€¯50.54) and SiC (878.16 ±â€¯29.81), while the lowest fatigue strength for 20%Si (773.89 ±â€¯46.44) and AlOx (796.70 ±â€¯46.48). Topography analysis depicted similar surface morphology for all conditions. However, roughness (µm) was only statistically different between 7%Si (Ra = 0.30 ±â€¯0.09; Rz = 2.31 ±â€¯0.63) and SiC (Ra = 0.26 ±â€¯0.04; Rz = 1.99 ±â€¯0.34). Monoclinic phase grains appeared on Y-TZP surface in a similar content (≈11-12%) for the protocols. Fractography showed all failures starting on air-abraded surface/sub-surface defects from the tensile side. In terms of roughness, phase transformation and fatigue, the new 7% silica-coated aluminum oxide presented similar behavior to the commercially available powder. Increasing silica-coating concentration to 20% did not lead to a gentle air-abrasion protocol.

Antifungal and antibacterial activity of extracts produced from Diaporthe schini.

The aim of this work was the production of bioactive metabolites by submerged fermentation from the fungus Diaporthe schini, followed by their extraction, separation and characterization. Different solvents (methanol, dichloromethane and hexane) were used for the extraction of metabolites from the fermentation broth and the extracts obtained were evaluated by in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity. The separation and characterization of the extract from the hexane extraction was performed by column chromatography and GC-MS, respectively. The extracts had a great inhibitory action on the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus, on the Gram-negative bacteria Enterobacter aerogenes and Klebsiella pneumoniae and on the fungus Candida krusei. The main metabolites produced were: 13-docosenamide, (Z)-; 2-hexadecene, 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl; 9-octadecenamide and 11-octadecenoic acid. Studies related to the antibacterial and antifungal activities of metabolites extracted from microorganisms are found in the literature. However, works about the identification of metabolites produced by submerged fermentation from Diaporthe schini were not found until the present moment. This work is an initial study where the conditions of the process can be optimized by looking for the production of a specific compound and can be a promising source for obtaining new drugs.