The objective of this study was to utilize ultrafine powder coating technology to prepare (PPC) that can support human mesenchymal cell attachment and growth. Resins were modified with titanium dioxide and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and enriched with either SiO(2) or TiO(2) nanoparticles (nSiO(2) or nTiO(2)) to create continuous PPC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed complex surface topographies with nano features, and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis with Ti mapping confirmed a homogenous dispersion of the material. SEM and inverted fluorescence microscopy showed that human embryonic palatal mesenchymal (HEPM) cells attached and spread out on the PPC surfaces, particularly those enriched with nTiO( 2). Cell counts were higher, and the MTT assay measured more metabolic activity from the nTiO(2) enriched PPCs. Furthermore, these cellular responses were enhanced on PPC surfaces that were enriched with a higher concentration of nTiO(2) (2% vs. 0.5%), and appeared comparable to that seen on commercially pure titanium (cpTi). Therefore the nTiO( 2) enrichment of PPC was shown to favor human mesenchymal cell attachment and growth. Indeed, this modification of the materials created continuous surface coatings that sustained a favorable cellular response.
The current study presents an investigation on the optimization of injection molding parameters of HDPE/TiO2 nanocomposites using grey relational analysis with the Taguchi method. Four control factors, including filler concentration (i.e., TiO2), barrel temperature, residence time and holding time, were chosen at three different levels of each. Mechanical properties, such as yield strength, Young’s modulus and elongation, were selected as the performance targets. Nine experimental runs were carried out based on the Taguchi L9 orthogonal array, and the data were processed according to the grey relational steps. The optimal process parameters were found based on the average responses of the grey relational grades, and the ideal operating conditions were found to be a filler concentration of 5 wt % TiO2, a barrel temperature of 225 °C, a residence time of 30 min and a holding time of 20 s. Moreover, analysis of variance (ANOVA) has also been applied to identify the most significant factor, and the percentage of TiO2 nanoparticles was found to have the most significant effect on the properties of the HDPE/TiO2 nanocomposites fabricated through the injection molding process.
Facile synthesis and application of nano-sized semiconductor metal oxides for optoelectronic devices have always affected fabrication challenges since it involves multi-step synthesis processes. In this regard, semiconductor oxides derived directly from metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) routes have gained a great deal of scientific interest owing to their high specific surface area, regular and tunable pore structures. Exploring the application potential of these MOF-derived semiconductor oxides systems for clean energy conversion and storage devices is currently a hot topic of research. In this study, titanium-based MIL-125(Ti) MOFs were used as a precursor to synthesize cobalt-doped TiO2-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) for the first time. The thermal decomposition of the MOF precursor under an air atmosphere at 400 °C resulted in mesoporous anatase-type TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) of uniform morphology, large surface area with narrow pore distribution. The Co2+ doping in TiO2 leads to enhanced light absorption in the visible region. When used as photoanode in DSSCs, a good power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.86% with good photocurrent density (Jsc) of 13.96 mA cm−2 was obtained with the lowest recombination resistance and the longest electron lifetime, which is better than the performance of the pristine TiO2-based photoanode.
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