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Material extrusion (MEX) of complex thermoplastic structures often depends on the reliable printing of a water-soluble support structure. The material of choice is typically polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which is not used in ceramic MEX printing due to a limited printing compatibility with most ceramic feedstocks (poor layer adhesion). Herein, a new thermoplastic feedstock was developed as temporary support material on the basis of NaCl mixed with a commercial injection molding binder system. The NaCl feedstock is fully compatible for MEX printing with ceramic feedstocks and showed excellent printing properties and high green body strength. The support structure is mostly dissolved in water and the rest can be removed manually or during thermal debinding. The NaCl support material was used to print flexible Al2O3 samples with hinges or chainmail samples. This strategy is an attractive way to introduce additional functionality and new applications which were so far inaccessible to technical ceramics.

Background: Biogenic fabrication of metal oxide nanoparticles has been gaining interest over conventional methods. Biological methods make use of plant materials and microbial agents as reducing as well as capping agents. The present work reports the biosynthesis of ZnO NPs from agricultural wastes produced in every household. Objective: A significant portion of municipal solid organic waste (MSOW) consists of agricultural waste. Utilization of this agricultural waste towards cleaning water of pathogens through the synthesis of nanoparticles has far-reaching implications, such as curbing soil pollution and water pollution. Method: Preliminary confirmation was done by the visual formation of a pale yellow/dirty white precipitate of ZnO NPs. These were further characterized by different spectroscopic techniques, such as FT-IR, SEM, EDAX, and HRTEM. Results: The HRTEM study revealed that NPs obtained had sizes between 30-52 nm. Fabricated ZnO NPs were analyzed for their antibacterial activity by disk diffusion method, and they exhibited striking antibacterial activity against E. coli and bacillus subtilis. Conclusion: Exploring the potential of waste and its conversion into a value-added product is a novel step. ZnO nanoparticles were successfully synthesized from agricultural wastes through an environmentally friendly synthetic route, and the synthesized ZnO NPs were found to be potent in inhibiting the growth of bacteria.

In tissue engineering, cells are grown often on scaffolds and subjected to chemical/mechanical stimuli. Most such cultures still use fetal bovine serum (FBS) despite its known disadvantages including ethical concerns, safety issues, and variability in composition, which greatly influences the experimental outcomes. To overcome the disadvantages of using FBS, chemically defined serum substitute medium needs to be developed. Development of such medium depends on cell type and application - which makes it impossible to define one universal serum substitute medium for all cells in any application. Here, we developed a serum substitute medium for bone tissue engineering (BTE) in a step-by-step process. Essential components were added to the medium while human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (hBMSCs, osteoblast progenitor cells) were cultured in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) substrates. In a 3-week culture, the developed serum substitute medium worked equally well as FBS containing medium in term of cell attachment to the substrate, cell survival, osteoblast differentiation, and deposition of extracellular matrix. In the next step, the use of serum substitute medium was evaluated when culturing cells under mechanical loading in the form of shear stress. The outcomes showed that the application of shear stress is essential to improve extracellular matrix formation while using serum substitute medium. The developed serum substitute medium could pave the way in replacing FBS for BTE studies eliminating the use of controversial FBS and providing a better-defined chemical environment for BTE studies.

INTRODUCTION: A chemical formula of nanocomposite 0.1 Bi2/3Cu3Ti4O12 -0.9 Bi3LaTi3O12 (BCLT-19) was prepared by semiwet route using metal nitrate and solid TiO2. The phase formation of Bi2/3Cu3Ti4O12 (BCT) and Bi3LaTi3O12 (BLT) was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) study. METHOD: Transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis showed a nano particle of size 14 ± 5 nm on average for BCLT-19 composites. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images exhibited a tubular, spherical and heterogeneous structure of grains. The root means square roughness, average roughness and maximum area peak height were explained by atomic force microscopy (AFM). RESULT: Study of magnetic properties was determined as weak antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic and in nature. The high dielectric constant (ε' = 3147 at 100Hz to 500 K) of BCLT-19 may be due to the existence of space charge polarization. CONCLUSION: In this manuscript have studies on the novel composite materials of BCLT-19 micro-structural properties. This is useful for future Random-access memory devices and dielectric materials

International audience; For the first time, a Zn1.1Ga1.8Ge0.1O4 transparent spinel ceramic has been fully densified by spark plasma sintering. XRD measurements show that this ceramic is composed of a pure cubic spinel phase. SEM analysis revealed a homogeneous and dense microstructure with the average grain size being 200 ± 100 nm. The transmittance of these fine-grained ceramics reached 70 % in the visible range and is very close to 80 % at 2 µm, thus close to the Tmax value deduced from the measurement of the refractive index. The ceramics exhibit excellent mechanical properties with a Young modulus of 222 GPa, a Vickers hardness of 14.25 GPa and a thermal conductivity of 7.3 W.m−1. K−1. By doping with Cr3+ ions, transparent Zn1.1Ga1.8Ge0.1O4 ceramics present both a red luminescence and a long-lasting afterglow during several minutes. Moreover, a near infrared broadband emission at 1.3 µm is also achieved with Ni2+ ions.

Background: When halide salts and hydrogen bond donors are combined, they produce Deep Eutectic Solvents, which have a lower freezing/melting point than the individual components. At room temperature, they have emerged as viable alternatives to ionic liquids. The wonderful features of deep eutectic solvents such as humidity tolerance, high-temperature stability, low cost, non-hazardous, reusable, and recyclable nature, allow them to replace ionic liquids. Objective: To prepare two newer Ternary Deep Eutectic Solvents using Malonic acid - Glucose – Glutamine and Malonic acid - Fructose – Glutamine. Using the prepared ternary deep eutectic solvents, to synthesize silver nanoparticles and study the antifungal behavior. Methods: The ternary deep eutectic solvents were prepared by the evaporation method in water and subjected to measure the properties such as density, pH, conductivity, viscosity, and absorption frequencies of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The prepared deep eutectic solvents are used for the synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles by the chemical reduction method in presence of Hydrazine Hydrate as a reducing agent and sodium hydroxide as a stabilizing agent. The synthesized nanoparticles are characterized by UV-Visible Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis techniques. Results: The characteristic absorption peak of UV-Visible Spectroscopy shows that silver nanoparticles were formed. FTIR exposes the metallic and other bonding of the nanoparticles and the caping materials. From the XRD pattern, we found the crystalline and the images formed in the SEM are in the nanoscale. The average particle size of silver nanoparticles is 116.87nm and 26.61 nm. Conclusion: In our study, two types of novel ternary deep eutectic solvents were developed. They act as a better solvent media for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles and the synthesized nanoparticles show antifungal behaviors against some fungi.

Background: Letrozole (LTZ), is an aromatase inhibitor used for the treatment of hormonally positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Letrozole is categorized as a BCS class I drug. It has poor water solubility, rapid metabolism and a range of side effects. Objective: Nanosuspension is a technique which enhances the drug's solubility and bioavailability, resulting in a faster start of effect. The present study was aimed, to formulate nanosuspension using probe sonication method for the enhancement of solubility of Letrozole using poloxamer-188 as stabilizer. The formulation scheme was generated by using Box-Behnken design which is a statistical tool of design of experiments (DOE). Results: Total seventeen formulations were performed for letrozole nanosuspension as suggested by Box-Behnken design by employing probe sonication method. The selected formulations are characterized for particle size and zeta potential. The formulations were checked on percentage of bias in between predicted value and observed value and evaluated for drug content and invitro dissolution study. The formulation was optimized using Box-Behnken design based on invitro cumulative drug release. Among all the formulations NS4 (500mg poloxamer-188, 100mg Letrozole and sonication time of 20mints) was considered to be best with minimum Particle size of 923.5nm, Zeta potential value of -28.7mV, 96.36% of drug content and 94.02% of drug release within 2 hours. Solubility was determined by shake flask method. The solubility of pure drug was found to be only 10%. The solubility studies were performed for the optimized formulation of NS4 showed that the solubility has enhanced up to 90% when compared to pure drug. Conclusion: Thus, the present results revealed that Letrozole nanosuspension solubility has enhanced up to 90% when compared to pure drug by using poloxamer-188 as stabilizer.