Abstract The aim of this work was to analyze the properties and shear bond strength (SBS) of lithium disilicate to resin cement before and after etching the glass-ceramic surfaces. Lithium-metasilicate samples were heat treated and characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction and roughness measurement. For the analysis of the shear bonding strength (SBS) of lithium disilicate to dental resin cement, three groups (n = 12) of Li2Si2O5 were prepared: 1°)without treatment (NT); 2°)surface etching with hydrofluoric acid(HF), followed by silane agent and adhesive treatment; 3°) surface treatment with a self-etching ceramic primer (SECP). After the heat-treatment, the samples had Li2Si2O5 crystalline phase dispersed in a residual amorphous phase. Roughness of the NT and SECP samples was smaller that of the HF samples. Samples without surface treatment (NT) had the lowest SBS (5.5MPa). HF(24.2MPa) and SECP(24.8MPa) samples has similar SBS. Weibull statistics showed that HF-samples are more reliable than NT and SECP. The SBS was significantly increased by either HF etching and SECP surface treatment. While the chemical characteristics of the surface submitted to SECP treatment are considered to be responsible for the SBS increase, the main adhesion mechanism after HF etching is the increase in surface roughness.

The energy absorption in ballistic tests of alumina-ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composites with 60, 80 and 90 wt% alumina submitted to gamma radiation doses of 25, 50 and 75 kGy was investigated. The ballistic tests were carried out at subsonic speed using a compressed air system. The results showed that the composite with 80% alumina irradiated with 50 kGy yields the best ballistic results. Gel content, Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that this composite is the one with the highest concentration of crosslinks and the lowest volume fraction of amorphous UHMWPE. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the same composite showed a high pullout, suggesting that gamma irradiation increases the adhesion between alumina and UHMWPE.

The response to ballistic impact of alumina-ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composites with different relative concentrations of alumina was investigated. The impact tests were carried out at subsonic speed using a compressed air system. The results showed that the depth of penetration (DOP) in a Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) bulkhead protected by a disk of the composite decreased with increasing concentration of alumina in the composite. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of composites with 80 %, 85 % and 95 % alumina showed transgranular, intergranular and ductile fracture mechanisms.

A nanostructured Cr11Ge19 phase was produced by mechanical alloying for 15 h. Decomposition occurred for larger milling times, yielding Cr, Ge, Cr2O3 and GeO2. According to the Cr-Ge phase diagram, the Cr11Ge19 phase is stable up to ≈ 928 oC, but, when submitted to milling, a structural instability causes its decomposition. We studied this structural instability using the coordination numbers and interatomic distances of bulk Cr11Ge19 to simulate the structure factors SCrCr(K), SCrGe(K), and SGeGe(K). The radial distribution functions RDFCrCr(R), RDFCrGe(R) and RDFGeGe(R) were obtained by Fourier transforming the Sij(K) factors, and an important chemical disorder up to ≈7 Å was observed in the RDFCrGe(R) and RDFGeGe(R) functions. This chemical disorder was quantified using Cowley-Warren α ij CW parameter. The thermoelectric properties of the Cr11Ge19 phase were also studied.

Electron magnetic resonance (EMR) spectra of gadolinium-doped barium titanate (BaTiO3) have been studied at room temperature for gadolinium concentrations between 0.20 and 2.00 mol%. The results suggest that the Gd3+ ions occupy substitutional sites, replacing the Ba2+ ion, that the electron magnetic resonance linewidth increases with increasing gadolinium concentration, and that the range of the exchange interaction between Gd3+ ions is about 0.98 nm, of the same order as that of the same ion in other host lattices, such as strontium titanate (SrTiO3), strontia (SrO), quicklime (CaO), magnesia (MgO) and zircon (ZrSiO4). The fact that the electron magnetic resonance linewidth of the Gd3+ ion increases, regularly and predictably, with Gd concentration, shows that the Gd3+ ion can be used as a probe to study, rapidly and non-destructively, the crystallinity and degradation of BaTiO3.

Nanocrystalline particles of magnesioferrite (MgFe2O4) were prepared by a sol-gel/combustion method using iron nitrate, Fe(NO3)3.9H2O, magnesium nitrate, Mg(NO3)2.6H2O, and citric acid, C6H8O7.H2 O, and annealed for 2 hours at 400, 500 and 600 °C. The average particle size, determined by X ray diffraction, was found to depend on the annealing temperature and varied from 〈D〉 = 8.1 to 〈D〉 = 17.8 nm. By measuring at several temperatures the relative intensity of the Mössbauer spectra due to superparamagnetic particles and to ferrimagnetic particles, we determined the size distribution of the nanoparticles in the samples. It was found to be a log-normal distribution with a most probable diameter that varied from Dm = 6.4 to 17.2 nm and a full width at half-height ΔD in the 5-6 nm range.