Effect of Sterilization (Autoclave) on Wear of Tungsten-Carbide Burs Coated With Diamond Particles With Different Thicknesses

Background: Extending the lifespan and improving the physical properties of dental burs as the most extensivly used instruments have been the subject of several studies. One of the proposed methods is using surface coatings for the burs. Since the dental instruments are reused, they require sterilization. One of the possible causes of the damage to dental burs is autoclaving process. This study aimed to investigate sterilization (autoclave) effect on wear of diamond coated tungsten-carbide burs with different thicknesses. Methods: In this in vitro study, 40 tungsten-carbide dental burs (IQ DENT, Poznan, Poland) were selected, out of which 20 burs were coated with 1.5-μm-like diamond particles, and 20 burs were coated with 3.5-μm by PVD method using Swin Plasma Coating Machine. Then, the burs were randomly divided into four groups (n=10) as follow: G1: 1.5 μm thickness coated burs without sterilization; G2: 3.5 μm thickness coated burs without sterilization; G3: 1.5 μm coated with sterilization; and G4: 3.5μm thickness coated burs with sterilization. Their weights were measured before wear test.Wear test was performed and then they were re-weighted. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 21) as well as Two-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD supplementary tests (α=0.05). Results: Mean and standard deviation of the burs weights without sterilization in the control groups were 7.31±2.63 and 7.96±1.61 mg, respectively; and mean and standard deviation of the burs weights in the sterilization groups were 7.06±0.98 and 7.12±1.11 mg, respectively. The study results showed that "sterilization application" and "thickness of coated layer" were the main factors and their intraction had no statistically significant difference (P=0.589). Conclusions: The sterilization process had no effect on wear of diamond coated tungsten-carbide burs with different thicknesses.

Preparation of diamond/aluminum composite with titanium coating on diamond powder by microwave technology

In this research, the diamond particles were coated with titanium by microwave heating method, then the Ti-coated diamond particles were used as raw material to fabricate the diamond/Al composites by microwave sintering. The result shows that the diamond particles could be covered with a uniform and continuous Ti coating under microwave irradiation, and the best Ti coating was obtained at 810 °C for 1 h. The metallic bond between diamond and Ti was formed to generate the intermediate transition layer of TiC. The diamond/Al composites which used Ti-coated diamond particles as raw material and were fabricated by microwave sintering show high relative density and hardness. The relative density and hardness of the diamond/Al composites increased with the temperature. While the composites were sintered at 710 °C for 1 h, the density could reach 2.855 g·cm−3, and relative density was 92.09%, which shows better microstructures and properties. There is Al3Ti alloy phase in Ti-coated diamond/Al composites, so the Ti-coated diamond can be well combined with the Al matrix, which can further improve the properties of the composites.

Purcell enhancement of fluorescence from silicon-vacancy color centers in Mie-resonant luminescent diamond particles

Over the past two decades, nanosized diamond particles with various luminescent defects have found numerous applications in many areas from quantum technologies to medical science. The size and shape of diamond particles can affect drastically the luminescence of embedded color centers. Here we study diamond particles of 250–450 nm in size containing silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers. Using dark-field scattering spectroscopy, we found that fundamental Mie resonances are excited in the spectral range of interest. We then measured the fluorescence saturation curves under continuous excitation to estimate the effects of the excitation and Purcell factor enhancement on the luminescent properties of the studied particles. The results show that the saturation excitation intensity differs by several times for particles of different sizes which is well explained by the numerical model that takes into account both the Parcell factor enhancement and resonant excitation.

Laser Fusion of Aluminum Powder Coated with Diamond Particles via Selective Laser Melting: Powder Preparation and Synthesis Description

This work aims to study the possibility of obtaining Al–C composite from AlSi10MgCu aluminum matrix with the addition of 500 nm-sized diamond particles by selective laser melting (SLM) process. Al–C composite powder was prepared by mechanical mixing to form a uniform cover along the surface of aluminum particles. The diamond content in the resulting AlSi10MgCu-diamond composite powder was equal to 0.67 wt %. The selection of the optimal SLM parameters for the obtained composite material is presented. For materials characterization, the following methods were used: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied after SLM printing for a detailed investigation of the obtained composites. The presence of carbon additives and the formation of aluminum carbides in the material after the SLM process were demonstrated.

Research on suppressing brittle fracture and implementing ductile mode cutting for improving surface quality at silicon wafers manufacturing

Single crystal silicon is an important basic material used to manufacture electronic and photovoltaic devices. Ductile mode of diamond wire sawing is a promising method for silicon wafering in order to produce wafers with minimal surface damage. To achieve ductile mode, the correct applying of cutting parameters and careful wire design is necessary. This study investigates the scratching of monocrystalline silicon by the abrasive particles of different geometry, which simulates the material removal process in diamond wire sawing. Diamonds, crushed and spherical tungsten carbide (WC) particles served as abrasives. Experiments show that spherical abrasives enhance ductile mode cutting significantly decreasing brittle damage when compared to irregular shape particles. Spherical WC particles permit to increase the critical load and critical cut depth of ductile-to-brittle transition from 5 to 10 times. The depth of the damaged subsurface layer decreased from 5 µm to 0.2 µm due to the absence of brittle cracks. A uniform regular distribution and appropriate suitable density of abrasive particles is obligatory for cracking reduction. For that, the method of diamond particles uniform deposition with the controlled density by a polymer binder combining high modulus and adhesive capacity with good flexibility was elaborated. The method includes preliminary diamond particles fixation on a thin resin layer providing high uniformity and subsequent strong fixation by a thicker resin layer. The research on ovalization of diamond particles was performed for smoothening cutting edges. The method is based on the activation of the graphitization process at sharp edges of particles under the action of metal salts at increased temperatures.