Despite the obvious benefits of using ureteral stents to drain the ureters, there is also a risk of complications from 80-90%. The presence of a foreign body in the human body causes disturbances in its proper functioning. It can lead to biofilm formation on the stent surface, which may favor the development of urinary tract infections or the formation of encrustation, as well as stent fragmentation, complicating its subsequent removal. In this work, the effect of the polymeric coating containing the active substance-papaverine hydrochloride on the functional properties of ureteral stents significant for clinical practice were assessed. Methods: The most commonly clinically used polyurethane ureteral Double-J stent was selected for the study. Using the dip-coating method, the surface of the stent was coated with a poly(D,L-lactide-glycolide) (PLGA) coating containing the papaverine hydrochloride (PAP). In particular, strength properties, retention strength of the stent ends, dynamic frictional force, and the fluoroscopic visibility of the stent during X-ray imaging were determined. Results: The analysis of the test results indicates the usefulness of a biodegradable polymer coating containing the active substance for the modification of the surface of polyurethane ureteral stents. The stents coated with PLGA+PAP coating compared to polyurethane stents are characterized by more favorable strength properties, the smaller value of the dynamic frictional force, without reducing the fluoroscopic visibility.

• Keywords
• PLGA with papaverine hydrochloride coatings, break strength, dynamic frictional force, radiopacity, retention strength, ureteral stent,
• MeSH
• Biocompatible Materials pharmacology   MeSH
• Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer pharmacology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Ureteral Obstruction metabolism   surgery   therapy   MeSH
• Papaverine metabolism   pharmacology   MeSH
• Polyurethanes chemistry   MeSH
• Drug-Eluting Stents * MeSH
• Absorbable Implants MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Biocompatible Materials MeSH
• Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer MeSH
• Papaverine MeSH
• Polyurethanes MeSH

Two-dimensional heterostructures are excellent platforms to realize twist-angle-independent ultra-low friction due to their weak interlayer van der Waals interactions and natural lattice mismatch. However, for finite-size interfaces, the effect of domain edges on the friction process remains unclear. Here we report the superlubricity phenomenon and the edge-pinning effect at MoS2/graphite and MoS2/hexagonal boron nitride van der Waals heterostructure interfaces. We found that the friction coefficients of these heterostructures are below 10-6. Molecular dynamics simulations corroborate the experiments, which highlights the contribution of edges and interface steps to friction forces. Our experiments and simulations provide more information on the sliding mechanism of finite low-dimensional structures, which is vital to understand the friction process of laminar solid lubricants.

• MeSH
• Graphite * chemistry   MeSH
• Molecular Dynamics Simulation MeSH
• Friction MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Graphite * MeSH

In recent years, plastic and metal 3D printing has experienced massive development in the professional and hobby spheres, especially for rapid prototyping, reverse engineering, maintenance and quick repairs. However, this technology is limited by a number of factors, with the most common being the cost and availability of the technology but also the lack of information on material properties. This study focuses on investigating the material properties of PLA, PETG, HIPS, PA, ABS and ASA in order to elucidate their behavior in terms of wear and thermal resistance. The research builds on previous studies focusing on the mechanical properties of these materials and includes wear testing and DMA analysis. Weight loss, frictional forces, and frictional work including relative frictional work are recorded as part of this testing. The storage modulus and loss modulus including tan(δ) were then measured using DMA.

• Keywords
• DMA, FDM, coefficient of friction, glass transition temperature, loss modulus, storage modulus, weight loss,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

We show that for a certain class of dynamics at the nodes the response of a network of any topology to arbitrary inputs is defined in a simple way by its response to a monotone input. The nodes may have either a discrete or continuous set of states and there is no limit on the complexity of the network. The results provide both an efficient numerical method and the potential for accurate analytic approximation of the dynamics on such networks. As illustrative applications, we introduce a quasistatic mechanical model with objects interacting via frictional forces and a financial market model with avalanches and critical behavior that are generated by momentum trading strategies.

• MeSH
• Financial Management * MeSH
• Plastics * MeSH
• Computer Simulation MeSH
• Elasticity MeSH
• Models, Theoretical * MeSH
• Friction * MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Plastics * MeSH

Lattice dynamics of MX2 transition metal dichalcogenides (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) have been studied with density functional theory techniques to control the macroscopic tribological behavior. Long-range van der Waals forces have been modeled with Grimme correction to capture the interlayer interactions. A new lattice dynamic metric, named cophonicity, is proposed and used in combination with electronic and geometric descriptors to relate the stability of the lattice distortions with the electro-structural features of the system. The cophonicity analysis shows that the distortion modes relevant to the microscopic friction can be controlled by tuning the relative M/X atomic contributions to the phonon density of states. Guidelines on how to engineer macroscopic friction at nanoscale are formulated, and finally applied to design a new Ti-doped MoS2 phase with enhanced tribologic properties.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Fatigue failure of implant components is a common clinical problem. Plasma nitriding, an in situ surface-strengthening method, may improve fatigue properties of dental implants. PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of plasma nitriding on the fatigue behavior of implant systems. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The preload and friction coefficient of plasma nitrided abutment screws, as well as settlement of the implant-abutment interface, were measured. Then, the reverse torque values and pullout force were evaluated after cyclic loading. Finally, the fatigue properties of the implant system were investigated with static fracture and dynamic fatigue life tests, and the morphology of the fracture on the surface of the implant system was observed. RESULTS: The plasma nitriding treatment reduced the friction coefficient; increased the preload, settlement value, reverse torque values, pullout force, and static fracture load; and prolonged fatigue life. Furthermore, abutment screws with plasma nitriding treatment showed a different fatigue fracture mode. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma nitriding improved mechanical performance and may be a suitable way to optimize the fatigue behavior of dental implants.

• MeSH
• Dental Stress Analysis methods   MeSH
• Dental Implant-Abutment Design MeSH
• Dental Abutments MeSH
• Materials Testing MeSH
• Torque MeSH
• Friction MeSH
• Dental Implants * MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Dental Implants * MeSH

van der Waals (vdW) homo/heterostructures are ideal systems for studying interfacial tribological properties such as structural superlubricity. Previous studies concentrated on the mechanism of translational motion in vdW interfaces. However, detailed mechanisms and general properties of the rotational motion are barely explored. Here, we combine experiments and simulations to reveal the twisting dynamics of the MoS2/graphite heterostructure. Unlike the translational friction falling into the superlubricity regime with no twist angle dependence, the dynamic rotational resistances highly depend on twist angles. Our results show that the periodic rotational resistance force originates from structural potential energy changes during the twisting. The structural potential energy of MoS2/graphite heterostructure increases monotonically from 0° to 30° twist angles, and the estimated relative energy barrier is (1.43 ± 0.36) × 10-3 J/m2. The formation of Moiré superstructures in the graphene layer is the key to controlling the structural potential energy of the MoS2/graphene heterostructure. Our results suggest that in twisting 2D heterostructures, even if the interface sliding friction is negligible, the evolving potential energy change results in a nonvanishing rotational resistance force. The structural change of the heterostructure can be an additional pathway for energy dissipation in the rotational motion, further enhancing the rotational friction force.

• Keywords
• 2D heterostructure, AFM technique, Moire, Twising dynamics, superlubricity,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

n-Layered (n = 2, 3, 4) MX2 transition metal dichalcogenides (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se, Te) have been studied using DFT techniques. Long-range van der Waals forces have been modeled using the Grimme correction to capture interlayer interactions. We study the dynamic and electronic dependence of atomic displacement on the number of layers. We find that the displacement patterns mainly affected by a change in the layer number are low-frequency modes at Γ and A k-points; such modes are connected with the intrinsic tribological response. We disentangle electro-phonon coupling by combining orbital polarization, covalency and cophonicity analysis with phonon band calculations. We find that the frequency dependence on the number of layers and the atomic type has a non-trivial relation with the electronic charge distribution in the interlayer region. We show that the interlayer electronic density can be adjusted by appropriately tuning M-X cophonicity, acting as a knob to control vibrational frequencies, hence the intrinsic frictional response. The present results can be exploited to study the electro-phonon coupling effects in TMD-based materials beyond tribological applications.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

We present an analysis of the dynamics of ion-pairing of lithium fluoride (LiF) in aqueous solvent using both detailed molecular simulation as well as reduced models within a generalized Langevin equation (GLE) framework. We explored the sensitivity of the ion-pairing phenomena to the details of descriptions of molecular interaction, comparing two empirical potentials to explicit quantum based density functional theory. We find quantitative differences in the potentials of mean force for ion-pairing as well as time dependent frictions that lead to variations in the rate constant and reactive flux correlation functions. These details reflect differences in solvent response to ion-pairing between different representations of molecular interaction and influence anharmonicity of the dynamic response. We find that the short-time anharmonic response is recovered with a GLE parametrization. Recovery of the details of long time response may require extensions to the reduced model. We show that the utility of using a reduced model leads to a straightforward application of variational transition state theory concepts to the condensed phase system. The significance of this is reflected in the analysis of committor distributions and the variation of planar hypersurfaces, leading to an improved understanding of factors that determine the rate of LiF ion-pairing.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a solid lubricant used in various forms, such as a dry lubricant by itself or as a component of a more complex coating. In both these forms, the effect of oxygen contamination on the sliding properties of the MoS2 coatings is traditionally considered detrimental, resulting in expensive technological processes to produce pure MoS2. Here, it is shown that the high oxygen content does not necessarily hinder the solid lubricant properties and may even result in a lower friction and wear when compared to pure MoS2. Mo-S-O coatings were fabricated by unbalanced magnetron sputtering and tribologically tested under vacuum conditions. Oxygen caused amorphization of the as-deposited coatings but did not prevent the triboactivated formation of an ultra-thin crystalline MoS2 tribolayer with the incorporated oxygen. Such an imperfect tribolayer was found to reduce the coefficient of friction to 0.02, a value lower than that of pure MoS2. Moreover, owing to the higher density and hardness of oxygen-containing films, the wear rate was also found to be lower. Molecular dynamics simulations performed using a newly developed Mo-S-O force field confirmed that such an imperfect tribolayer can mitigate friction in a manner comparable to that of MoS2.

• Keywords
• MoS2, ReaxFF, microstructure, solid lubricant, tribology,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH