Dake Xu

Theoretical study of the effects of alloying elements on the strength and modulus of β-type bio-titanium alloys

Titanium alloys are favorable implant materials for orthopedic applications, due to their desirable mechanical properties and biochemical compatibility (or bio-inertness). However, current bio-titanium alloys still possess too high an elastic modulus compared with that of the bone, which can lead to premature failure of the implant. Here, a theoretical methodology for the design and development of low modulus Ti alloys and/or structures is provided by means of electronic structural calculations using the discrete variational cluster method (DVM). The preliminary study concentrated on two β-Ti atomic clusters consisting of 15, and 27 atoms, respectively. The binding energies between titanium and various alloying atoms within the clusters were first calculated, from which strength and modulus were then estimated. The results of the calculation suggested that Nb, Mo, Zr and Ta were suitable alloying elements for β-type titanium alloys, capable of enhancing the strength and reducing the modulus of the materials.

Electron mediators accelerate the microbiologically influenced corrosion of 304 stainless steel by the Desulfovibrio vulgaris biofilm

In the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) caused by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB), iron oxidation happens outside sessile cells while the utilization of the electrons released by the oxidation process for sulfate reduction occurs in the SRB cytoplasm. Thus, cross-cell wall electron transfer is needed. It can only be achieved by electrogenic biofilms. This work hypothesized that the electron transfer is a bottleneck in MIC by SRB. To prove this, MIC tests were carried out using 304 stainless steel coupons covered with the Desulfovibrio vulgaris (ATCC 7757) biofilm in the ATCC 1249 medium. It was found that both riboflavin and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), two common electron mediators that enhance electron transfer, accelerated pitting corrosion and weight loss on the coupons when 10ppm (w/w) of either of them was added to the culture medium in 7-day anaerobic lab tests. This finding has important implications in MIC forensics and biofilm synergy in MIC that causes billions of dollars of damages to the US industry each year.

Mechanistic modeling of biocorrosion caused by biofilms of sulfate reducing bacteria and acid producing bacteria

Biocorrosion is also known as microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). Most anaerobic MIC cases can be classified into two major types. Type I MIC involves non-oxygen oxidants such as sulfate and nitrate that require biocatalysis for their reduction in the cytoplasm of microbes such as sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) and nitrate reducing bacteria (NRB). This means that the extracellular electrons from the oxidation of metal such as iron must be transported across cell walls into the cytoplasm. Type II MIC involves oxidants such as protons that are secreted by microbes such as acid producing bacteria (APB). The biofilms in this case supply the locally high concentrations of oxidants that are corrosive without biocatalysis. This work describes a mechanistic model that is based on the biocatalytic cathodic sulfate reduction (BCSR) theory. The model utilizes charge transfer and mass transfer concepts to describe the SRB biocorrosion process. The model also includes a mechanism to describe APB attack based on the local acidic pH at a pit bottom. A pitting prediction software package has been created based on the mechanisms. It predicts long-term pitting rates and worst-case scenarios after calibration using SRB short-term pit depth data. Various parameters can be investigated through computer simulation.

Theoretical investigation of ductilizing effects of alloying elements on TiAl

In this paper, the electronic structure of ternary TiAl-based alloys was calculated by using the discrete variational Xa cluster method. From the calculations, three parameters, the bond strength, the anisotropy of bond strength and the resistance of the lattice to dislocation motion, were defined to investigate the effects of alloying elements on the ductility of TiAl. The results of calculation show that the resistance of the lattice to dislocation motion is increased by most alloying elements, resulting in an increase of the yield strength of the alloyed compounds. The alloying elements Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Zr, Nb and Mo reduce the resistance of the lattice to 1/2<110] ordinary dislocations relative to <011] superdislocations. The relevance of these results to the ductilization of TiAl is discussed

Accelerated corrosion of 2205 duplex stainless steel caused by marine aerobic Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm.

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of 2205 duplex stainless steel (DSS) in the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated through electrochemical and surface analyses. The electrochemical results showed that P. aeruginosa significantly reduced the corrosion resistance of 2205 DSS. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) images showed that the depths of the largest pits on 2205 DSS with and without P. aeruginosa were 14.0 and 4.9μm, respectively, indicating that the pitting corrosion was accelerated by P. aeruginosa. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results revealed that CrO3 and CrN formed on the 2205 DSS surface in the presence of P. aeruginosa.

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion of 2707 Hyper-Duplex Stainless Steel by Marine Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm

Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) is a serious problem in many industries because it causes huge economic losses. Due to its excellent resistance to chemical corrosion, 2707 hyper duplex stainless steel (2707 HDSS) has been used in the marine environment. However, its resistance to MIC was not experimentally proven. In this study, the MIC behavior of 2707 HDSS caused by the marine aerobe Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated. Electrochemical analyses demonstrated a positive shift in the corrosion potential and an increase in the corrosion current density in the presence of the P. aeruginosa biofilm in the 2216E medium. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis results showed a decrease in Cr content on the coupon surface beneath the biofilm. The pit imaging analysis showed that the P. aeruginosa biofilm caused a largest pit depth of 0.69 μm in 14 days of incubation. Although this was quite small, it indicated that 2707 HDSS was not completely immune to MIC by the P. aeruginosa biofilm.

Microbiological influenced corrosion resistance characteristics of a 304L-Cu stainless steel against Escherichia coli.

Cu-bearing antibacterial stainless steels have been gaining popularity in recent years due to their strong antibacterial performances. However, only a few studies were reported for their actual performances against microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). In this study, electrochemical methods and surface analytical techniques were applied to study the MIC resistance characteristics of a 304L-Cu stainless steel (SS) against Escherichia coli in comparison with 304L SS as control. Corrosion tests for specimens after a 21-day exposure to a Luria-Bertani (LB) culture medium with E. coli demonstrated that the 304L-Cu SS considerably reduced the maximum MIC pit depth and the specific weight loss compared with 304L SS (8.3μm and 0.2mg/cm(2) vs. 13.4μm and 0.6mg/cm(2)). Potentiodynamic polarization tests showed that the corrosion current density of the 304L-Cu SS was as much as 4 times lower than that of the 304L SS, indicating that the 304L-Cu SS is a better choice for applications in MIC-prone environments.

Laboratory investigation of the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) resistance of a novel Cu-bearing 2205 duplex stainless steel in the presence of an aerobic marine Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm

The microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) resistance of a novel Cu-bearing 2205 duplex stainless steel (2205 Cu-DSS) against an aerobic marine Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm was investigated. The electrochemical test results showed that Rp increased and icorr decreased sharply after long-term immersion in the inoculation medium, suggesting that 2205 Cu-DSS possessed excellent MIC resistance to the P. aeruginosa biofilm. Fluorescence microscope images showed that 2205 Cu-DSS possessed a strong antibacterial ability, and its antibacterial efficiency after one and seven days was 7.75% and 96.92%, respectively. The pit morphology comparison after 14 days between 2205 DSS and 2205 Cu-DSS demonstrated that the latter showed a considerably reduced maximum MIC pit depth compared with the former (1.44 μm vs 9.50 μm). The experimental results suggest that inhibition of the biofilm was caused by the copper ions released from the 2205 Cu-DSS, leading to its effective mitigation of MIC by P. aeruginosa.

Electron transfer mediators accelerated the microbiologically influence corrosion against carbon steel by nitrate reducing Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm

Electron transfer is a rate-limiting step in microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) caused by microbes that utilize extracellular electrons. Cross-cell wall electron transfer is necessary to transport the electrons released from extracellular iron oxidation into the cytoplasm of cells. Electron transfer mediators were found to accelerate the MIC caused by sulfate reducing bacteria. However, there is no publication in the literature showing the effect of electron transfer mediators on MIC caused by nitrate reducing bacteria (NRB). This work demonstrated that the corrosion of anaerobic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) grown as a nitrate reducing bacterium biofilm on C1018 carbon steel was enhanced by two electron transfer mediators, riboflavin and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) separately during a 7-day incubation period. The addition of either 10ppm (w/w) (26.6μM) riboflavin or 10ppm (12.7μM) FAD did not increase planktonic cell counts, but they increased the maximum pit depth on carbon steel coupons considerably from 17.5μm to 24.4μm and 25.0μm, respectively. Riboflavin and FAD also increased the specific weight loss of carbon steel from 2.06mg/cm2 to 2.34mg/cm2 and 2.61mg/cm2, respectively. Linear polarization resistance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization curves all corroborated the pitting and weight loss data.

Antimicrobial materials with medical applications

Abstract Despite intensive and considerable research achievements by material scientists and biologists, the problems of infections related to medical devices and implants remain knotty. The biofilm related infections are much harder to eradicate due to protection of extracellular polymeric substance secreted by the biofilms, hence shows a strong resistance to conventional antibiotics. Thus, there is a huge challenge for researchers to seek effective methods to combat device related bacterial infections ignited by biofilms to mitigate potential health risks and massive financial burdens to healthcare systems. Here we review the most recent progress and work on the applications of antibacterial biomaterials for the biomedical devices, concentrating on metals with antibacterial coatings/surfaces, antibacterial stainless steels and other commonly used antibacterial materials.