Jürgen Thomas

Introduction The goal is to propose a material scientific hypothesis for the atomic arrangement of calcium phosphates during the mineralization of bones. Materials and methods It was reached by the analysis of bones of healthy and osteoporotic rats using analytical transmission electron microscopic methods. Results Electron diffraction patterns show hydroxyapatite (HAP) as dominant phase within the mineralized areas. In the electron energy loss spectrum, a double peak of the phosphorous L-edge seems to be a characteristic feature of the phosphorous binding in biological HAP. The hypothesis bases on periodic features on the collagen surface which agree with distances between oxygen atoms in the (200) plane of octacalcium phosphate (OCP). Bridge pillars for the HAP network consist of OCP coupled with a half unit cell on collagen by oxygen–hydrogen bridges. Possibly, the metastable OCP bridges are only a transient step, while the mineralization is starting. OCP and HAP couple by similar distances of calcium atoms in an interface close to the (100) planes of the OCP and the HAP network. To reach the perfect overlap of the equidistant Ca atoms, the HAP network has to be rotated by 22.5° around the a-axis, 11.5° around the c-axis of HAP, and 10.1° around an axis perpendicular to a and c. Conclusions A supercell based on this idea is able to explain the dominance of HAP in the electron diffraction patterns, the arrangement of the (002) lattice planes perpendicular to the collagen fiber axis, and sections of high-resolution TEM images.

In the present work we have studied the proximity-induced superconducting triplet pairing in CoOx/Py1/Cu/Py2/Cu/Pb spin-valve structure (where Py = Ni0:81Fe0:19). For CoOx(3 nm)/Py(3 nm)/Cu(4 nm)/Py(0.6 nm)/Cu(2 nm)/Pb(70 nm) we have studied the dependence of the Tc on the angle α between the direction of the cooling field and the external field both applied in the plane of the sample. We obtained that the Tc does not change monotonically with the angle but passes through a minimum. To observe an “isolated” triplet spin-valve effect we exploited the oscillatory feature of the magnitude of the ordinary spin-valve effect ΔTc in the dependence of the Py2-layer thickness dPy2. We determined the value of dPy2 at which ΔTc caused by the ordinary spin-valve effect is suppressed. This means that the difference in the Tc between the antiparallel and parallel mutual orientation of magnetizations of the Py1 and Py2 layers is zero. For such a sample a “pure” triplet spin-valve effect which causes the minimum in Tc at the orthogonal configuration of magnetizations has been observed.

Background: Surface functionalization of orthopedic implants with pharmaceutically active agents is a modern approach to enhance osseointegration in systemically altered bone. A local release of strontium, a verified bone building therapeutic agent, at the fracture site would diminish side effects, which could occur otherwise by oral administration. Strontium surface functionalization of specially designed titanium-niobium (Ti-40Nb) implant alloy would provide an advanced implant system that is mechanically adapted to altered bone with the ability to stimulate bone formation. Methods: Strontium-containing coatings were prepared by reactive sputtering of strontium chloride (SrCl ₂ ) in a self-constructed capacitively coupled radio frequency (RF) plasma reactor. Film morphology, structure and composition were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) was used for the investigation of thickness and growth direction of the product layer. TEM lamellae were prepared using the focused ion beam (FIB) technique. Bioactivity of the surface coatings was tested by cultivation of primary human osteoblasts and subsequent analysis of cell morphology, viability, proliferation and differentiation. The results are correlated with the amount of strontium that is released from the coating in biomedical buffer solution, quantified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: Dense coatings, consisting of SrO _x Cl _y , of more than 100 nm thickness and columnar structure, were prepared. TEM images of cross sections clearly show an incoherent but well-structured interface between coating and substrate without any cracks. Sr ²⁺ is released from the SrO _x Cl _y coating into physiological solution as proven by ICP-MS analysis. Cell culture studies showed excellent biocompatibility of the functionalized alloy. Conclusions: Ti-40Nb alloy, a potential orthopedic implant material for osteoporosis patients, could be successfully plasma coated with a dense SrO _x Cl _y film. The material performed well in in vitro tests. Nevertheless, the Sr ²⁺ release must be optimized in future work to meet the requirements of an effective drug delivery system.