Home / Research / Multiscale Nanostructured Materials Group

NanoMatter — Multiscale Nanostructured Materials Group

Group Leader: Alberto Ferro

The group is focused on materials engineered so that multiple length scales are simultaneously explored. The primary activity is centred on multiscale dispersions in bulk nanostructured materials tailored for functional and structural performance under extreme conditions. An upstream interest is the production of nanoparticles, complex powders, and respective colloidal suspensions with application in information technology, biomedicine, catalysis and energy/environmental technologies.

The Nanostructured Materials Group is focused on the development and characterization of bulk multiscale composite materials tailored for functional and structural performance under extreme conditions. These materials have a wide range of potential applications and their optimization requires solving fundamental challenges. Both physical and mechanical behaviour are targeted, building upon a strong interest and relevant experience in RAMAN and IR spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, electron and atomic force microscopy, and mechanical characterization.

Current activity is focused on:
— Development and study of complex metal alloys and composites for Nuclear Fusions applications, namely Li-Sn alloys and Cu matrix composites.
— Development and study of the production of hydroxyapatite and other calcium phosphates from biogenic CaCO3 and a phosphorus precursor.
— Development and study of processing routes to foster the use of construction and demolition waste in structural concrete.
— Development and study of additive manufacturing of nanostructured ceramic dental structures, including zirconia and alumina/zirconia. Particularly emphasis is dedicated to the study of their wear behaviour.

Grupo-NanoMatter

Reasearch Areas

Research Projects

Metallic Liquid walls for plasma reactors – LMwalls
Project FCT – PTDC/FIS-PLA/31629/2017 (36 months: 01/10/2018 – 30/09/2021)
PI: R. Mateus (IPFN – IST)
Coordinator at CeFEMA: A.C. Ferro

Eco-efficient hydraulic binders produced from waste cement-based materials
FCT – PTDC/ECI-CON/28308/2017 (36 months: 01/10/2018 – 30/09/2021)
PI: J.A. Bogas (CERIS – IST)
Co-PI: A. Guedes

3D-DentalPrint – Additive manufacturing of zirconia and nanostructured alumina/zirconia dental prosthesis
Project FCT – 02/SAICT/2016/023940 (18 months: 01/10/2017 – 30/03/2019)
PI: A. P. Serro (Egas Moniz – Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, CRL).
Coordinator at IPS/CeFEMA: C. Figueiredo-Pina

 

Industrial Projects

POSTEJO 4.0: Innovation for Diversification and Exportation
ANI – Portugal 2020; SI II&DT Co-Promoted Projects, Project 33523
Duration, 36 months: 01/06/2018 – 31/05/2021.
Project Lider: POSTEJO-PRE-FABRICADOS DE CIMENTO S.A.
IST team member: A.C.Ferro

Diamond & Hard Laser Coatings
ANI – Portugal 2020; SI I&DT Co-Promoted Projects, Project 03449
Duration, 30 months: 01/04/2016 –30/09/2018
Project Lider: TEandM – TECNOLOGIA, ENGENHARIA E MATERIAIS S.A.
Coordinator at IPS/CeFEMA: C. Figueiredo-Pina

 

Outreach projects

Learn&Fly – Learning materials and support tools to foster engagement of students in science subjects and aeronautics-related careers
ERASMUS+ ref PN 2017-1-PL01-KA201-038795 (22 months: 01/10/2017 –30/09/2019).
PI: INNpuls company (Poland).
IPS/CeFEMA team member: M. Guedes

Aqui Há Ciência – Vamos Brincar aos Materiais (Science is here – Let’s play with materials)
Oeiras Municipality: Contract 289/2016 (9 months: 01/10/2016 – 30/06/2017).
Coodinator: A. C. Ferro

"Cool Cork" Sustainable Coolbox (GS-CC)
Lisbon IPS Annual Call for R&D&Art Projets 2016 (12 months: 1/12/2016 – 30/11/2017).
PI: N. G. Silva (E S Education, IPLisboa)
Coordinator at IPS/CeFEMA: A. Guedes

 

Before 2015

Ganglia from Magnetic Induction Tomography
EXPL/EEI-ELC/0930/2012
Partner, Coordination IST: Patrícia Carvalho

ShockCalc – Mechanical behaviour of salivary calculi. Response to shock waves
PTDC/SAU-ENB/111941/2009
Coordination: Patrícia Carvalho

ECO-Zement: Reuse of fluid catalytic cracking waste from oil refineries in cement-based materials
PTDC/ECM/113115/2009
Partner, Coordination IST: Patrícia Carvalho

DiFusion – Diamond dispersions in nanostructured metals: Novel materials design for fusion reactors
PTDC/CTM/100163/2008
Coordination: Patrícia Carvalho

Synthesis of new compounds containing U, Fe, Ga, Ge and Sb and characterization by electron microscopy
PTDC/QUI/65369/2006
Partner, Coordination IST: Patrícia Carvalho

Tantalum Capacitors with low ESR values
PhD industrial research project under the IST/EPCOS protocol
FCT Scholarship 2002/2006
Coordination: Alberto Cabral Ferro

Lorentz microscopy of intermetallic compounds with ThMn12-type structure
POCTI/CTM/48617/2002
Coordination: Patrícia Carvalho

Functional gradient Aluminium matrix composites produced by centrifugal casting
Praxis/P/CTM/12301/1998.
Partner, Coordination IST: Alberto Cabral Ferro

Glass ceramic matrix laminated composites reinforced by continuous fibres: the LAS+Si3N4/SiC and LAS+SiC/SiC systems
PBIC/C/CTM/1893/95
Coordination: Alberto Cabral Ferro

Copper Alloys hardened by dispersion and precipitation
PBIC/C/CTM/1382/92
Partner, Coordination IST: Alberto Cabral Ferro

Coordination

Students
— Ana Catarina Branco
— Adolfo Ribeiro
— Caterina Cavallini
— Miguel Almeida

Books and Book Chapters Arrow

"Microstructural studies on recycled aggregate concrete" L. Evangelista, M. Guedes, New Trends in Eco-efficient and Recycled Concrete, pp. 425, Jorge de Brito & Francisco Agrela. Woodhead Publishing, 2018 http://www.elsevier.com/books/new-trends-in-eco-efficient-and-recycled-concrete/brito/978-0-08-102480-5

Journal Papers Arrow

J.A. Bogas, A. Hawreen, S. Olhero, A.C. Ferro, M. Guedes, "Selection of dispersants for stabilization of unfunctionalized carbon nanotubes in high pH aqueous suspensions: application to cementitious matrices", Appl. Surf. Sci. 463, 169 (2019) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.08.196

Mateus, C. Porosnicu, N. Franco, P.A. Carvalho, C.P. Lungu, E. Alves, "Stability of beryllium coatings deposited on carbon under annealing up to 1073 K", Fusion Engineering and Design 1, 1 (2019) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2018.12.051

A.Hawreen, J.A. Bogas, M. Guedes, M.F.C. Pereira, "Dispersion and reinforcement efficiency of carbon nanotubes in cementitious composites", Magazine of Concrete Research 71, 408 (2019) http://doi.org/10.1680/jmacr.17.00562

A.C. Ferro, M. Guedes, "Mechanochemical synthesis of hydroxyapatite using cuttlefish bone and chicken eggshell as calcium precursors", Mater. Sci. Eng. C97, 124 (2019) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2018.11.083

Pedro, M. Guedes, J. Brito, L. Evangelista, "Microstructural Features of Recycled Aggregate Concrete: From Non-Structural to High-Performance Concrete", Micros. Microanalysis(), 1 (2019) http://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619000096

C.G Figueiredo-Pina, I. Rodrigues, J. Sequeira, M. Guedes, C. Carneiro, "Does the presence of a S. Salivarius biofilm influence the tooth-zirconia pair triboactivity? An in-vitro study", Wear430-431, 50 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.04.018

Carriço, H. Ahmed, J. Bogas, M. Guedes, "Durability of multi-walled carbon nanotube reinforced concrete", Constr. Build Mater.164, 121 (2018) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.12.221

Graça, T. Seixas, A.C. Ferro, M. Guedes, "Nanostructured Copper-Carbon nanotube composites for Aircraft Applications", Int. J. Aircraft Eng. Aerospace Tech 90, 1 (2018) http://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-01-2017-0016

Baptista, T. Santos, J. Marques, M. Guedes, V. Infante, "Fatigue behavior and microstructural characterization of a high strength steel for welded railway rails", Int. J. Fatigue 117, 1 (2018) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2018.07.032

C.G Figueiredo-Pina, M. Guedes, J. Sequeira, D. Pinto, N. Bernardo; C. Carneiro, "On the influence of Streptococcus salivarius on the wear response of dental implants: An in vitro study", J. Biomed. Mater. Res. B: Appl. Biomat. 9999:9999, 1 (2018) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2016.11.001

Ahmed, J. Bogas M. Guedes, "Mechanical Behavior and Transport Properties of Cementitious Composites Reinforced with Carbon Nanotubes", J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 30, 040188257 (2018) http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/%28ASCE%29MT.1943-5533.0002470~

Tejado, M. Dias, J. B. Correia, T. Palacios, P. A. Carvalho, E. Alves, J. Y. Pastor, "New WC-Cu thermal barriers for fusion applications: High temperature mechanical behaviour", J. Nucl. Mater. 498, 355 (2018) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.10.071

Dias, N. Catarino, D. Nunes, E. Fortunato, I. Nogueira, M. Rosinki, J. B. Correia, P. A. Carvalho, E. Alves, "Helium and deuterium irradiation effects in W-Ta composites produced by pulse plasma compaction", J. Nucl. Mater. 492, 105 (2017) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.05.007

Bogas, M. Guedes, H. Ahmed, "Avaliação da resistência à compressão de betões estruturais de agregados leves através do ensaio não destrutivo de ultrassons", Tech ITT 40, 25 (2017) http://issuu.com/techitt/docs/rit40

T. Rodrigues, A. P. Serro, M. Polido, A. Ramalho, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, "Effect of bleaching teeth with hydrogen peroxide on the morphology, hydrophilicity, mechanical and tribological properties of enamel", Wear 374, 21 (2017) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2016.11.001

F.T. Rodrigues, A. P. Serro, M. Polido, A. Ramalho, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, "Effect of bleaching teeth with hydrogen peroxide on the morphology, hydrophilicity, mechanical and tribological properties of enamel", Wear 374-375, 21 (2017) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2016.11.001

Baptista, D. Gadelha, M. Bandeira, D. Arteiro, M. I. Delgado, A. C. Ferro, M Guedes, "Characterization of titanium-hydroxyapatite biocomposites processed by dip coating", Bull. Mater. Sci. 39, 263 (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12034-015-1122-6

Nunes, A. Pimentel, J. V. Pinto, T. R. Calmeiro, S. Nandy, P.Barquinha, L. Pereira, P. A. Carvalho, E. Fortunato, R. Martins, "Photocatalytic behavior of TiO2 films synthesized by microwave irradiation", Catal. Today 278, 262 (2016) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cattod.2015.10.038

Nascimento, J.C. Rodrigues, L. Reis, I. Nogueira, P.A. Carvalho, J. Brandão, A. Duarte, L. Jordão, "Pathogens in Ornamental Waters: A Pilot Study", Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 13, 216 (2016) http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13020216

G. Figueiredo-Pina, N. Patas, J. Canhoto, R. Cláudio, S. M. Olhero, A. P. Serro, A. C. Ferro, M. Guedes, "Tribological behaviour of unveneered and veneered lithium disilicate dental material", J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater. 53, 238 (2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2015.08.007

Baptista, A. Mendão, M. Guedes, R. Marat-Mendes , "An experimental study on mechanical properties of epoxy-matrix composites containing graphite filler", Procedia Struct. Integrity 1, 74 (2016) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2016.02.011

C. Ferro, L. Calado, "Fracture of a galvanized steel U-bolt stirrup of an overhead electrical transport line.", Procedia Struct. Integrity 1, 256 (2016) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2016.02.034

Frigerio, J. P. G. Santos, P. Quaresma, S. L. H. Rebelo, A. Gomes, P. Eaton, E. Pereira, P. A. Carvalho, J. A. Shelnutt, L. Jiang, H. Wang, C. J. Medforth, "Ionic self-assembly reactions of a porphyrin octacation", Tetrahedron 72, 030 (2016) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tet.2016.09.030

Baptista, A. Mendão, F. Rodrigues, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, M. Guedes, R. Marat-Mendes, "Effect of high graphite filler contents on the mechanical and tribological failure behavior of epoxy matrix composites", Theor. Appl. Fract. Mec. 85, 124 (2016) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2016.08.013

Nunes, T.R. Calmeiro, S. Nandy, J.V. Pinto, A. Pimentel, P. Barquinha, P.A. Carvalho, J.C. Walmsley, E. Fortunato, R. Martins, "Charging effects and surface potential variations of Cu-based nanowires", Thin Solid Films 601, 45 (2016) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2015.11.077

Proceedings Arrow

"Estudo do pH de soluções de H2O2 na eficiência do branqueamento e na microdureza do esmalte" A. Branco, M.C. Polido, A. P. Serro, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, Proceedings do CNB2017 - 7º Congresso nacional de Biomecânica, pp. 1, Paulo Flores et al., CNB2017 - 7º Congresso nacional de Biomecânica, Guimarães, Portugal, 10 - 11 Fevereiro , 2017

"Avaliação da Resistência ao Desgaste de novos compósitos para o fabrico de uma prótese tipo CHEETAH" R. Marat-Mendes, N. Oliveira e C.G. Figueiredo-Pina, Proceedings do CNB2017 - 7º Congresso nacional de Biomecânica, pp. 2, Paulo Flores et al., CNB2017 - 7º Congresso nacional de Biomecânica, Guimarães, Portugal, 10 - 11 Fevereiro , 2017

"Wear resistance of Al–12 wt.% Si Reinforced with NbC Particles by Laser cladding" M. Lopes, A. Ramalho, R. Anandkumar, A. Almeida, R. Vilar, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, Proceedings of the International Conference BALTTRIB’2017 , pp. 23, BALTTRIB’2017. Kaunas, Lituania 16-17 November , 2017 http://doi.org/10.15544/balttrib.2017.06

"Wear Assessment of Stellite coating in Several Corrosive Solutions" I. Rodrigues, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, Proceedings of the International Conference BALTTRIB’2017 , pp. 48, BALTTRIB’2017. Kaunas, Lituania 16-17 November , 2017 http://doi.org/10.15544/balttrib.2017.10

"Study of the effect of H2O2 used in Whitening Treatments on Human Enamel Wear resistance" A. Branco; M. Polido, A. P. Serro, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, Proceedings of the International Conference BALTTRIB’2017 , pp. 126, BALTTRIB’2017. Kaunas, Lituania 16-17 November , 2017 https://doi.org/10.15544/balttrib.2017.22

"Comparative tribological study of two prosthetic dental materials: zirconia and VITA ENAMIC reinforced with NbC particles by " A. F. Santos, M. Polido, A. P. Serro, C. G. Figueiredo-Pina, Proceedings of the International Conference BALTTRIB’2017 , pp. 168, BALTTRIB’2017. Kaunas, Lituania 16-17 November , 2017 http://doi.org/10.15544/balttrib.2017.29

Thesis Arrow

Miguel Lopes, Comportamento tribológicos de compósitos AlSi-NbC sintetizados por deposição assistida por laser, pp. 1, Master Thesis, Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal. Supervisors: C. Figueiredo-Pina/ A. Almeida., 2017

Ana Chambel da Silva Carriço, Durabilidade de betões reforçados com nanotubos de carbono de parede múltipla., pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, ULisboa.Supervisors: J. Bogas/ M. Guedes, 2017

Ana Filipa Gonçalves dos Santos, Evaluation of the tribological behaviour of systems natural teeth /ceramic based prosthetic materials., pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, ULisboa. Supervisors: A. P. Serro/ C. Figueiredo-Pina., 2017

Hugo Miguel Vicente Cardoso, Hardness modelling of porous copper bodies, pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, ULisboa. Supervisor: A.C.Ferro, 2017

Madalena Afonso Vilar de Castro Paredes, Optimization of zirconia-based pastes for additive manufacturing of dental prosthesis, pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, ULisboa. Supervisors: A. P. Serro/ C. Figueiredo-Pina, 2017

Ana  Catarina Moreira Branco, Study of the effect of pH of H2O2 solutions in human dental enamel properties., pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, ULisboa. Supervisors: A. P. Serro/ C. Figueiredo-Pina., 2017

Tomás Seixas, Development and modelling of mechanical alloying for production of copper matrix composite powders reinforced with alumina and graphite, pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, ULisboa, Supervisor: A. C. Ferro, 2016

Alcino Reis, Efeitos de escala na resistência mecânica de materiais, pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, ULisboa, Supervisors: P. Rosa / A.C. Ferro, 2016

Vítor Manuel Carraquico Fernandes, Avaliação da corrosão nas tubagens do Terminal de Graneis Líquidos de Sines de 2009 a 2013: Incidência de ruturas e custos., pp. 1, Master Thesis, ESTSetúbal, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal. Supervisor: C. Figueiredo Pina, 2015

Nuno Alexandre Matos Ferreira, Avaliação do desempenho mecânico de betão reforçado com lã de aço., pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, Universidade de Lisboa. Supervisors: A.C. Ferro/ C.G. Pereira,, 2015

Joana Sousa, Avaliação do impacto da presença de bactérias no par tribológico dente/zircónia, pp. 1, Master Thesis, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal. Supervisors: C. Figueiredo Pina/ C. Carneiro, 2015

Ana Filipa Mendes da Silva Neto, Avaliação do potencial erosivo de três fármacos sobre o esmalte humano e suas consequentes estratégias de remineralização -­ estudo in vitro., pp. 1, Master Thesis, Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Egas Moniz, Coop. E. Sup., CRL. Supervisors: A. C. Manso/ P. Carvalho, 2015

Diogo Aguilar Silva, Comportamento tribológico de sistemas espumas ortopédicas/pele artificial: efeito da morfologia, propriedades mecânicas e energia livre superficial, pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, Universidade de Lisboa. Supervisors: Ana Paula Serro/ C. Figueiredo Pina , 2015

Micaela Rodrigues, Desenvolvimento e Avaliação Tribológica de Compósitos do Sistema Al2O3/ZrO2 para Aplicações Dentárias., pp. 1, Master Thesis, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal. Supervisors: C. Figueiredo Pina/ M. Guedes, 2015

Filipe Alexandre Teixeira Rodrigues, Efeito do branqueamento dentário com peróxido de hidrogénio na morfologia, hidrofilicidade, propriedades mecânicas e tribológicas do esmalte, pp. 1, Master Thesis, IST, Universidade de Lisboa. Supervisors: Ana Paula Serro/ C. Figueiredo-Pina, 2015

Collaborations
Professor Miguel Angel Monge (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain)
Development of Cu-carbon nanocomposites by Equal Channel Angular extrusion

Dr. Andrei Galatanu (National Institute of Materials Physics, Romania)
Development of W-Ta nanocomposites by Spark Plasma Sintering

Professor Subra Suresh (MIT, USA)
Mechanical characterization of biologic materials

Professor Dr Jeff de Hosson (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
Microstructural characterization of magnetic domains by Lorentz microscopy

Professor Ângelo Padilha (University of São Paulo, Brazil) and Professor Guillermo Solorazano (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro)
Development and characterisation of stainless steels

Professor José Maria da Fonte Ferreira (Universidade de Aveiro and CICECO, Portugal)
Colloidal processing of ceramic and composite powders

The Nanostructured Materials Group is focused on the development and characterization of bulk multiscale composites materials tailored for functional and structural performance under extreme conditions. These materials have a wide range of potential applications and their optimization requires solving fundamental challenges. Both physical and mechanical behaviour are targeted, building upon a strong interest and relevant experience in electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy characterization.

 

Recent Research Highlights

Development of a new mechanosynthesis route for production of hydroxyapatite for biomedical applications, through mechanical milling of biogenic CaCO3 (eggshell, oyster shell, cuttlebone) and a phosphorus precursor.
A simple, cost-effective, and scalable process was established producing a tailorable range of calcium phosphates compositions. Monophasic, nanometric (16-25 nm), hydroxyapatite can be produced by this route. CaCO3 of biological origin contains trace amounts of natural occurring ions (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Sr2+, Zn2+, Al3+, F-, Cl-, SO42- and/or CO32-). Thus the produced hydroxyapatite is also ion-substituted, maximizing crystallinity and compositional similarity with human hard tissues.

Development of Li-Sn alloys for Nuclear Fusion applications.
Li-Sn alloys (25, 15 and 5 at% Li) were successfully produced by high energy milling through reaction and mechanical alloying processes. The produced alloys have fine microstructure and high melting point intermetallic compounds were not detected. The produced alloys are free from oxygen, hydrogen and milling media contamination. The overall mass yield of the milling process seems to be limited by the cumulative energy transferred to the powders, which results in material loss due to excessive adhesion to the balls and vial wall. The overall results allow concluding that the process produced metastable microstructures with β-Sn being the major phase, even in hypereutectic compositions, with presence of Li2Sn5 and LiSn compounds.

Development and study of processing routes to foster the use of construction and demolition waste in strutural concrete.
The developed methodology assesses the effect of incorporating measured amounts of recycled aggregates and/or recycled cement on concrete properties. The correlation between waste material microstructure and morphology, microstructure and morphology of the resulting hydration products, and mechanical properties of the recycled concrete builds up a significant database. This database shows the systematic influence of waste microstructure upon mechanical performance of recycled concrete, thus enlightening the design of recycled concrete formulations with reproducible mechanical performance.

Influence of Biofilms on tribological behaviour of the lubricated tooth cusp/zirconia system.
Reciprocating tooth cusp-on-zirconia plate wear tests using artificial saliva, artificial saliva with added glucose, or artificial saliva with added glucose and S. salivarius as lubricant proved that the presence of a biofilm of this particular bacterium significantly changes the tribological response of the tooth/zirconia pair. The dimensional wear factor decreased from 2.2 × 10−4mm3/Nm to 0.4 × 10−4mm3/Nm when the S. salivarius biofilm was present. Also, the coefficient of friction decrease from 0.5 to 0.25.These results confirm that the asepsis level of tooth wear tests must be controlled to ensure reproducible results.

 

Main Research Highlights

— In depth microstructural and mechanical characterization investigation on nanostructured composite powders and high-performance consolidated materials have been carried out in the Copper, Tungsten and LAS systems, with two or three components.

— Development of a novel method of disease detection using force spectroscopy mode to probe the adherence of diseased single cells (US Patent: 2011/0287948).

— Establishing that the cathodic MnO2 layer of solid electrolytic Tantalum capacitors formed during pyrolysis of manganese nitrate displays different pyrolusite/ramsdellite structures evolving from random nanocrystalline to a columnar texture. The produced reduction in the capacitors low equivalent series resistance (ESR) is due to the electrical conductivity anisotropy of MnO2 and results from the evolution of its structure. As a result, improved production protocols were used by KEMET corporation in the Évora plant and to launch the T495 ESR capacitor series.

— Establishing that Co-Cr femoral heads undergo severe corrosion-wear compared with those in Al2O3. As a result, DEPUY company is now commercializing acetabular cup based on this recommendation.

— Establishing that zirconia crowns with feldspar veneer tend to wear out the occlusal surface of the opposite tooth. As a result, ZIRCLAB company (Portugal) is now commercializing zirconia crowns based on this evidence.