Recent Patents on Materials Science - Volume 4, Issue 3, 2011

This article summarizes the state of the art as documented in recent patent applications concerning the production of stitch-bonded multi-plies for usage in fiber-reinforced composites. Stitch-bonded materials have proven to hold great potential and are currently in use for a number of large-scale applications especially in the wind energy industry. Accordingly, technological progress is being documented in the patent literatur Read More

Thermally sprayed coatings are very effective tools for high-temperature applications in energy and aerospace industries. They are applied on the surface of complex components as those of turbine engines in order to provide enhanced thermal and environmental protection against heat transfer, high-temperature oxidation, hot-corrosion, wear and erosion. Thereby, they are suitable to significantly increase the capability Read More

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an attractive material for high-temperature, high-power, high-frequency applications, due to its outstanding electrical, mechanical properties, and chemical inertness. SiC semiconductor technology has been developed widely since the commercialization of 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC bulk SiC wafers in 1990s. This paper reviews the recent patents on SiC semiconductor technology, introduces the achieveme Read More

Incising is preferred prior to preservative treatment of refractory or difficult-to-treat species. Incising of wood reduces check development, facilitates drying of refractory species, and improves the penetration and retention of preservatives. Thus, it reduces the susceptibility of wood to biological degrading agents, extends the service life, and ensures structural soundness of wood. In spite of these benefits, high density n Read More

From the past few decades, tremendous awareness has been laid on the use of natural polymers in drug delivery systems. Chitosan (CS) biomaterials are one of the most versatile used polymers in drug delivery systems due to their unique qualities. CS, obtained by deacetylation of chitin, is a natural, hydrophilic, nontoxic, biocompatible, bioadhesive and biodegradable polysaccharide suitable for applications in phar Read More

The sol-gel technique through the formation of colloidal suspension (sol) and gelation of the sol into the gel enables the incorporation of active substances into the material during the processing. For biotechnology applications, biomolecules (such as proteins, enzymes, antibodies etc.) or bioactive substances (for example drugs) incorporation into the sol-gel matrix has been extensively studied and constituted a challenge Read More

The patents annotated in this section have been selected from various patent databases. These recent patents are relevant to the articles published in this journal issue, categorized by materials, biomaterials, biological materials, magnetic materials, medical implant materials, nanomaterials, ceramics, plastics, polymers, semi-conductors, coatings, composites, paper, wood, textile, methods, design and techniques.....