Whither magnetic hyperthermia? A tentative roadmap

The scientific community has made great efforts in advancing magnetic hyperthermia for the last two decades after going through a sizeable research lapse from its establishment. All the progress made in various topics ranging from nanoparticle synthesis to biocompatibilization and in vivo testing have been seeking to push the forefront towards some new clinical trials. As many, they did not go at the expected pace. Today, fruitful international cooperation and the wisdom gain after a careful analysis of the lessons learned from seminal clinical trials allow us to have a future with better guarantees for a more definitive takeoff of this genuine nanotherapy against cancer. Deliberately giving prominence to a number of critical aspects, this opinion review offers a blend of state-of-the-art hints and glimpses into the future of the therapy, considering the expected evolution of science and technology behind magnetic hyperthermia.status: publishe

Melt-texturing of carbon containing YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-x}: Influence of processing parameters on microstructure and flux-pinning behavior

A detailed study of the flux-pinning behavior of sintered and melt-textured YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-x} has been carried out by means of microstructural investigations (optical microscopy, SEM, TEM, EDS, DTA, and XRD) and magnetization measurements. It was found that both microstructure and magnetization behavior strongly depend on the starting material, the production method, and the maximum processing temperature. In our experiments, the critical current density, J{sub c}, increased with increasing processing temperature between 920{degrees}C and 1050{degrees}C (25 - 130 emu/cm{sup 3}), but those samples processed at temperatures just above the peritectic transformation point (1020 OC and 1030 OC) exhibited a decreased J{sub c}. The carbon content of the starting powder and the powder`s melting behavior seem to play an important role in the development of microstructure and flux-pinning behavior during melt-texturing. A comparison of our data with previously published results shows that an optimized melt-texturing process can result in materials with critical current densities comparable to those of samples produced by Quench-Melt Growth

Different sintering routes for preparing alumina-yttrium aluminum garnet nanocomposites

International audienceAlumina-yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) 50 vol % nanocomposite powders were prepared by a wet-chemical synthesis and characterized by simultaneous DTA-TG, XRD, and TEM analyses. Amorphous powders were preheated at four different temperatures (namely, 600, 800, 900, and 1215°C) on the basis of the previous characterization, and the influence of this thermal treatment on sintering behavior, final microstructure, and density was investigated. The best-performing sample was that precalcined at 900°C; however, dense bodies were just yielded by sintering at 1600°C, resulting in a micronic/slightly submicronic microstructure. A preseeding step by a fast thermal treatment of the amorphous powder as well as a fast sintering procedure of green compacts, following some literature indications, were also performed as a comparison. Finally, the previously stated thermal pretreatment of the amorphous product was coupled to its extensive mechanical activation performed by wet planetary/ball milling. This procedure was strongly effective in lowering the densification temperature, so that fully dense alumina/YAG composites, with a mean grain size smaller than 200 nm, were obtained by sintering in the temperature range 1370-1420°C

Whither magnetic hyperthermia? A tentative roadmap

The scientific community has made great efforts in advancing magnetic hyperthermia for the last two decades after going through a sizeable research lapse from its establishment. All the progress made in various topics ranging from nanoparticle synthesis to biocompatibilization and in vivo testing have been seeking to push the forefront towards some new clinical trials. As many, they did not go at the expected pace. Today, fruitful international cooperation and the wisdom gain after a careful analysis of the lessons learned from seminal clinical trials allow us to have a future with better guarantees for a more definitive takeoff of this genuine nanotherapy against cancer. Deliber-ately giving prominence to a number of critical aspects, this opinion review offers a blend of state-of-the-art hints and glimpses into the future of the therapy, considering the expected evolution of science and technology behind magnetic hyperthermia. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland