Ceramic Processing
Sterilization
Characterizations
Surfaces
Protein Analysis Techniques
100

Glass ceramics begin as glasses but become ____ ceramics during processing

polycrystalline

100

What are the two main methods/categories of sterilization

Physical methods: heat, pressure, filtration

Chemical method: gas and liquid sterilants

100

For bulk material characterization imaging, what technique would you use?

Light microscopy or SEM

100

What is the difference between adsorption and absorption? 

Absorption: penetration of molecules into the bulk of a material 

Adsorption: adhesion of molecules to a solid surface

100

Name 3 assays that can be used to measure the amount of absorbed protein (directly or indirectly)

Bonus: Name the assays that help determine the type/identity of the adsorbed protein

ATR-FTIR, AFM, HPLC, QCM, Colorimetric and Fluorescent Assay

Bonus: SIMS, ELISA, Western Blotting

200

What is the resulting piece of casted ceramic called, and two processes does to go through to form the final product?

Green ware, which then goes through drying and firing

200

Name two heat sterilization techniques; List their advantages and disadvantages

Dry-heat sterilization

Steam sterilization

Adv: simple, quick, fairly effective, no toxic residue

Dis: Not suitable for heat/moisture sensitive

hydrolytically degradable polymers

has to contact surface

200

Bulk material characterization: 

What technique provides chemical information 

Bonus: What techniques provide thermal and molecular weight information

Mass spectrometry

Bonus: DSC (thermal), HPLC (MW)

200

What material surface properties are most important to protein adsorbtion?

Charge, hydrophobicity, topography/roughness, steric concerns

200

Explain how ELISA works

The specific binding of antibodies may be linked to a molecule which enabled by colorimetric or fluorescent detection, commonly the primary antibody is not labeled, the secondary antibody is and it makes ELISA more specific. 

300

Powder processing of ceramics result in what characteristic?

Reduced porosity

300

Name the different radiation sterilization techniques, what are their advantages and disadvantages?

UV sterilization (poor penetrating power), gamma ray sterilization, x-ray sterilization, electron beam sterilization (lower penetration depth)

Adv: High penetration depth (gamma ray, x-ray), quick, fairly effective, no toxic residue

Dis: low penetration (E-beam), some polymers are degradable, high capitol cost

300

What surface characterization techniques give you chemical information

Bonus: Mechanical properties of bulk materials can be characterized using:  

AT-FTIR, XPS/ESCA, Raman (certain setups), Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS)

Bonus: Tensile, Compression, Shear and Bending tests

300

How does the dehydration of the surface (contribution to hydrophobicity) affect the adsorption in terms of entropy?

Hydrophobic areas coming together disorders water in the area, increasing entropy, and redistributing charges leading to adsorption of proteins due to fewer ion transfer from solvent is required.

300

Do you think that this adsorption profile was generated via QCM-D? Why or Why not? 

Bonus: What other techniques that we’ve discussed so far would be best to use to generate this type of adsorption profile? 

Most likely not; QCM-D measures the amount of absorbed protein (via absorbed mass), but cannot distinguish the between the two proteins in terms of identify

Bonus: ELISA, Western blotting or Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) would most likely be used 

400

Which ceramic fabrication technique is likely to result in a high ultimate tensile strength: drain slip casting, hot isotactic pressing, or 3D printing?

Hot isotactic pressing produces less porous structures and would thus result in higher ultimate tensile strength

- Drain slip casting is generally used to produce structures with hollow structure

-3D printing is generally used to produce more porous and complex structures with weaker binding

400

Name the advantages and disadvantages of both EtO and Hydrogen peroxide plasma system sterilization

EtO: 

Adv: low temp, excellent penetration depth, suitable for wide range

Dis: toxic/carcinogenic, time-consuming,

HP: 

Adv: no toxic residue, good for heat/moisture sensitive

Dis: not suitable for some materials, limited clinical use

400

What surface characterization techniques can you use to characterize morphology/topography

Bonus: Name two other surface characterization techniques that show different important properties

TEM, SEM, SPM/AFM

Bonus: Contact angle analysis, and SPM/AFM

400

Protein stability and structure depends on 


_____  ______

chemical compostion


400

What determiners of protein structure have the largest impact on protein adsorption to a material? Why?

Dehydration, redistribution of charged groups, structural rearrangement of the protein. All these three components play a role in protein adsorption due to their large effect on the Gibbs free energy.

500

Name the two different ceramic processing techniques that use glass and molds; Explain how they work

Pressing, pressure is applied to softened glass and placed in heated mold

Blowing, pressing happens first, then a jet of air forces soft glass to conform to mold

500

Consider a novel vascular stent made from a surgical grade steel. The stent has been coated with a novel polymer to help integration with native tissue and prevent further narrowing of the vessel. Would steam sterilization, ethylene oxide sterilization, or radiation sterilization be preferred for this device? Why?

Ethylene oxide would generally be preferred for sterilization of the coated stent. Recalling that polymers have lower melting temperatures than metals, steam sterilization would not be appropriate because it may melt the polymer coating. Although both radiation and EtO treatment may damage polymeric materials, this is often more of a concern with radiation. Therefore, the recommended method would be to sterilize the device with EtO and characterize both the metal and polymer components post-treatment to assure that no degradation has occurred.

500

Which characterization technique would you utilize to help estimate a polymer's affinity to the surface of your material

Contact angel analysis, SPM/AFM, SIMS

500

What is the relationship that protein concentration and surface affinity have to protein adsorption and what is the effect associated with it?

Surface affinity, which is reliant on size, charge, hydrophobicity, stability and unfolding rate, will ultimately supersede concentration because of an effect known as Vroman Effect 

500

Explain the process of Western Blotting and the components of it.

Proteins are contained via gel electrophoresis, then treated with SDS, and loaded to a SDS containing PAAM gel and exposed to an electric field (SDS-PAGE), the larger molecules will migrate slow and they will separate by molecular weight, the gel is goes through blotting and blocked from non-specific binding. A primary antibody is added, and a labeled secondary antibody is added. A substrate is added to enable colorimetric detection