Current Materials Science - Online First

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an increasing pandemic that causes an immense economic strain on societies across the world. Although traditional treatment approaches have not fully addressed the underlying causes of the disease and are associated with serious side effects, new therapy options for the management of diabetes mellitus have been emerging rapidly. Treatment for Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and many cases of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) require insulin. In order to maintain normal glucose levels and avert vascular problems, long-term anti-diabetic medication treatment is required. Diabetes mellitus is marked by abnormally elevated blood glucose levels during postprandial and fasting periods. Improvements in technology and a deeper comprehension of the illness itself are driving the creation of novel strategies aimed at improving glycemic management. There are many challenges in the current approach for treating DM. One difficulty in treating diabetes is the considerable variation in insulin needs amongst patients, even for the same individual under various circumstances, to keep their blood sugar levels within normal ranges. Drug delivery methods utilizing nanoparticles have a lot of promise for treating diabetes nowadays. The various routes used nowadays for insulin delivery are subcutaneous route, buccal route, oral route, nasal route, pulmonary route, vaginal and rectal delivery of insulin. The main goals of the present research are therefore to reduce invasiveness during hospitalization, improve existing medications through pharmacokinetic modifications, and develop a fully automated device that emulates the pancreas's insulin delivery.

In recent years, self-healing qualities have drawn a lot of attention for practical engineering uses in robotics, electronics, sports materials, building, construction, and aerospace. Self-healing is bio-inspiring and has been utilized to fix fractures and damage while maintaining the structural integrity of the material. The self-healing properties of polymers, such as thermosetting and thermoplastics, have been extensively proven by polymer composites and nanocomposites. The trend for composite material repair is autonomic healing systems, which is a technical departure from mechanical repair. With the goal of creating safe, dependable, and healthy medical devices employing flexible sensors with better bio-functionality and high sensing performance, advancements in digital health care have spurred innovations in smart sensors and high-performance wearables. Materials scientists and device engineers are interested in these devices because of their clever properties, which include self-healing, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Self-healing polymer composites are naturally able to fix damage, either by themselves or with help from others. It has been demonstrated that inorganic nanoparticles significantly impact the fields of life sciences, energy harvesting and storage, microelectronics, and light manipulation. Inorganic nanoparticles and organic building blocks combine to form polymer nanocomposites, which have desirable properties including hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, and mechanical toughness. Although rubbers composed of a supramolecular network of oligomers have shown a remarkable ability to mend themselves, their resistance to solvents and creep is limited by the lack of chemical cross-links.

Although chemotherapy is frequently used against cancer, it has notable limitations. Patients often experience side effects which require them to limit their dosage or discontinue treatment altogether. One such issue is the accumulation of chemotherapy in healthy organs. Another is the lack of specificity by cancer cells, which leads to the use of non-targeted molecules. On the other hand, cancer cells may develop resistance mechanisms that prevent the treatment from working. To get over these restrictions and tackle therapeutic issues, smart drug delivery systems were created. One potential medication delivery platform for targeted cancer treatment is smart nanoparticles, which may either react to or be guided by biological signals. Furthermore, these strategies can be directed by surface molecules that bind to certain receptors on cancer cell membranes or to the tumour microenvironment, resulting in a strong affinity. Recent progress in cancer therapy medication delivery methods is summarised in this brief review. These methods include several smart nanocarriers that respond to single or multifunctional stimuli. Nanoparticles made of polymeric materials, micelles, dendrimers, protein, cell membrane, liposomes, quantum dots, mesoporous silica, carbon, black phosphorus, iron oxide, quantum dots, and MOF are just a few examples of the smart materials that have recently been developed. Additionally, we shared a brief overview of the many medication delivery modalities available for cancer therapy, including peptides, nucleic acids, small molecules, proteins, and even live cells. We covered the advantages and disadvantages of smart nanoparticles as well as their potential applications in medicine.

This paper explores the advancements in construction site monitoring and management facilitated by Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and emerging trends, the study identifies several key findings and contributions. Firstly, Techniques have greatly improved safety measures on construction sites by automatically detecting potential hazards in real-time, thereby reducing the risk of accidents and injuries. Secondly, these techniques offer a more efficient alternative to traditional progress monitoring methods by automating the analysis of construction site images, enabling timely project delivery. Thirdly, CNNs play a crucial role in quality control by detecting defects and deviations from design specifications during the construction process, thus avoiding costly rework. Finally, they optimize resource allocation by monitoring equipment usage and condition, enabling predictive maintenance and minimizing downtime. While CNN-based solutions offer transformative potential, challenges such as data scarcity and model interpretability need to be addressed to fully realize their benefits in the construction industry.

Nanotechnology, through its manipulation of materials at the nanoscale, is revolutionizing forensic science by advancing evidence detection, interpretation, and identification. This study explores its application across key areas, including chemical warfare detection, forensic toxicology, fibre and hair analysis, bloodstain analysis, and document examination. Nanotechnology enables the development of highly sensitive nanosensors for detecting trace chemicals, enhances the identification of molecular signatures in fibres and hair, and improves the sensitivity and accuracy of toxicological analyses. In bloodstain analysis, nanoparticles amplify trace detection, while in document examination, nanotech techniques aid in identifying forgeries and alterations. These innovations highlight the transformative impact of nanotechnology on forensic science.

Rail transportation is a vital global mode of transit, ensuring efficient movement of goods and passengers. However, traditional rail steels face challenges like wear, fatigue, and plastic deformation, often leading to failures and service disruptions. Head-hardened rails have emerged as a robust solution, offering superior mechanical properties that enhance railway network performance. This review explores the advantages of head-hardened rails, focusing on their role in improving wear resistance, fatigue strength, durability, and track maintenance. The high hardness and improved mechanical properties of these rails result in extended service life, lower maintenance costs, and enhanced operational efficiency, thereby boosting the reliability and safety of rail systems. The goal of the research is to examine various types of head-hardened rails, such as High Carbon Head Hardening (HCHH), Pearlitic Head Hardening (PHH), and Dual-Phase Head Hardening (DPHH) rails, each tailored to specific applications based on traffic loads, axle pressures, and operating conditions. Challenges in adopting head-hardened rails, including higher costs, manufacturing complexities, and welding issues, are also discussed. The review emphasizes the importance of precise heat treatment processes and ongoing research to optimize the microstructure and performance of these rails. Overall, this study underscores the critical role of head-hardened rails in advancing the durability, efficiency, and safety of railway networks. It advocates for continued innovation in rail engineering to support the development of sustainable and reliable global rail transportation systems.

The demand for efficient heat dissipation in advanced electronic devices necessitates the development of polymer composites with exceptional thermal conductivity. Over the course of the last few years, a great deal of research has been conducted to augment the thermal management of polymer composites through the incorporation of fillers possessing exceptionally high thermal conductivity. Among these fillers, aluminum nitride (AlN) has emerged as an exemplary choice for enhancing the thermal conductivity properties of polymer composites. Nevertheless, the substantial thermal resistance that exists at the interface of the filler and polymer matrix, as well as between fillers themselves, significantly impedes heat conduction, thereby limiting the improvement in thermal conductivity. The concise review endeavors to illustrate the recent advancements in the production techniques of polymer/AlN composites that exhibit high thermal conductivity by creating a three-dimensional interconnected filler network. The review begins with an introduction to the proposed mechanisms of heat conductivity in polymer composites, followed by a brief discussion of the various factors influencing the thermal conductivity of these composites. Subsequently, the different methods for fabricating three-dimensional interconnected AlN networks in polymer/AlN composites, all aimed at enhancing thermal conductivity, are presented. The review aims to present novel methods for improving the thermal conductivity of polymer composites by building complex three-dimensional filler networks.