materials-science
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field that investigates how the internal structure of materials—from atomic arrangements to microscopic architectures—determines their mechanical, electrical, thermal, and optical properties. In plant science, this framework is applied to understand the remarkable structural materials plants produce, such as cellulose, lignin, and silica, revealing how their molecular organization gives rise to properties like tensile strength, flexibility, and water transport efficiency. These insights drive advances in biomimetic engineering and sustainable materials design, using plants as blueprints for developing novel, eco-friendly materials.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-05-06
Researchers compared two magnesium-zinc-calcium alloys as biodegradable bone implants for jaw and facial surgery, finding that the lower-zinc formula (1% Zn) degrades slowly and steadily while building a bone-like mineral coating, making it far more suitable for load-bearing implants than the higher-zinc version.
Mg1Zn0.6Ca (1% zinc) reduced its corrosion rate from 1.81 mm/year to just 0.26 mm/year over 8 weeks while reaching 65.5% hydroxyapatite crystallinity — mimicking mature bone mineral.
Mg6Zn0.6Ca (6% zinc) maintained a persistently high degradation rate (~2 mm/year), suffered premature embrittlement (flexural strength dropped to ~51 MPa vs ~89 MPa for the 1% zinc alloy), and showed declining mineral maturity.
The calcium-to-phosphorus ratio in the 1% zinc alloy rose from 0.29 to 0.68 over 8 weeks, indicating progressive bone-like mineralization, whereas the 6% zinc alloy's ratio fell from 1.42 to 0.35.