% WC composite was obtained at 1,350°C for 2 min at 30 MPa. The best combination of mechanical properties was obtained for a 2 mol.% Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 composite with 20 wt.% WC, obtained by electroconsolidation at 1,350°C, combining a hardness of 16.5 GPa and a fracture toughness of 8.5 MPa m1/2. Acknowledgements We thank the Research Centre of Constructional Ceramics and The Engineering Prototyping (Russia) for research assistance and for providing the ZrO2 nanopowder synthesized from Ukrainian raw materials, using its developed technology. selleck References 1. Basu B, Lee JH, Kim DY: Development

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WC composites. J Eur Ceram Soc 2009,29(16):3371–3378. 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2009.07.013CrossRef 3. Pedzich Z, Haberko K, Piekarczyk J, Faryna M, Litynska L: Zirconia matrix-tungsten carbide particulate composites manufactured by hot-pressing technique. Mater Lett 1998, 36:70–75. 10.1016/S0167-577X(98)00010-XCrossRef 4. Anstis GR, Chantikul P, Lawn BR, Marshall DB: A critical evaluation of indentation techniques for measuring fracture toughness: I. Direct crack measurements. J Eur Ceram Soc 1981, 64:533. 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1981.tb10320.xCrossRef 5. Lange FF: Transformation-toughened ZrO 2 correlations between grain size control and composition

in the system ZrO 2 -Y 2 O 3 . J Am Ceram Soc 1986,69(3):40–242. 6. Anné G, Put S, Vanmeensel K, Jiang D, Vleugels Selleck GSK2245840 J, Van der Biest O: Hard, tough and strong ZrO 2 -WC composites from nanosized powders. J Eur Ceram Soc 2005,25(1):55–63. 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2004.01.015CrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that they have no (-)-p-Bromotetramisole Oxalate competing interests. Authors’ contributions EG and OM were the principal investigators of this study. EG investigated the mechanical properties. OM investigated the structure and performed full factorial experiment for technology of hot pressing with direct transmission of high amperage current. VC prepared the experiment, carried out the X-ray analysis, and analyzed the results. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Bionic superhydrophobic (self-cleaning) surfaces with micrometer-nanometer-scale binary structure (MNBS) have aroused great interest of science and engineering fields [1–3], which can be attributed to their potential application prospects such as drag reduction on ship hulls [4], anti-biofouling in maritime industry [5], and anti-icing for power transmission [6]. Their superhydrophobicity (a water contact angle (WCA) larger than 150° and a water sliding angle (WSA) less than 10°) strongly depends on MNBS structure [7, 8].