THz and microwave properties of 3D-printed nanocarbon based multilayers

We propose a new type of light-weight conductive thin film material having good mechanical properties and electromagnetic shielding efficiency. For that 3D printing through layer-to-layer deposition of nanocarbon containing plastic layers and neat polymer layers was combined with hot pressing to obtain 10 μm thick films. We show that such composite has Re ε ≈ Im ε in very broad frequency range, 200GHz-0.6 THz

QED radiative correction to spin-density matrix elements in exclusive vector meson production

QED radiative effects are considered in the case of measurement of spin-density matrix elements of diffractive $\rho$-meson electroproduction. Large radiative correction for $r^5_{00}$ is found in the kinematics of collider experiments at HERA.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Normal stress differences in non-Brownian fiber suspensions

International audienceIn this paper, we present an experimental study of the normal stress differences that arise in non-Brownian rigid fiber suspensions subject to a shear flow. While early measurements of the normal stress in fiber suspensions in Newtonian fluids measured only N 1 − N 2 , the recent work of Snook et al. J. Fluid Mech. 758 486 (2014) and the present paper provide the first measurements of N 1 and N 2 separately. Snook et al perform such measurements with a gap that is very wide compared with the fiber length, whereas the present paper explores the effects of confinement when the gap is 4-10 times the fiber length. The first and the second normal stress differences are measured using a single experiment which consists of determining the radial profile of the second normal stress, along the velocity gradient direction, Σ 22 , in a torsional flow between two parallel discs. Suspensions are made of monodisperse fibers immersed in a neutrally buoyant Newtonian fluid. Two fiber lengths and three aspect ratios a r = L/d, and a wide range of concentrations have been tested. N 1 is found to be positive while N 2 is negative and the magnitude of both normal stress differences increases when nL 2 d increases, n being the number fraction of fibers. The magnitude of N 2 is found to be much smaller than N 1 only for high aspect ratios and low fiber concentrations

Carbon nanotube array as a van der Waals two-dimensional hyperbolic material

We use an ab-initio approach to design and study a novel two-dimensional material - a planar array of carbon nanotubes separated by an optimal distance defined by the van der Waals interaction. We show that the energy spectrum for an array of quasi-metallic nanotubes is described by a strongly anisotropic hyperbolic dispersion and formulate a model low-energy Hamiltonian for its semi-analytical treatment. Periodic-potential-induced lifting of the valley degeneracy for an array of zigzag narrow-gap nanotubes leads to the band gap collapse. In contrast, the band gap is opened in an array of gapless armchair tubes. These unusual spectra, marked by pronounced van Hove singularities in the low-energy density of states, open the opportunity for interesting physical effects and prospective optoelectronic applications

Apparent yield stress in rigid fibre suspensions: the role of attractive colloidal interactions

International audienceThis work is focused on the modelling of the shear and normal stresses in fibre suspensions that are subjected to a simple shear flow in the presence of short-range lubrication forces, van der Waals and electrostatic forces, as well as solid friction forces between fibres. All these forces are weighed by the contact probability. The theory is developed for attractive fibres with van der Waals interaction dominating over electrostatic repulsion. The model predicts a simple Bingham law for both the shear stress and the first normal stress difference with the apparent shear and normal yield stresses proportional, respectively, to the second and the third power of particle volume fraction. The model is applied to the experimental data of Rakatekar et al. Adv. Mater 21, 874-878 (2009) and Natale et al. AIChE J. 60, 1476-1487 (2014) on the suspensions of carbon nanotubes dispersed in a Newtonian epoxy resin. It reproduces well the quadratic dependency of the apparent yield stress on particle volume fraction (σ Y ∝φ^2) for average particle aspect ratios of r=160 and 1200, while it underpredicts the power-law exponent for rD80 (always predictingφ^2 behaviour instead of φ^3.2

Influence of nanotube length and density on the plasmonic terahertz response of single-walled carbon nanotubes

We measure the conductivity spectra of thin films comprising bundled single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of different average lengths in the frequency range 0.3-1000 THz and temperature interval 10-530 K. The observed temperature-induced changes in the terahertz conductivity spectra are shown to depend strongly on the average CNT length, with a conductivity around 1 THz that increases/decreases as the temperature increases for short/long tubes. This behaviour originates from the temperature dependence of the electron scattering rate, which we obtain from Drude fits of the measured conductivity in the range 0.3-2 THz for 10 $\mu$m length CNTs. This increasing scattering rate with temperature results in a subsequent broadening of the observed THz conductivity peak at higher temperatures and a shift to lower frequencies for increasing CNT length. Finally, we show that the change in conductivity with temperature depends not only on tube length, but also varies with tube density. We record the effective conductivities of composite films comprising mixtures of WS$_2$ nanotubes and CNTs vs CNT density for frequencies in the range 0.3-1 THz, finding that the conductivity increases/decreases for low/high density films as the temperature increases. This effect arises due to the density dependence of the effective length of conducting pathways in the composite films, which again leads to a shift and temperature dependent broadening of the THz conductivity peak.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Physics D. Main manuscript: 9 pages, 8 figures. Supplementary material: 5 pages, 6 figure

A study of random resistor-capacitor-diode networks to assess the electromagnetic properties of carbon nanotube filled polymers

We determined the frequency dependent effective permittivity of a large ternary network of randomly positioned resistors, capacitors, and diodes. A linear circuit analysis of such systems is shown to match the experimental dielectric response of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) filled polymers. This modeling method is able to reproduce the two most important features of SWCNT filled composites, i.e. the low frequency dispersion and dipolar relaxation. As a result of the modeling important physical conclusion proved by the experimental data was done: the low frequency behavior of SWCNT-filled polymer composites is mostly caused by the fraction of semiconducting SWCNTs

On the mechanics of magnetic fluids with field-induced phase transition: Application to Couette flow

The influence of Brownian diffusion and magnetophoresis, which are followed by phase transition, on the characteristics of a stationary plane Couette flow of magnetic fluid in a non-uniform magnetic field is discussed. The phase transition conditions in magnetic fluids are assumed as a natural restriction to the particle concentration increase in a non-uniform magnetic field. Profiles of the particles' concentration are calculated, and dependences of the volume magnetic force and of the viscous force are established. © 2018 Institute of Physics, University of Latvia