High pressure studies on nanometer sized clusters: Structural, optical, and cooperative properties

High-pressure Se EXAFS is used to study pressure-induced structural transformations in CdSe nanocrystals. The transformation is wurtzite to rock salt, at a pressure much higher than in bulk. High-pressure XRD is used to confirm the EXAFS results. Diffraction peak widths indicate that nanocrystals do not fragment upon transformation. Optical absorption correlates with structural transformations and is used to measure transition pressures; transformation pressure increases smoothly as nanocrystal size decreases. Thermodynamics of transformation is modeled using an elevated surface energy in the high-pressure phase. High-pressure study of Si nanocrystals show large increases in transformation pressure in crystallites to 500{angstrom} diameter, and an overall change in crystallite shape upon transformation is seen from XRD line widths. C{sub 60} single crystals were studied using Raman scattering; results provide information about the clusters` rotational state. Optical properties of high-pressure phase CdSe clusters were studied

HighP–TNano-Mechanics of Polycrystalline Nickel

We have conducted highP–Tsynchrotron X-ray and time-of-flight neutron diffraction experiments as well as indentation measurements to study equation of state, constitutive properties, and hardness of nanocrystalline and bulk nickel. Our lattice volume–pressure data present a clear evidence of elastic softening in nanocrystalline Ni as compared with the bulk nickel. We show that the enhanced overall compressibility of nanocrystalline Ni is a consequence of the higher compressibility of the surface shell of Ni nanocrystals, which supports the results of molecular dynamics simulation and a generalized model of a nanocrystal with expanded surface layer. The analytical methods we developed based on the peak-profile of diffraction data allow us to identify “micro/local” yield due to high stress concentration at the grain-to-grain contacts and “macro/bulk” yield due to deviatoric stress over the entire sample. The graphic approach of our strain/stress analyses can also reveal the corresponding yield strength, grain crushing/growth, work hardening/softening, and thermal relaxation under highP–Tconditions, as well as the intrinsic residual/surface strains in the polycrystalline bulks. From micro-indentation measurements, we found that a low-temperature annealing (T < 0.4 Tm) hardens nanocrystalline Ni, leading to an inverse Hall–Petch relationship. We explain this abnormal Hall–Petch effect in terms of impurity segregation to the grain boundaries of the nanocrystalline Ni

High pressure studies on nanometer sized clusters: Structural, optical, and cooperative properties

High-pressure Se EXAFS is used to study pressure-induced structural transformations in CdSe nanocrystals. The transformation is wurtzite to rock salt, at a pressure much higher than in bulk. High-pressure XRD is used to confirm the EXAFS results. Diffraction peak widths indicate that nanocrystals do not fragment upon transformation. Optical absorption correlates with structural transformations and is used to measure transition pressures; transformation pressure increases smoothly as nanocrystal size decreases. Thermodynamics of transformation is modeled using an elevated surface energy in the high-pressure phase. High-pressure study of Si nanocrystals show large increases in transformation pressure in crystallites to 500{angstrom} diameter, and an overall change in crystallite shape upon transformation is seen from XRD line widths. C{sub 60} single crystals were studied using Raman scattering; results provide information about the clusters` rotational state. Optical properties of high-pressure phase CdSe clusters were studied

Se EXAFS Study of the Elevated Wurtzite to Rock Salt Structural Phase Transition in CDSE Nanocrystals

High pressure Se EXAFS data has been obtained on 2.7 nm radius CdSe semiconductor nanocrystals. This system is observed to undergo a solid-solid phase transition at 6.5 GPa which is approximately twice the reported value for bulk CdSe. In combination with high pressure optical absorption experiments, EXAFS data can be used to identify the high-pressure phase structure as rock salt. EXAFS data can be fit with equations of state to yield pressure volume curves. Resultant values of bulk modulus and its derivative with respect to pressure are B{sub o} = 37 {plus_minus} 5 GPa and B{sub o}{prime} = 11 {plus_minus} 3. A thermodynamic model for the data is presented in which the internal energy in each phase is modified by a surface energy term. Differences in surface energy are used to explain the elevation in phase transition pressure. The model can be used to estimate a value for the surface energy in the rock salt phase; 1.9 {plus_minus} 0.3 N/m is obtained in comparison to 0.9 {plus_minus} 0. 1 N/m for the wurtzite phase

Efeitos do ccc no desenvolvimento do algodoeiro (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. 'IAC-RM3')

Verificou-se o efeito do cloreto de (2-cloroetil) trimetilamônio, quando aplicado em pulverização das plântulas, no desenvolvimento do algodoeiro cultivar 'IAC-RM3' , em condições de casa-de-vegetação. Estudaram-se as concentrações de 0, 20, 200 e 2000 ppm do retardador de crescimento; sendo que os tratamentos diminuíram a altura e o incremento percentual da mesma, com relação ao controle. Pela análise de crescimento verificou-se que a TAL, a TCR e a RAF apresentaram valores decrescentes com relação ao aumento da concentração do regulador de crescimento aplicado.Seedlings of cotton were treated 15 days after germination, with (2-chloroethyl) trimethylammonium chloride (CCC) at concentrations of 20, 200 and 2,000 ppm and the check to verify the effect of the compound on the growth of the plant. The experiment was done under greenhouse conditions in 1974. The main proposal of this work is to study the variation of plant height, percentual plani variation height, net assimilation rate, relative growth rate and the leaf area ratio with application of CCC. The growth regulator promotes decrease in plant height and in percentual plant variation height, 6 and 12 days after application of CCC. CCC at concentration of 2,000 ppm causes, 12 days after spray, the inferior heights and fewer percentual variation heights in cotton plants. Application of CCC at concentrations of 20, 200 and 2,000 ppm, promotes proportional diminutions in the net assimilation rate, relative growth rate and in the leaf area ratio in relation to check

Atomistic simulations of pressure-induced structural transformations in solids

Constant-pressure MD simulations complement constant-volume MD simulations and naturally allow the study of systems where external pressure is a driving force for a structural transformation. These transformations take place in crystalline as well as amorphous systems. Besides studies of bulk systems there is also growing interest in simulations of finite systems, such as clusters and nanocrystals, under pressure. In the paper we review various approaches to constant pressure simulations with focus on the recent developments in simulation methodology, such as metadynamics and transition path sampling. The application of the techniques to bulk and finite systems is illustrated on several examples