7,543 research outputs found
Crystal nucleation mechanism in melts of short polymer chains under quiescent conditions and under shear flow
We present a molecular dynamics simulation study of crystal nucleation from
undercooled melts of n-alkanes, and we identify the molecular mechanism of
homogeneous crystal nucleation under quiescent conditions and under shear flow.
We compare results for n-eicosane(C20) and n-pentacontahectane(C150), i.e. one
system below the entanglement length and one above. Under quiescent conditions,
we observe that entanglement does not have an effect on the nucleation
mechanism. For both chain lengths, the chains first align and then straighten
locally. Then the local density increases and finally positional ordering sets
in. At low shear rates the nucleation mechanism is the same as under quiescent
conditions, while at high shear rates the chains align and straighten at the
same time. We report on the effects of shear rate and temperature on the
nucleation rates and estimate the critical shear rates, beyond which the
nucleation rates increase with the shear rate. We show that the viscosity of
the system is not affected by the crystalline nuclei.Comment: 9 page
Dynamic Glass Transition in Two Dimensions
The question about the existence of a structural glass transition in two
dimensions is studied using mode coupling theory (MCT). We determine the
explicit d-dependence of the memory functional of mode coupling for
one-component systems. Applied to two dimensions we solve the MCT equations
numerically for monodisperse hard discs. A dynamic glass transition is found at
a critical packing fraction phi_c^{d=2} = 0.697 which is above phi_c^{d=3} =
0.516 by about 35%. phi^d_c scales approximately with phi^d_{\rm rcp} the value
for random close packing, at least for d=2, 3. Quantities characterizing the
local, cooperative 'cage motion' do not differ much for d=2 and d=3, and we
e.g. find the Lindemann criterion for the localization length at the glass
transition. The final relaxation obeys the superposition principle, collapsing
remarkably well onto a Kohlrausch law. The d=2 MCT results are in qualitative
agreement with existing results from MC and MD simulations. The mean squared
displacements measured experimentally for a quasi-two-dimensional binary system
of dipolar hard spheres can be described satisfactorily by MCT for monodisperse
hard discs over four decades in time provided the experimental control
parameter Gamma (which measures the strength of dipolar interactions) and the
packing fraction phi are properly related to each other.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure
Assessing the physical stability of archival cellulose acetate films by monitoring plasticizer loss
Cellulose acetate film plasticized with diethyl phthalate was subjected to artificial aging regimes and the loss of plasticizer determined by means of Thermogravimetric Analysis and Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Alterations in the strain hardening capability of the films was monitored by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis, and the connection between flexibility, strain hardening and the degree of plasticization investigated as a means of monitoring the physical condition of archival cellulose acetate film. It was found that the higher the plasticizer content the greater the ability to strain harden, and therefore the least vulnerable to mechanical damage from archival handling. The correlation between the critical plasticizer content and the working properties of cellulose acetate film provides a means of assessing stability, and highlights artifacts at risk from physical damage
Studies on the Weak Itinerant Ferromagnet SrRuO3 under High Pressure to 34 GPa
The dependence of the Curie temperature Tc on nearly hydrostatic pressure has
been determined to 17.2 GPa for the weak itinerant ferromagnetic SrRuO3 in both
polycrystalline and single-crystalline form. Tc is found to decrease under
pressure from 162 K to 42.7 K at 17.2 GPa in nearly linear fashion at the rate
dTc/dP = -6.8 K/GPa. No superconductivity was found above 4 K in the pressure
range 17 to 34 GPa. Room-temperature X-ray diffraction studies to 25.3 GPa
reveal no structural phase transition but indicate that the average Ru-O-Ru
bond angle passes through a minimum near 15 GPa. The bulk modulus and its
pressure derivative were determined to be B =192(3) GPa and B' = 5.0(3),
respectively. Parallel ac susceptibility studies on polycrystalline CaRuO3 at 6
and 8 GPa pressure found no evidence for either ferromagnetism or
superconductivity above 4 K
Onset of slow dynamics in difluorotetrachloroethane glassy crystal
Complementary Neutron Spin Echo and X-ray experiments and Molecular Dynamics
simulations have been performed on difluorotetrachloroethane (CFCl2-CFCl2)
glassy crystal. Static, single-molecule reorientational dynamics and collective
dynamics properties are investigated. The orientational disorder is
characterized at different temperatures and a change in nature of rotational
dynamics is observed. We show that dynamics can be described by some scaling
predictions of the Mode Coupling Theory (MCT) and a critical temperature
is determined. Our results also confirm the strong analogy between
molecular liquids and plastic crystals for which -relaxation times and
non-ergodicity parameters are controlled by the non trivial static correlations
as predicted by MCT
Exploring the Oxygen Order in Hg-1223 and Hg-1201 by 199Hg MAS NMR
We demonstrate the use of a high-resolution solid-state fast (45 kHz) magic
angle spinning (MAS) NMR for mapping the oxygen distribution in Hg-based
cuprate superconductors. We identify observed three peaks in 199Hg spectrum as
belonging to the different chemical environments in the HgO? layer with no
oxygen neighbors, single oxygen neighbor, and two oxygen neighbors. We discuss
observed differences between Hg-1201 and Hg-1223 materials.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures included. Submitted to NATO Advanced Research
Workshop Proceedings (Miami January 2004
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