Free forming of the gel by 3D gel printer SWIM-ER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okada, Koji; Tase, Taishi; Saito, Azusa; Makino, Masato; Gong, Jin; Kawakami, Masaru; Furukawa, Hidemitsu

2015-04-01

Gels, soft and wet materials, have unique properties such as material permeability, biocompatibility and low friction, which are hardly found in hard and dry materials. These superior characteristics of hydrogels promise to expand the medical applications. In recent years, the optical 3D gel printer named SWIM-ER (Soft and Wet Industrial - Easy Realizer) was developed by our team in order to fabricate tough gels with free form. We are aiming to create artificial blood vessel of the gel material by 3D gel printer. Artificial blood vessel is expected to be used for vascular surgery practice. The artificial blood vessel made by 3D gel printer can be create to free form on the basis of the biological data of the patient. Therefore, we believe it is possible to contribute to increasing the success rate and safety of vascular surgery by creating artificial blood vessel with 3D gel printer. The modeling method of SWIM-ER is as follow. Pregel solution is polymerized by one-point UV irradiation with optical fiber. The irradiation area is controlled by computer program, so that exact 3D free forming is realized. In this study, synthesis conditions are re-examined in order to improve the degree of freedom of fabrication. The dimensional accuracy in height direction is improved by increasing the cross linker concentration. We examined the relationship of resolution to the pitch and UV irradiation time in order to improve the modeling accuracy.

Optimum inhomogeneity of local lattice distortions in La2CuO4+y

PubMed Central

Poccia, Nicola; Ricci, Alessandro; Campi, Gaetano; Fratini, Michela; Puri, Alessandro; Gioacchino, Daniele Di; Marcelli, Augusto; Reynolds, Michael; Burghammer, Manfred; Saini, Naurang Lal; Aeppli, Gabriel; Bianconi, Antonio

2012-01-01

Electronic functionalities in materials from silicon to transition metal oxides are, to a large extent, controlled by defects and their relative arrangement. Outstanding examples are the oxides of copper, where defect order is correlated with their high superconducting transition temperatures. The oxygen defect order can be highly inhomogeneous, even in optimal superconducting samples, which raises the question of the nature of the sample regions where the order does not exist but which nonetheless form the “glue” binding the ordered regions together. Here we use scanning X-ray microdiffraction (with a beam 300 nm in diameter) to show that for La2CuO4+y, the glue regions contain incommensurate modulated local lattice distortions, whose spatial extent is most pronounced for the best superconducting samples. For an underdoped single crystal with mobile oxygen interstitials in the spacer La2O2+y layers intercalated between the CuO2 layers, the incommensurate modulated local lattice distortions form droplets anticorrelated with the ordered oxygen interstitials, and whose spatial extent is most pronounced for the best superconducting samples. In this simplest of high temperature superconductors, there are therefore not one, but two networks of ordered defects which can be tuned to achieve optimal superconductivity. For a given stoichiometry, the highest transition temperature is obtained when both the ordered oxygen and lattice defects form fractal patterns, as opposed to appearing in isolated spots. We speculate that the relationship between material complexity and superconducting transition temperature Tc is actually underpinned by a fundamental relation between Tc and the distribution of ordered defect networks supported by the materials. PMID:22961255

Self-assembly of ordered nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Jinsong

2000-10-01

Several different kinds of nanostructure materials were studied in this thesis: self-assembled monodispersive nanocrystals, photonic crystals, ordered mesoporous silica and hierarchically ordered nanostructured materials. Tetrahedral nanocrystals of CoO, with edge-lengths of 4.4 +/- 0.2 nm, were synthesized at high purity and monodispersity. The size, shape and phase selections of the nanocrystals were performed using a novel magnetic field separation technique. These nanocrystals behave like molecules, forming a face-centered cubic self-assembly of nanocrystal superlattices. In-situ behavior of self-assembled CoO nanocrystal arrays was also analyzed using transmission electron microscopy and associated techniques. The surface passivation layer started to evaporate/decompose at temperatures as low as ˜200°C, but the exposed cores of nanocrystals preserved the geometrical configuration of the assembly due to the strong adhesion of the carbon substrate. As the temperature is further increased from 300 to 600°C, the intrinsic crystal structure of the CoO nanoparticles experiences a replacement reaction, resulting in the formation of cobalt carbides. Two-dimensional self-assembling of cobalt nanocrystals with an average particle size of 9.2 nm and polydispersity of 9% is processed. Phtonic crystals were processed by a template-assisted method. Ordered self-assembly of pores of titania nanocrystals formed a face-centered cubic packing structure. The walls of the pores were made of anatase nanocrystals of ˜8 nm in diameter. Cobalt can be doped into the walls of the pores by solution infiltration of cobalt carbonyl. Cobalt titanium oxide may be formed on the internal surface of the ordered pore structure. This type of structure is likely to be an excellent supporting material for catalysis. The experimental results suggest that transition metal elements can be incorporated into porous titania without blocking the interconnected pores. Hierarchically ordered nanostructured materials with high porosity at dual length-scale were prepared by a single annealing procedure. The plasma energy of this porous materials shifts about 1.2 eV to lower energy, compared to the fully densed silica spheres. This type of material is expected to have not only large surface area for catalysis, but also low dielectric constant for low-loss dielectric applications.

Using naturally occurring polysaccharides to align molecules with nonlinear optical activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prasthofer, Thomas

1996-01-01

The Biophysics and Advanced Materials Branch of the Microgravity Science and Applications Division at Marshall Space Flight Center has been investigating polymers with the potential for nonlinear optical (NLO) applications for a number of years. Some of the potential applications for NLO materials include optical communications, computing, and switching. To this point the branch's research has involved polydiacetylenes, phthalocyanins, and other synthetic polymers which have inherent NLO properties. The aim of the present research is to investigate the possibility of using naturally occurring polymers such as polysaccharides or proteins to trap and align small organic molecules with useful NLO properties. Ordering molecules with NLO properties enhances 3rd order nonlinear effects and is required for 2nd order nonlinear effects. Potential advantages of such a system are the flexibility to use different small molecules with varying chemical and optical properties, the stability and cost of the polymers, and the ability to form thin, optically transparent films. Since the quality of any polymer films depends on optimizing ordering and minimizing defects, this work is particularly well suited for microgravity experiments. Polysaccharide and protein polymers form microscopic crystallites which must align to form ordered arrays. The ordered association of crystallites is disrupted by gravity effects and NASA research on protein crystal growth has demonstrated that low gravity conditions can improve crystal quality.

Canadian Cultural Materialism: Personal Values and Television Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Surlin, Stuart H.; Squire, Larry A.

A study examined the relationship between social and material values and attitudes toward television advertising. Using the Rokeach Value Survey Form E, 157 Canadian college students ranked the 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in order of their importance as guiding principles for life. The values were classified as either material, social,…

Conversion of hazardous materials using supercritical water oxidation

DOEpatents

Rofer, Cheryl K.; Buelow, Steven J.; Dyer, Richard B.; Wander, Joseph D.

1992-01-01

A process for destruction of hazardous materials in a medium of supercritical water without the addition of an oxidant material. The harzardous material is converted to simple compounds which are relatively benign or easily treatable to yield materials which can be discharged into the environment. Treatment agents may be added to the reactants in order to bind certain materials, such as chlorine, in the form of salts or to otherwise facilitate the destruction reactions.

49 CFR 386.36 - Motions for final agency order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...) Form and content. (1) Movant's filing must contain a motion and memorandum of law, which may be... 49 Transportation 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Motions for final agency order. 386.36 Section 386... MATERIALS PROCEEDINGS General Rules and Hearings § 386.36 Motions for final agency order. (a) Generally...

49 CFR 386.36 - Motions for final agency order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...) Form and content. (1) Movant's filing must contain a motion and memorandum of law, which may be... 49 Transportation 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Motions for final agency order. 386.36 Section 386... MATERIALS PROCEEDINGS General Rules and Hearings § 386.36 Motions for final agency order. (a) Generally...

49 CFR 386.36 - Motions for final agency order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...) Form and content. (1) Movant's filing must contain a motion and memorandum of law, which may be... 49 Transportation 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Motions for final agency order. 386.36 Section 386... MATERIALS PROCEEDINGS General Rules and Hearings § 386.36 Motions for final agency order. (a) Generally...

49 CFR 386.36 - Motions for final agency order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...) Form and content. (1) Movant's filing must contain a motion and memorandum of law, which may be... 49 Transportation 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Motions for final agency order. 386.36 Section 386... MATERIALS PROCEEDINGS General Rules and Hearings § 386.36 Motions for final agency order. (a) Generally...

49 CFR 386.36 - Motions for final agency order.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...) Form and content. (1) Movant's filing must contain a motion and memorandum of law, which may be... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Motions for final agency order. 386.36 Section 386... MATERIALS PROCEEDINGS General Rules and Hearings § 386.36 Motions for final agency order. (a) Generally...

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS CATALOG.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio Vocational Agriculture Instructional Materials Service, Columbus.

THE TITLE, IDENTIFICATION NUMBER, DATE OF PUBLICATION, PAGINATION, A BRIEF DESCRIPTION, AND PRICE ARE GIVEN FOR EACH OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND AUDIOVISUAL AIDS INCLUDED IN THIS CATALOG. TOPICS COVERED ARE FIELD CORPS, HORTICULTURE, ANIMAL SCIENCE, SOILS, AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING, AND FARMING PROGRAMS. AN ORDER FORM IS INCLUDED. (JM)

Organic materials as templates for the formation of mesoporous inorganic materials and ordered inorganic nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, Christopher R.

Hierarchically structured inorganic materials are everywhere in nature. From unicellular aquatic algae such as diatoms to the bones and/or cartilage that comprise the skeletal systems of vertebrates. Complex mechanisms involving site-specific chemistries and precision kinetics are responsible for the formation of such structures. In the synthetic realm, reproduction of even the most basic hierarchical structure effortlessly produced in nature is difficult. However, through the utilization of self-assembling structures or "templates", such as polymers or amphiphilic surfactants, combined with some favorable interaction between a chosen inorganic, the potential exists to imprint an inorganic material with a morphology dictated via synthetic molecular self-assembly. In doing so, a very basic hierarchical structure is formed on the angstrom and nanometer scales. The work presented herein utilizes the self-assembly of either surfactants or block copolymers with the desired inorganic or inorganic precursor to form templated inorganic structures. Specifically, mesoporous silica spheres and copolymer directed calcium phosphate-polymer composites were formed through the co-assembly of an organic template and a precursor to form the desired mesostructured inorganic. For the case of the mesoporous silica spheres, a silica precursor was mixed with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and cysteamine, a highly effective biomimetic catalyst for the conversion of alkoxysilanes to silica. Through charge-based interactions between anionic silica species and the micelle-forming cationic surfactant, ordered silica structures resulted. The incorporation of a novel, effective catalyst was found to form highly condensed silica spheres for potential application as catalyst supports or an encapsulation media. Ordered calcium phosphate-polymer composites were formed using two routes. Both routes take advantage of hydrogen bonding and ionic interactions between the calcium and phosphate precursors and the self-assembling copolymer template. Some evidence suggests that the copolymer morphology remained in the composite despite the known tendency for calcium phosphates to form highly elongated crystalline structures with time, as is commonly the case for synthetic hydroxyapatites. Such materials have obvious application as bone grafts and bone coatings due, in part, to the osteoconductive nature of calcium phosphate as well as to the mesoporosity generated through the cooperative assembly of the block copolymer and the inorganic. Future work, including potential experiments to determine osteoconductivity of as-prepared composites, is also presented herein.

Method for forming electrically charged laser targets

DOEpatents

Goodman, Ronald K.; Hunt, Angus L.

1979-01-01

Electrically chargeable laser targets and method for forming such charged targets in order to improve their guidance along a predetermined desired trajectory. This is accomplished by the incorporation of a small amount of an additive to the target material which will increase the electrical conductivity thereof, and thereby enhance the charge placed upon the target material for guidance thereof by electrostatic or magnetic steering mechanisms, without adversely affecting the target when illuminated by laser energy.

Method of Forming a Composite Coating with Particle Materials that are Readily Dispersed in a Sprayable Polyimide Solution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tran, Sang Q. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

A method for creating a composite form of coating from a sprayable solution of soluble polyimides and particle materials that are uniformly dispersed within the solution is described. The coating is formed by adding a soluble polyimide to a solvent, then stirring particle materials into the solution. The composite solution is sprayed onto a substrate and heated in an oven for a period of time in order to partially remove the solvent. The process may be repeated until the desired thickness or characteristic of the coating is obtained. The polyimide is then heated to at least 495 F, so that it is no longer soluble.

Design of Functional Materials based on Liquid Crystalline Droplets.

PubMed

Miller, Daniel S; Wang, Xiaoguang; Abbott, Nicholas L

2014-01-14

This brief perspective focuses on recent advances in the design of functional soft materials that are based on confinement of low molecular weight liquid crystals (LCs) within micrometer-sized droplets. While the ordering of LCs within micrometer-sized domains has been explored extensively in polymer-dispersed LC materials, recent studies performed with LC domains with precisely defined size and interfacial chemistry have unmasked observations of confinement-induced ordering of LCs that do not follow previously reported theoretical predictions. These new findings, which are enabled in part by advances in the preparation of LCs encapsulated in polymeric shells, are opening up new opportunities for the design of soft responsive materials based on surface-induced ordering transitions. These materials are also providing new insights into the self-assembly of biomolecular and colloidal species at defects formed by LCs confined to micrometer-sized domains. The studies presented in this perspective serve additionally to highlight gaps in knowledge regarding the ordering of LCs in confined systems.

Characterization of Two Distinct Amorphous Forms of Valsartan by Solid-State NMR.

PubMed

Skotnicki, Marcin; Apperley, David C; Aguilar, Juan A; Milanowski, Bartłomiej; Pyda, Marek; Hodgkinson, Paul

2016-01-04

Valsartan (VAL) is an antihypertensive drug marketed in an amorphous form. Amorphous materials can have different physicochemical properties depending on preparation method, thermal history, etc., but the nature of such materials is difficult to study by diffraction techniques. This study characterizes two different amorphous forms of valsartan (AR and AM) using solid-state NMR (SSNMR) as a primary investigation tool, supported by solution-state NMR, FT-IR, TMDSC, and dissolution tests. The two forms are found to be clearly distinct, with a significantly higher level of structural arrangement in the AR form, as observed in (13)C, (15)N, and (1)H SSNMR. (13)C and (15)N NMR indicates that the fully amorphous material (AM) contains an approximately equal ratio of cis-trans conformers about the amide bond, whereas the AR form exists mainly as one conformer, with minor conformational "defects". (1)H ultrafast MAS NMR shows significant differences in the hydrogen bonding involving the tetrazole and acid hydrogens between the two materials, while (15)N NMR shows that both forms exist as a 1,2,3,4-tetrazole tautomer. NMR relaxation times show subtle differences in local and bulk molecular mobility, which can be connected with the glass transition, the stability of the glassy material, and its response to aging. Counterintuitively the fully amorphous material is found to have a significantly lower dissolution rate than the apparently more ordered AR material.

Effect of Bottoming on Material Property during Sheet Forming Process through Finite Element Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akinlabi, Stephen A.; Fatoba, Olawale S.; Mashinini, Peter M.; Akinlabi, Esther T.

2018-03-01

Metal forming is one of the conventional manufacturing processes of immense relevance till date even though modern manufacturing processes have evolved over the years. It is a known fact that material tends to return or spring back to its original form during forming or bending. The phenomena have been well managed through its application in various manufacturing processes by compensating for the spring back through overbending and bottoming. Overbending is bending the material beyond the desired shape to allow the material to spring back to the expected shape. Bottoming, on the other hand, is a process of undergoing plastic deformation at the point of bending. This study reports on the finite element analysis of the effect of bottoming on the material property during the sheet forming process with the aim of optimising the process. The result of the analysis revealed that the generated plastic strains are in the order between 1.750e00-1 at the peak of the bending and 3.604e00-2, which was at the early stage of the bending.

Interlaced crystals having a perfect Bravais lattice and complex chemical order revealed by real-space crystallography

DOE PAGES

Shen, Xiao; Hernandez-Pagan, Emil; Zhou, Wu; ...

2014-11-14

The search for optimal thermoelectric materials aims for structures in which the crystalline order is disrupted to lower the thermal conductivity without degradation of the electron conductivity. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of ternary nanoparticles (two cations and one anion) that exhibit a new form of crystal-line order: an uninterrupted, perfect, global Bravais lattice, in which the two cations exhibit a wide array of distinct ordering patterns within the cation sublattice, form-ing interlaced domains and phases. Partitioning into domains and phases is not unique; the corresponding boundaries have no structural defects or strain and entail no energy cost.more » We call this form of crystalline order “interlaced crystals” and present the example of hexagonal-CuInS 2. Interlacing is possible in multi-cation tetrahedral-ly-bonded compound with an average of two electrons per bond. Interlacing has min-imal effect on electronic properties, but should strongly reduce phonon transport, making interlaced crystals attractive for thermoelectric applications.« less

Electro-Optically Active Monomers: Synthesis and Characterization of Thin Films of Liquid Crystalline Substituted Polyacetylenes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duran, R. S.

1995-01-01

The overall objective of this study was the description of the behavior of mesogen substituted acetylene monomers and polymers in monolayer films at the air/water interface and as multilayer films including the formation of such films. Fundamental knowledge to be gained would include the effect of balancing hydrophilic and hydrophobic tendencies in a molecule more complex than the classical fatty acids or lipids. The effect of molecular shape on the packing and thus the ultimate stability of monolayers formed from these new molecules was explored. The work takes on the challenge of preorienting monomers in well-ordered arrays prior to attempting polymerization with the hope that order would be preserved in any resulting polymer. New knowledge gained with regard to the acetylenic monomers includes processing of the acetylene monomer into multi-layer films, followed by the design and synthesis of a second generation of improved monomer structure for superior LBK film transfer properties. A third generation of acetylenic monomer was synthesized which approaches more closely the goal of solid state polymerization of these materials. A parallel study took a different approach. The materials are pre-formed poly(phenylene-acetylene) polymers so questions about reactivity are mute. The materials are a variation on the well-known hairy-rod polymers with regard to their Langmuir film-forming properties. Overall, the goal was to demonstrate that these polymers could be processed into NLO materials with novel polar order.

Optical and Chemical Characterization of Polyimide in a GEO-like Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engelhart, D.; Plis, E.; Ferguson, D.; Cooper, R.; Hoffmann, R.

2016-09-01

Ground- and space-based optical observations of space objects rely on knowledge about how spacecraft materials interact with light. However, this is not a static property. Each material's optical fingerprint changes continuously throughout a spacecraft's orbital lifetime. These changes in optical signature occur because energetic particles break bonds within a material and new bonds subsequently form. The newly formed bonds can be identical to the original bonds or different, resulting in a new material. The chemical bonds comprising the material dictate which wavelengths of light are absorbed. Understanding the processes of material damage and recovery individually will allow development of a predictive model for materials' optical properties as a function of exposure to the space environment. In order to characterize the properties, we have exposed samples of polyimide to high energy electrons comparable to those found in a geostationary earth orbit in order to simulate damage on orbit. The resultant changes in the material's optical fingerprint were then characterized in the wavelength range of 0.2 to 25 microns. The chemical modifications to the material that result in these optical changes have also been identified. After initial electron-induced damage, the rate and mechanism of material recovery have been monitored and found to be extremely sensitive to the exposure of the damaged material to air. The implications of that fact and experimental progress toward complete in vacuo characterization will be discussed.

Development and Application of Modern Optimal Controllers for a Membrane Structure Using Vector Second Order Form

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferhat, Ipar

With increasing advancement in material science and computational power of current computers that allows us to analyze high dimensional systems, very light and large structures are being designed and built for aerospace applications. One example is a reflector of a space telescope that is made of membrane structures. These reflectors are light and foldable which makes the shipment easy and cheaper unlike traditional reflectors made of glass or other heavy materials. However, one of the disadvantages of membranes is that they are very sensitive to external changes, such as thermal load or maneuvering of the space telescope. These effects create vibrations that dramatically affect the performance of the reflector. To overcome vibrations in membranes, in this work, piezoelectric actuators are used to develop distributed controllers for membranes. These actuators generate bending effects to suppress the vibration. The actuators attached to a membrane are relatively thick which makes the system heterogeneous; thus, an analytical solution cannot be obtained to solve the partial differential equation of the system. Therefore, the Finite Element Model is applied to obtain an approximate solution for the membrane actuator system. Another difficulty that arises with very flexible large structures is the dimension of the discretized system. To obtain an accurate result, the system needs to be discretized using smaller segments which makes the dimension of the system very high. This issue will persist as long as the improving technology will allow increasingly complex and large systems to be designed and built. To deal with this difficulty, the analysis of the system and controller development to suppress the vibration are carried out using vector second order form as an alternative to vector first order form. In vector second order form, the number of equations that need to be solved are half of the number equations in vector first order form. Analyzing the system for control characteristics such as stability, controllability and observability is a key step that needs to be carried out before developing a controller. This analysis determines what kind of system is being modeled and the appropriate approach for controller development. Therefore, accuracy of the system analysis is very crucial. The results of the system analysis using vector second order form and vector first order form show the computational advantages of using vector second order form. Using similar concepts, LQR and LQG controllers, that are developed to suppress the vibration, are derived using vector second order form. To develop a controller using vector second order form, two different approaches are used. One is reducing the size of the Algebraic Riccati Equation to half by partitioning the solution matrix. The other approach is using the Hamiltonian method directly in vector second order form. Controllers are developed using both approaches and compared to each other. Some simple solutions for special cases are derived for vector second order form using the reduced Algebraic Riccati Equation. The advantages and drawbacks of both approaches are explained through examples. System analysis and controller applications are carried out for a square membrane system with four actuators. Two different systems with different actuator locations are analyzed. One system has the actuators at the corners of the membrane, the other has the actuators away from the corners. The structural and control effect of actuator locations are demonstrated with mode shapes and simulations. The results of the controller applications and the comparison of the vector first order form with the vector second order form demonstrate the efficacy of the controllers.

Composite, ordered material having sharp surface features

DOEpatents

D'Urso, Brian R.; Simpson, John T.

2006-12-19

A composite material having sharp surface features includes a recessive phase and a protrusive phase, the recessive phase having a higher susceptibility to a preselected etchant than the protrusive phase, the composite material having an etched surface wherein the protrusive phase protrudes from the surface to form a sharp surface feature. The sharp surface features can be coated to make the surface super-hydrophobic.

37 CFR 202.1 - Material not subject to copyright.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... copyright. 202.1 Section 202.1 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS... forms, order forms and the like, which are designed for recording information and do not in themselves convey information; (d) Works consisting entirely of information that is common property containing no...

Method for making surfactant-templated thin films

DOEpatents

Brinker, C. Jeffrey; Lu, Yunfeng; Fan, Hong You

2010-08-31

An evaporation-induced self-assembly method to prepare a porous, surfactant-templated, thin film by mixing a silica sol, a solvent, a surfactant, and an interstitial compound, evaporating a portion of the solvent to form a liquid, crystalline thin film mesophase material, and then removal of the surfactant template. Coating onto a substrate produces a thin film with the interstitial compound either covalently bonded to the internal surfaces of the ordered or disordered mesostructure framework or physically entrapped within the ordered or disordered mesostructured framework. Particles can be formed by aerosol processing or spray drying rather than coating onto a substrate. The selection of the interstitial compound provides a means for developing thin films for applications including membranes, sensors, low dielectric constant films, photonic materials and optical hosts.

Method for making surfactant-templated thin films

DOEpatents

Brinker, C. Jeffrey; Lu, Yunfeng; Fan, Hongyou

2002-01-01

An evaporation-induced self-assembly method to prepare a porous, surfactant-templated, thin film by mixing a silica sol, a solvent, a surfactant, and an interstitial compound, evaporating a portion of the solvent to form a liquid, crystalline thin film mesophase material, and then removal of the surfactant template. Coating onto a substrate produces a thin film with the interstitial compound either covalently bonded to the internal surfaces of the ordered or disordered mesostructure framework or physically entrapped within the ordered or disordered mesostructured framework. Particles can be formed by aerosol processing or spray drying rather than coating onto a substrate. The selection of the interstitial compound provides a means for developing thin films for applications including membranes, sensors, low dielectric constant films, photonic materials and optical hosts.

Nanostructured Composites: Effective Mechanical Property Determination of Nanotube Bundles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saether, E.; Pipes, R. B.; Frankland, S. J. V.

2002-01-01

Carbon nanotubes naturally tend to form crystals in the form of hexagonally packed bundles or ropes that should exhibit a transversely isotropic constitutive behavior. Although the intratube axial stiffness is on the order of 1 TPa due to a strong network of delocalized bonds, the intertube cohesive strength is orders of magnitude less controlled by weak, nonbonding van der Waals interactions. An accurate determination of the effective mechanical properties of nanotube bundles is important to assess potential structural applications such as reinforcement in future composite material systems. A direct method for calculating effective material constants is developed in the present study. The Lennard-Jones potential is used to model the nonbonding cohesive forces. A complete set of transverse moduli are obtained and compared with existing data.

Highly Thermal Conductive Nanocomposites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sun, Ya-Ping (Inventor); Connell, John W. (Inventor); Veca, Lucia Monica (Inventor)

2015-01-01

Disclosed are methods for forming carbon-based fillers as may be utilized in forming highly thermal conductive nanocomposite materials. Formation methods include treatment of an expanded graphite with an alcohol/water mixture followed by further exfoliation of the graphite to form extremely thin carbon nanosheets that are on the order of between about 2 and about 10 nanometers in thickness. Disclosed carbon nanosheets can be functionalized and/or can be incorporated in nanocomposites with extremely high thermal conductivities. Disclosed methods and materials can prove highly valuable in many technological applications including, for instance, in formation of heat management materials for protective clothing and as may be useful in space exploration or in others that require efficient yet light-weight and flexible thermal management solutions.

Highly Thermal Conductive Nanocomposites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sun, Ya-Ping (Inventor); Connell, John W. (Inventor); Veca, Lucia Monica (Inventor)

2017-01-01

Disclosed are methods for forming carbon-based fillers as may be utilized in forming highly thermal conductive nanocomposite materials. Formation methods include treatment of an expanded graphite with an alcohol/water mixture followed by further exfoliation of the graphite to form extremely thin carbon nanosheets that are on the order of between about 2 and about 10 nanometers in thickness. Disclosed carbon nanosheets can be functionalized and/or can be incorporated in nanocomposites with extremely high thermal conductivities. Disclosed methods and materials can prove highly valuable in many technological applications including, for instance, in formation of heat management materials for protective clothing and as may be useful in space exploration or in others that require efficient yet light-weight and flexible thermal management solutions.

Ordered macro-microporous metal-organic framework single crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Kui; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Xiaodong; Liu, Lingmei; Zhang, Daliang; Han, Yu; Chen, Junying; Long, Jilan; Luque, Rafael; Li, Yingwei; Chen, Banglin

2018-01-01

We constructed highly oriented and ordered macropores within metal-organic framework (MOF) single crystals, opening up the area of three-dimensional–ordered macro-microporous materials (that is, materials containing both macro- and micropores) in single-crystalline form. Our methodology relies on the strong shaping effects of a polystyrene nanosphere monolith template and a double-solvent–induced heterogeneous nucleation approach. This process synergistically enabled the in situ growth of MOFs within ordered voids, rendering a single crystal with oriented and ordered macro-microporous structure. The improved mass diffusion properties of such hierarchical frameworks, together with their robust single-crystalline nature, endow them with superior catalytic activity and recyclability for bulky-molecule reactions, as compared with conventional, polycrystalline hollow, and disordered macroporous ZIF-8.

The Youth Writers: Developing Curriculum for Their Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krehbiel, Michelle; Fenton, Melissa S.; Fairchild, Patricia J.

2015-01-01

Curricula designed for youth are often lacking a young person's influence and perspective. In order to provide engaging, "fresh" materials for youth, 4-H professionals can recruit youth as curriculum writers. Youth are given an opportunity to form positive partnerships with adults, produce engaging and creative materials for their peers,…

Weyl magnons in pyrochlore antiferromagnets with an all-in-all-out order

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jian, Shao-Kai; Nie, Wenxing

2018-03-01

We investigate topological magnon band crossings of pyrochlore antiferromagnets with all-in-all-out (AIAO) magnetic order. By general symmetry analysis and spin-wave theory, we show that pyrochlore materials with AIAO orders can host Weyl magnons under external magnetic fields or uniaxial strains. Under a small magnetic field, the magnon bands of the pyrochlore with AIAO background can feature two opposite-charged Weyl points, which is the minimal number of Weyl points realizable in quantum materials, and has not been experimentally observed so far. We further show that breathing pyrochlores with AIAO orders can exhibit Weyl magnons upon uniaxial strains. These findings apply to any pyrochlore material supporting AIAO orders, irrespective of the forms of interactions. Specifically, we show that the Weyl magnons are robust against direct (positive) Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. Because of the ubiquitous AIAO orders in pyrochlore magnets including R2Ir2O7 , and experimentally achievable external strain and magnetic field, our predictions provide a promising arena to witness the Weyl magnons in quantum magnets.

Photo-voltaic power generating means and methods

DOEpatents

Kroger, Ferdinand A.; Rod, Robert L.; Panicker, M. P. Ramachandra

1983-08-23

A photo-voltaic power cell based on a photoelectric semiconductor compound and the method of using and making the same. The semiconductor compound in the photo-voltaic power cell of the present invention can be electrolytically formed at a cathode in an electrolytic solution by causing discharge or decomposition of ions or molecules of a non-metallic component with deposition of the non-metallic component on the cathode and simultaneously providing ions of a metal component which discharge and combine with the non-metallic component at the cathode thereby forming the semiconductor compound film material thereon. By stoichiometrically adjusting the amounts of the components, or otherwise by introducing dopants into the desired amounts, an N-type layer can be formed and thereafter a P-type layer can be formed with a junction therebetween. The invention is effective in producing homojunction semiconductor materials and heterojunction semiconductor materials. The present invention also provides a method of using three electrodes in order to form the semiconductor compound material on one of these electrodes. Various examples are given for manufacturing different photo-voltaic cells in accordance with the present invention.

Photo-voltaic power generating means and methods

DOEpatents

Kroger, Ferdinand A.; Rod, Robert L.; Panicker, Ramachandra M. P.; Knaster, Mark B.

1984-01-10

A photo-voltaic power cell based on a photoelectric semiconductor compound and the method of using and making the same. The semiconductor compound in the photo-voltaic power cell of the present invention can be electrolytically formed at a cathode in an electrolytic solution by causing discharge or decomposition of ions or molecules of a non-metallic component with deposition of the non-metallic component on the cathode and simultaneously providing ions of a metal component which discharge and combine with the non-metallic component at the cathode thereby forming the semiconductor compound film material thereon. By stoichiometrically adjusting the amounts of the components, or otherwise by introducing dopants into the desired amounts, an N-type layer can be formed and thereafter a P-type layer can be formed with a junction therebetween. The invention is effective in producing homojunction semiconductor materials and heterojunction semiconductor materials. The present invention also provides a method of using three electrodes in order to form the semiconductor compound material on one of these electrodes. Various examples are given for manufacturing different photo-voltaic cells in accordance with the present invention.

Approaches for springback reduction when forming ultra high-strength sheet metals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radonjic, R.; Liewald, M.

2016-11-01

Nowadays, the automotive industry is challenged constantly by increasing environmental regulations and the continuous enhancement of standards with regard to passenger's safety (NCAP, Part 1). In order to fulfil the aforementioned requirements, the use of ultra high-strength steels in research and industrial applications is of high interest. When forming such materials, the main problem results from the large amount of springback which occurs after the release of the part. This paper shows the applicability of several approaches for the reduction of springback amount by forming of one hat channel shaped component. A novel approach for springack reduction which is based on forming with an alternating blank draw-in is presented as well. In this investigation an ultra high-strength steel of the grade DP 980 was used. The part's measurements were taken at significant cross-sections in order to provide a qualitative comparison between the reference geometry and the part's released shape. The obtained results were analysed and used in order to quantify the success of particular approaches for springback reduction. When taking a curved hat channel shaped component as an example, the results achieved in the investigations showed that it is possible to reduce part shape deviations significantly when using DP 980 as workpiece material.

Robust optimal control of material flows in demand-driven supply networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laumanns, Marco; Lefeber, Erjen

2006-04-01

We develop a model based on stochastic discrete-time controlled dynamical systems in order to derive optimal policies for controlling the material flow in supply networks. Each node in the network is described as a transducer such that the dynamics of the material and information flows within the entire network can be expressed by a system of first-order difference equations, where some inputs to the system act as external disturbances. We apply methods from constrained robust optimal control to compute the explicit control law as a function of the current state. For the numerical examples considered, these control laws correspond to certain classes of optimal ordering policies from inventory management while avoiding, however, any a priori assumptions about the general form of the policy.

A new beam theory using first-order warping functions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ie, C. A.; Kosmatka, J. B.

1990-01-01

Due to a certain type of loading and geometrical boundary conditions, each beam will respond differently depending on its geometrical form of the cross section and its material definition. As an example, consider an isotropic rectangular beam under pure bending. Plane sections perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the beam will remain plane and perpendicular to the deformed axis after deformation. However, due to the Poisson effect, particles in the planes will move relative to each other resulting in a form of anticlastic deformation. In other words, even in pure bending of an isotropic beam, each cross section will deform in the plane. If the material of the beam above is replaced by a generally anisotropic material, then the cross sections will not only deform in the plane, but also out of plane. Hence, in general, both in-plane deformation and out-of-plane warping will exist and depend on the geometrical form and material definition of the cross sections and also on the loadings. For the purpose of explanation, an analogy is made. The geometrical forms of the bodies of each individual are unique. Hence, different sizes of clothes are needed. Finding the sizes of clothes for individuals is like determining the warping functions in beams. A new beam theory using first-order warping functions is introduced. Numerical examples will be presented for an isotropic beam with rectangular cross section. The theory can be extended for composite beams.

Don't Guess About Drugs When You Can Have the Facts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Inst. of Mental Health (DHEW), Bethesda, MD.

This catalogue serves two purposes. First, it outlines the general activities and materials in the National Institute of Mental Health anti-drug campaign. Second, it serves as an order form for materials that are currently available and describes the special procedures which have been established to facilitate distribution. Both radio and…

Phases and structures of sunset yellow and disodium cromoglycate mixtures in water.

PubMed

Yamaguchi, Akihiro; Smith, Gregory P; Yi, Youngwoo; Xu, Charles; Biffi, Silvia; Serra, Francesca; Bellini, Tommaso; Zhu, Chenhui; Clark, Noel A

2016-01-01

We study phases and structures of mixtures of two representative chromonic liquid crystal materials, sunset yellow FCF (SSY) and disodium cromoglycate (DSCG), in water. A variety of combinations of isotropic, nematic (N), and columnar (also called M) phases are observed depending on their concentrations, and a phase diagram is made. We find a tendency for DSCG-rich regions to show higher-order phases while SSY-rich regions show lower-order ones. We observe uniform mesophases only when one of the materials is sparse in the N phases. Their miscibility in M phases is so low that essentially complete phase separation occurs. X-ray scattering and spectroscopy studies confirm that SSY and DSCG molecules do not mix when they form chromonic aggregates and neither do their aggregates when they form M phases.

ASRM test report: Autoclave cure process development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nachbar, D. L.; Mitchell, Suzanne

1992-01-01

ASRM insulated segments will be autoclave cured following insulation pre-form installation and strip wind operations. Following competitive bidding, Aerojet ASRM Division (AAD) Purchase Order 100142 was awarded to American Fuel Cell and Coated Fabrics Company, Inc. (Amfuel), Magnolia, AR, for subcontracted insulation autoclave cure process development. Autoclave cure process development test requirements were included in Task 3 of TM05514, Manufacturing Process Development Specification for Integrated Insulation Characterization and Stripwind Process Development. The test objective was to establish autoclave cure process parameters for ASRM insulated segments. Six tasks were completed to: (1) evaluate cure parameters that control acceptable vulcanization of ASRM Kevlar-filled EPDM insulation material; (2) identify first and second order impact parameters on the autoclave cure process; and (3) evaluate insulation material flow-out characteristics to support pre-form configuration design.

Investigation into Composites Property Effect on the Forming Limits of Multi-Layer Hybrid Sheets Using Hydroforming Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Shichen; Lang, Lihui; Guan, Shiwei; Alexandrov, Seigei; Zeng, Yipan

2018-04-01

Fiber-metal laminates (FMLs) such as Kevlar reinforced aluminum laminate (ARALL), Carbon reinforced aluminum laminate (CARALL), and Glass reinforced aluminum laminate (GLARE) offer great potential for weight reduction applications in automobile and aerospace construction. In order to investigate the feasibility for utilizing such materials in the form of laminates, sheet hydroforming technology are studied under the condition of uniform blank holder force for three-layered aluminum and aluminum-composite laminates using orthogonal carbon and Kevlar as well as glass fiber in the middle. The experimental results validate the finite element results and they exhibited that the forming limit of glass fiber in the middle is the highest among the studied materials, while carbon fiber material performs the worst. Furthermore, the crack modes are different for the three kinds of fiber materials investigated in the research. This study provides fundamental guidance for the selection of multi-layer sheet materials in the future manufacturing field.

Failure prediction for the optimization of stretch forming aluminium-polymer laminate foils used for pharmaceutical packaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Simon; Weygand, Sabine M.

2018-05-01

Axisymmetric stretch forming processes of aluminium-polymer laminate foils (e.g. consisting of PA-Al-PVC layers) are analyzed numerically by finite element modeling of the multi-layer material as well as experimentally in order to identify a suitable damage initiation criterion. A simple ductile fracture criterion is proposed to predict the forming limits. The corresponding material constants are determined from tensile tests and then applied in forming simulations with different punch geometries. A comparison between the simulations and the experimental results shows that the determined failure constants are not applicable. Therefore, one forming experiment was selected and in the corresponding simulation the failure constant was fitted to its measured maximum stretch. With this approach it is possible to predict the forming limit of the laminate foil with satisfying accuracy for different punch geometries.

Single point incremental forming: Formability of PC sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Formisano, A.; Boccarusso, L.; Carrino, L.; Lambiase, F.; Minutolo, F. Memola Capece

2018-05-01

Recent research on Single Point Incremental Forming of polymers has slightly covered the possibility of expanding the materials capability window of this flexible forming process beyond metals, by demonstrating the workability of thermoplastic polymers at room temperature. Given the different behaviour of polymers compared to metals, different aspects need to be deepened to better understand the behaviour of these materials when incrementally formed. Thus, the aim of the work is to investigate the formability of incrementally formed polycarbonate thin sheets. To this end, an experimental investigation at room temperature was conducted involving formability tests; varying wall angle cone and pyramid frusta were manufactured by processing polycarbonate sheets with different thicknesses and using tools with different diameters, in order to draw conclusions on the formability of polymer sheets through the evaluation of the forming angles and the observation of the failure mechanisms.

Investigation on thixojoining to produce hybrid components with intermetallic phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyboldt, Christoph; Liewald, Mathias

2018-05-01

Current research activities at the Institute for Metal Forming Technology of the University of Stuttgart are focusing on the manufacturing of hybrid components using semi-solid forming strategies. One process investigated is the joining of different materials in the semi-solid state and is so called "thixojoining". In this process, metallic inlays are inserted into the semi-solid forming die before the actual forming process and are then joined with a material which was heated up to its semi-solid state. Earlier investigations have shown that using this process a very well-shaped form closure can be produced. Furthermore, it was found that sometimes intermetallic phases are built between the different materials, which decisively influence the part properties of such hybrid components for its future application. Within the framework presented in this paper, inlays made of aluminum, brass and steel were joined with aluminum in the semi-solid state. The aim of the investigations was to create an intermetallic bond between the different materials. For this investigations the liquid phase fraction of the aluminum and the temperature of the inlay were varied in order to determine the influence on the formation of the intermetallic phase. Forming trials were performed using a semi-solid forming die with a disk shaped design. Furthermore, the intermetallic phase built was investigated using microsections.

Important property of polymer spheres for the preparation of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) metal oxides by the ethylene glycol method: the glass-transition temperature.

PubMed

Sadakane, Masahiro; Sasaki, Keisuke; Nakamura, Hiroki; Yamamoto, Takashi; Ninomiya, Wataru; Ueda, Wataru

2012-12-21

We demonstrate that the glass-transition temperature (T(g)) of a polymer sphere template is a crucial factor in the production of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) materials. Metal nitrate dissolved in ethylene glycol-methanol was infiltrated into the void of a face-centered, close-packed colloidal crystal of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-based spheres. The metal nitrate reacts with EG to form a metal oxalate (or metal glycoxylate) solid (nitrate oxidation) in the void of the template when the metal nitrate-EG-PMMA composite is heated. Further heating converts metal oxalate to metal oxide and removes PMMA to form 3DOM materials. We investigated the effect of T(g) of PMMA templates and obtained clear evidence that the solidification temperature of the metal precursor solution (i.e., nitration oxidation temperature) should be lower than the T(g) of the polymer spheres to obtain a well-ordered 3DOM structure.

New Insight into the Reaction Mechanism for Exceptional Capacity of Ordered Mesoporous SnO2 Electrodes via Synchrotron-Based X-ray Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Hyunchul; Park, Gwi Ok; Kim, Yunok

2014-11-25

Tin oxide-based materials, operating via irreversible conversion and reversible alloying reaction, are promising lithium storage materials due to their higher capacity. Recent studies reported that nanostructured SnO2 anode provides higher capacity beyond theoretical capacity based on the alloying reaction mechanism; however, their exact mechanism remains still unclear. Here, we report the detailed lithium storage mechanism of an ordered mesoporous SnO2 electrode material. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction and absorption spectroscopy reveal that some portion of Li2O decomposes upon delithiation and the resulting oxygen reacts with Sn to form the SnOx phase along with dealloying of LixSn, which are the main reasons formore » unexpected high capacity of an ordered mesoporous SnO2 material. This finding will not only be helpful in a more complete understanding of the reaction mechanism of Sn-based oxide anode materials but also will offer valuable guidance for developing new anode materials with abnormal high capacity for next generation rechargeable batteries« less

Three Dimensional Forming Simulation of the Shielded Slot Plate for the MCFC Using a Ductile Fracture Criterion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, C. H.; Yang, D. Y.; Lee, S. R.; Chang, I. G.; Lee, T. W.

2011-08-01

The shielded slot plate, which has a sheared corrugated trapezoidal pattern, is a component of the metallic bipolar plate for the molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). In order to increase the efficiency of the fuel cell, the unit cell of the shielded slot plate should have a relatively large upper area. Additionally, defects from the forming process should be minimized. In order to simulate the slitting process, whereby sheared corrugated patterns are formed, ductile fracture criteria based on the histories of stress and strain are employed. The user material subroutine VUMAT is employed for implementation of the material and ductile fracture criteria in the commercial FEM software ABAQUS. The variables of the ductile fracture criteria were determined by comparing the simulation results and the experimental results of the tension test and the shearing test. Parametric studies were conducted to determine the critical value of the ductile fracture criterion. Employing these ductile fracture criteria, the three dimensional forming process of the shielded slot plate was numerically simulated. The effects of the slitting process in the forming process of the shielded slot plate were analyzed through a FEM simulation and experimental studies. Finally, experiments involving microscopic and macroscopic observations were conducted to verify the numerical simulations of the 3-step forming process.

Physical Intrepretation of Mathematically Invariant K(r,P) Type Equations of State for Hydrodynamically Driven Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hrbek, George

2001-06-01

At SCCM Shock 99, Lie Group Theory was applied to the problem of temperature independent, hydrodynamic shock in a Birch-Murnaghan continuum. (1) Ratios of the group parameters were shown to be linked to the physical parameters specified in the second, third, and fourth order BM-EOS approximations. This effort has subsequently been extended to provide a general formalism for a wide class of mathematical forms (i.e., K(r,P)) of the equation of state. Variations in material expansion and resistance (i.e., counter pressure) are shown to be functions of compression and material variation ahead of the expanding front. Specific examples included the Birch-Murnaghan, Vinet, Brennan-Stacey, Shanker, Tait, Poirier, and Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) forms. (2) With these ratios defined, the next step is to predict the behavior of these K(r,P) type solids. To do this, one must introduce the group ratios into a numerical simulation for the flow and generate the density, pressure, and particle velocity profiles as the shock moves through the material. This will allow the various equations of state, and their respective fitting coefficients, to be compared with experiments, and additionally, allow the empirical coefficients for these EOS forms to be adjusted accordingly. (1) Hrbek, G. M., Invariant Functional Forms For The Second, Third, And Fourth Order Birch-Murnaghan Equation of State For Materials Subject to Hydrodynamic Shock, Proceedings of the 11th American Physical Society Topical Group Meeting on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SCCM Shock 99), Snowbird, Utah (2) Hrbek, G. M., Invariant Functional Forms For K(r,P) Type Equations Of State For Hydrodynamically Driven Flows, Submitted to the 12th American Physical Society Topical Group Meeting on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SCCM Shock 01), Atlanta, Georgia

Assessing the Influence of Social Networking Material on Adolescents' Sexual Behavior in Kampala

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagaddya, Ritah; Kiconco, Sylvia; Komuhangi, Alimah; Akugizibwe, Pardon; Atuhairwe, Christine

2017-01-01

Background: Social media has been used to promote risky sexual behavior in form of unsolicited photos, videos and text from peers and strangers that is not regulated by parents or guardians. Therefore, it's important to investigate the influence of social networking material on adolescents' sexual behavior in Ugandan in order to close the…

Instructional Materials Available from Agricultural Education Teaching Materials Center, College Station, Texas. Price List No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agricultural Education Teaching Materials Center, College Station, TX.

Price lists and order forms are provided for courses of study, lesson plans, and laboratory exercises for vocational agriculture cooperative education and preemployment laboratory training. Courses of study and required references are listed for training employees for: (1) milk, meat, and poultry processing, (2) poultry hatcheries, (3) dairy…

Method for forming energetic nanopowders

DOEpatents

Lee, Kien-Yin; Asay, Blaine W.; Kennedy, James E.

2013-10-15

A method for the preparation of neat energetic powders, having nanometer dimensions, is described herein. For these neat powder, a solution of a chosen energetic material is prepared in an aprotic solvent and later combined with liquid hexane that is miscible with such solvent. The energetic material chosen is less soluble in the liquid hexane than in the aprotic solvent and the liquid hexane is cooled to a temperature that is below that of the solvent solution. In order to form a precipitate of said neat powders, the solvent solution is rapidly combined with the liquid hexane. When the resulting precipitate is collected, it may be dried and filtered to yield an energetic nanopowder material.

Establishing the relationship between manufacturing and component performance in stretch formed thermoplastic composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santare, Michael H.; Pipes, R. Byron; Beaussart, A. J.; Coffin, D. W.; Otoole, B. J.; Shuler, S. F.

1993-01-01

Flexible manufacturing methods are needed to reduce the cost of using advanced composites in structural applications. One method that allows for this is the stretch forming of long discontinuous fiber materials with thermoplastic matrices. In order to exploit this flexibility in an economical way, a thorough understanding of the relationship between manufacturing and component performance must be developed. This paper reviews some of the recent work geared toward establishing this understanding. Micromechanics models have been developed to predict the formability of the material during processing. The latest improvement of these models includes the viscoelastic nature of the matrix and comparison with experimental data. A finite element scheme is described which can be used to model the forming process. This model uses equivalent anisotropic viscosities from the micromechanics models and predicts the microstructure in the formed part. In addition, structural models have been built to account for the material property gradients that can result from the manufacturing procedures. Recent developments in this area include the analysis of stress concentrations and a failure model each accounting for the heterogeneous material fields.

Computer Simulation of Material Flow in Warm-forming Bimetallic Components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, T. F.; Chan, L. C.; Lee, T. C.

2007-05-01

Bimetallic components take advantage of two different metals or alloys so that their applicable performance, weight and cost can be optimized. However, since each material has its own flow properties and mechanical behaviour, heterogeneous material flows will occur during the bimetal forming process. Those controls of process parameters are relatively more complicated than forming single metals. Most previous studies in bimetal forming have focused mainly on cold forming, and less relevant information about the warm forming has been provided. Indeed, changes of temperature and heat transfer between two materials are the significant factors which can highly influence the success of the process. Therefore, this paper presents a study of the material flow in warm-forming bimetallic components using finite-element (FE) simulation in order to determine the suitable process parameters for attaining the complete die filling. A watch-case-like component made of stainless steel (AISI-316L) and aluminium alloy (AL-6063) was used as the example. The warm-forming processes were simulated with the punch speeds V of 40, 80, and 120 mm/s and the initial temperatures of the stainless steel TiSS of 625, 675, 725, 775, 825, 875, 925, 975, and 1025 °C. The results showed that the AL-6063 flowed faster than the AISI-316L and so the incomplete die filling was only found in the AISI-316L region. A higher TiSS was recommended to avoid incomplete die filling. The reduction of V is also suggested because this can save the forming energy and prevent the damage of tooling. Eventually, with the experimental verification, the results from the simulation were in agreement with those of the experiments. On the basis of the results of this study, engineers can gain a better understanding of the material flow in warm-forming bimetallic components, and be able to determine more efficiently the punch speed and initial material temperature for the process.

Apparatus for dispensing material

DOEpatents

Sutter, Peter Werner [Beach, NY; Sutter, Eli Anguelova [Beach, NY

2011-07-05

An apparatus capable of dispensing drops of material with volumes on the order of zeptoliters is described. In some embodiments of the inventive pipette the size of the droplets so dispensed is determined by the size of a hole, or channel, through a carbon shell encapsulating a reservoir that contains material to be dispensed. The channel may be formed by irradiation with an electron beam or other high-energy beam capable of focusing to a spot size less than about 5 nanometers. In some embodiments, the dispensed droplet remains attached to the pipette by a small thread of material, an atomic scale meniscus, forming a virtually free-standing droplet. In some embodiments the droplet may wet the pipette tip and take on attributes of supported drops. Methods for fabricating and using the pipette are also described.

Mechanical Components from Highly Recoverable, Low Apparent Modulus Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Padula, Santo, II (Inventor); Noebe, Ronald D. (Inventor); Stanford, Malcolm K. (Inventor); DellaCorte, Christopher (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A material for use as a mechanical component is formed of a superelastic intermetallic material having a low apparent modulus and a high hardness. The superelastic intermetallic material is conditioned to be dimensionally stable, devoid of any shape memory effect and have a stable superelastic response without irrecoverable deformation while exhibiting strains of at least 3%. The method of conditioning the superelastic intermetallic material is described. Another embodiment relates to lightweight materials known as ordered intermetallics that perform well in sliding wear applications using conventional liquid lubricants and are therefore suitable for resilient, high performance mechanical components such as gears and bearings.

A new solution chemical method to make low dimensional thermoelectric materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Zhongfen

2001-11-01

Bismuth telluride and its alloys are currently the best thermoelectric materials known at room temperature and are therefore used for portable solid-state refrigeration. If the thermal electric figure of merit ZT could be improved by a factor of about 3, quiet and rugged solid-state devices could eventually replace conventional compressor based cooling systems. In order to test a theory that improved one-dimensional or two-dimensional materials could enhance ZT due to lower thermal conductivity, we are developing solution processing methods to make low dimensional materials. Bismuth telluride and its p-type and n-type alloys have layered structures consisting of 5 atom thick Te-Bi-Te-Bi-Te sheets, each sheet about 10 A thick. Lithium ions are intercalated into the layered materials using liquid ammonia. The lithium-intercalated materials are then exfoliated in water to form colloidal suspensions with narrow particle size distributions and are stable for more than 24 hours. The layers are then deposited on substrates, which after annealing at low temperatures, form highly c-axis oriented thin films. The exfoliated layers can potentially be restacked with other ions or layered materials in between the sheets to form novel structures. The restacked layers when treated with nitric acid and sonication form high yield nanorod structured materials. This new intercalation and exfoliation followed by sonication method could potentially be used for many other layered materials to make nanorod structured materials. The low dimensional materials are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and dynamic light scattering.

Directed assembly of bio-inspired hierarchical materials with controlled nanofibrillar architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tseng, Peter; Napier, Bradley; Zhao, Siwei; Mitropoulos, Alexander N.; Applegate, Matthew B.; Marelli, Benedetto; Kaplan, David L.; Omenetto, Fiorenzo G.

2017-05-01

In natural systems, directed self-assembly of structural proteins produces complex, hierarchical materials that exhibit a unique combination of mechanical, chemical and transport properties. This controlled process covers dimensions ranging from the nano- to the macroscale. Such materials are desirable to synthesize integrated and adaptive materials and systems. We describe a bio-inspired process to generate hierarchically defined structures with multiscale morphology by using regenerated silk fibroin. The combination of protein self-assembly and microscale mechanical constraints is used to form oriented, porous nanofibrillar networks within predesigned macroscopic structures. This approach allows us to predefine the mechanical and physical properties of these materials, achieved by the definition of gradients in nano- to macroscale order. We fabricate centimetre-scale material geometries including anchors, cables, lattices and webs, as well as functional materials with structure-dependent strength and anisotropic thermal transport. Finally, multiple three-dimensional geometries and doped nanofibrillar constructs are presented to illustrate the facile integration of synthetic and natural additives to form functional, interactive, hierarchical networks.

Synthesis and characterization of inorganic materials precipitated into polymeric and novel liquid crystalline systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubeck, Christopher Ryan

The use of nanostructured, hybrid materials possesses great future potential. Many examples of nanostructured materials exist within nature, such as animal bone, animal teeth, and seashells. This research, inspired by nature, strove to mimic salient properties of natural materials, utilizing methods observed within nature to produce materials. Further, this research increased the functionality of the templates from "mere" template to functional participant. Different chemical methods to produce hybrid materials were employed within this research to achieve these goals. First, electro-osmosis was utilized to drive ions into a polymeric matrix to form hybrid inorganic polymer material, creating a material inspired by naturally occurring bone or seashell in which the inorganic component provides strength and the polymeric material decreases the brittleness of the combined hybrid material. Second, self-assembled amphiphiles, forming higher ordered structures, acted as a template for inorganic cadmium sulfide. Electronically active molecules based on ethylene oxide and aniline segments were synthesized to create interaction between the templating material and the resulting inorganic cadmium sulfide. The templating process utilized self-assembly to create the inorganic structure through the interaction of the amphiphiles with water. The use of self-assembly is itself inspired by nature. Self-assembled structures are observed within living cells as cell walls and cell membranes are created through hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions. Finally, the mesostructured inorganic cadmium sulfide was itself utilized as a template to form mesostructured copper sulfide.

Failure of structural elements made of polymer supported composite materials during the multiyear natural aging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blinkov, Pavel; Ogorodov, Leonid; Grabovyy, Peter

2018-03-01

Modern high-rise construction introduces a number of limitations and tasks. In addition to durability, comfort and profitability, projects should take into account energy efficiency and environmental problems. Polymer building materials are used as substitutes for materials such as brick, concrete, metal, wood and glass, and in addition to traditional materials. Plastic materials are light, can be formed into complex shapes, durable and low, and also possess a wide range of properties. Plastic materials are available in various forms, colors and textures and require minimal or no color. They are resistant to heat transfer and diffusion of moisture and do not suffer from metal corrosion or microbial attack. Polymeric materials, including thermoplastics, thermoset materials and wood-polymer composites, have many structural and non-structural applications in the construction industry. They provide unique and innovative solutions at a low cost, and their use is likely to grow in the future. A number of polymer composite materials form complex material compositions, which are applied in the construction in order to analyze the processes of damage accumulation under the conditions of complex nonstationary loading modes, and to determine the life of structural elements considering the material aging. This paper present the results of tests on short-term compression loading with a deformation rate of v = 2 mm/min using composite samples of various shapes and sizes.

Supramolecular ferroelectrics.

PubMed

Tayi, Alok S; Kaeser, Adrien; Matsumoto, Michio; Aida, Takuzo; Stupp, Samuel I

2015-04-01

Supramolecular chemistry uses non-covalent interactions to coax molecules into forming ordered assemblies. The construction of ordered materials with these reversible bonds has led to dramatic innovations in organic electronics, polymer science and biomaterials. Here, we review how supramolecular strategies can advance the burgeoning field of organic ferroelectricity. Ferroelectrics - materials with a spontaneous and electrically reversible polarization - are touted for use in non-volatile computer memories, sensors and optics. Historically, this physical phenomenon has been studied in inorganic materials, although some organic examples are known and strong interest exists to extend the search for ferroelectric molecular systems. Other undiscovered applications outside this regime could also emerge. We describe the key features necessary for molecular and supramolecular dipoles in organic ferroelectrics and their incorporation into ordered systems, such as porous frameworks and liquid crystals. The goal of this Review is to motivate the development of innovative supramolecular ferroelectrics that exceed the performance and usefulness of known systems.

Chemistry and Processing of Nanostructured Materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fox, G A; Baumann, T F; Hope-Weeks, L J

2002-01-18

Nanostructured materials can be formed through the sol-gel polymerization of inorganic or organic monomer systems. For example, a two step polymerization of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) was developed such that silica aerogels with densities as low as 3 kg/m{sup 3} ({approx} two times the density of air) could be achieved. Organic aerogels based upon resorcinol-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde can also be prepared using the sol-gel process. Materials of this type have received significant attention at LLNL due to their ultrafine cell sizes, continuous porosity, high surface area and low mass density. For both types of aerogels, sol-gel polymerization depends upon the transformation ofmore » these monomers into nanometer-sized clusters followed by cross-linking into a 3-dimensional gel network. While sol-gel chemistry provides the opportunity to synthesize new material compositions, it suffers from the inability to separate the process of cluster formation from gelation. This limitation results in structural deficiencies in the gel that impact the physical properties of the aerogel, xerogel or nanocomposite. In order to control the properties of the resultant gel, one should be able to regulate the formation of the clusters and their subsequent cross-linking. Towards this goal, we are utilizing dendrimer chemistry to separate the cluster formation from the gelation so that new nanostructured materials can be produced. Dendrimers are three-dimensional, highly branched macromolecules that are prepared in such a way that their size, shape and surface functionality are readily controlled. The dendrimers will be used as pre-formed clusters of known size that can be cross-linked to form an ordered gel network.« less

Physical particularities of nuclear reactors using heavy moderators of neutrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulikov, G. G.; Shmelev, A. N.

2016-12-01

In nuclear reactors, thermal neutron spectra are formed using moderators with small atomic weights. For fast reactors, inserting such moderators in the core may create problems since they efficiently decelerate the neutrons. In order to form an intermediate neutron spectrum, it is preferable to employ neutron moderators with sufficiently large atomic weights, using 233U as a fissile nuclide and 232Th and 231Pa as fertile ones. The aim of the work is to investigate the properties of heavy neutron moderators and to assess their advantages. The analysis employs the JENDL-4.0 nuclear data library and the SCALE program package for simulating the variation of fuel composition caused by irradiation in the reactor. The following main results are obtained. By using heavy moderators with small neutron moderation steps, one is able to (1) increase the rate of resonance capture, so that the amount of fertile material in the fuel may be reduced while maintaining the breeding factor of the core; (2) use the vacant space for improving the fuel-element properties by adding inert, strong, and thermally conductive materials and by implementing dispersive fuel elements in which the fissile material is self-replenished and neutron multiplication remains stable during the process of fuel burnup; and (3) employ mixtures of different fertile materials with resonance capture cross sections in order to increase the resonance-lattice density and the probability of resonance neutron capture leading to formation of fissile material. The general conclusion is that, by forming an intermediate neutron spectrum with heavy neutron moderators, one can use the fuel more efficiently and improve nuclear safety.

Disentangled Cooperative Orderings in Artificial Rare-Earth Nickelates.

PubMed

Middey, S; Meyers, D; Kareev, M; Cao, Yanwei; Liu, X; Shafer, P; Freeland, J W; Kim, J-W; Ryan, P J; Chakhalian, J

2018-04-13

Coupled transitions between distinct ordered phases are important aspects behind the rich phase complexity of correlated oxides that hinder our understanding of the underlying phenomena. For this reason, fundamental control over complex transitions has become a leading motivation of the designer approach to materials. We have devised a series of new superlattices by combining a Mott insulator and a correlated metal to form ultrashort period superlattices, which allow one to disentangle the simultaneous orderings in RENiO_{3}. Tailoring an incommensurate heterostructure period relative to the bulk charge ordering pattern suppresses the charge order transition while preserving metal-insulator and antiferromagnetic transitions. Such selective decoupling of the entangled phases resolves the long-standing puzzle about the driving force behind the metal-insulator transition and points to the site-selective Mott transition as the operative mechanism. This designer approach emphasizes the potential of heterointerfaces for selective control of simultaneous transitions in complex materials with entwined broken symmetries.

Disentangled Cooperative Orderings in Artificial Rare-Earth Nickelates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Middey, S.; Meyers, D.; Kareev, M.; Cao, Yanwei; Liu, X.; Shafer, P.; Freeland, J. W.; Kim, J.-W.; Ryan, P. J.; Chakhalian, J.

2018-04-01

Coupled transitions between distinct ordered phases are important aspects behind the rich phase complexity of correlated oxides that hinder our understanding of the underlying phenomena. For this reason, fundamental control over complex transitions has become a leading motivation of the designer approach to materials. We have devised a series of new superlattices by combining a Mott insulator and a correlated metal to form ultrashort period superlattices, which allow one to disentangle the simultaneous orderings in RENiO3 . Tailoring an incommensurate heterostructure period relative to the bulk charge ordering pattern suppresses the charge order transition while preserving metal-insulator and antiferromagnetic transitions. Such selective decoupling of the entangled phases resolves the long-standing puzzle about the driving force behind the metal-insulator transition and points to the site-selective Mott transition as the operative mechanism. This designer approach emphasizes the potential of heterointerfaces for selective control of simultaneous transitions in complex materials with entwined broken symmetries.

Structural aspects of fish skin collagen which forms ordered arrays via liquid crystalline states.

PubMed

Giraud-Guille, M M; Besseau, L; Chopin, C; Durand, P; Herbage, D

2000-05-01

The ability of acid-soluble type I collagen extracts from Soleidae flat fish to form ordered arrays in condensed phases has been compared with data for calf skin collagen. Liquid crystalline assemblies in vitro are optimized by preliminary treatment of the molecular population with ultrasounds. This treatment requires the stability of the fish collagen triple helicity to be controlled by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry and the effect of sonication to be evaluated by viscosity measurements and gel electrophoresis. The collagen solution in concentrations of at least 40 mg ml(-1) showed in polarized light microscopy birefringent patterns typical of precholesteric phases indicating long-range order within the fluid collagen phase. Ultrastructural data, obtained after stabilization of the liquid crystalline collagen into a gelated matrix, showed that neutralized acid-soluble fish collagen forms cross-striated fibrils, typical of type I collagen, following sine wave-like undulations in precholesteric domains. These ordered geometries, approximating in vivo situations, give interesting mechanical properties to the material.

40 CFR 70.11 - Requirements for enforcement authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... any person by order or by suit in court from engaging in any activity in violation of a permit that is... makes any false material statement, representation or certification in any form, in any notice or report...

40 CFR 70.11 - Requirements for enforcement authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... any person by order or by suit in court from engaging in any activity in violation of a permit that is... makes any false material statement, representation or certification in any form, in any notice or report...

40 CFR 70.11 - Requirements for enforcement authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... any person by order or by suit in court from engaging in any activity in violation of a permit that is... makes any false material statement, representation or certification in any form, in any notice or report...

40 CFR 70.11 - Requirements for enforcement authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... any person by order or by suit in court from engaging in any activity in violation of a permit that is... makes any false material statement, representation or certification in any form, in any notice or report...

Matrix-mediated synthesis of nanocrystalline gamma-Fe2O3 - A new optically transparent magnetic material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziolo, Ronald F.; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.; Weinstein, Bernard A.; O'Horo, Michael P.; Ganguly, Bishwanath N.; Mehrotra, Vivek; Russell, Michael W.; Huffman, Donald R.

1992-07-01

A magnetic material with appreciable optical transmission in the visible region at room temperature is isolated as a gamma-Fe2O3/polymer nanocomposite. The synthesis is carried out in an ion-exchange resin at 60 C. Magnetization and susceptibility data demonstrate loading-dependent saturation moments as high as 46 electromagnetic units per gram and superparamagnetism for lower loadings where particle sizes are less than 100 angstroms. Optical absorption studies show that the small-particle form of gamma-Fe2O3 is considerably more transparent to visible light than the single-crystal form. The difference in absorption ranges from nearly an order of magnitude in the 'red' spectral region to a factor of 3 at 5400 angstroms. The magnetization of the nanocomposite is greater by more than an order of magnitude than those of the strongest room-temperature transparent magnets, FeBO3 and FeF3.

Polar order in nanostructured organic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sayar, M.; Olvera de la Cruz, M.; Stupp, S. I.

2003-02-01

Achiral multi-block liquid crystals are not expected to form polar domains. Recently, however, films of nanoaggregates formed by multi-block rodcoil molecules were identified as the first example of achiral single-component materials with macroscopic polar properties. By solving an Ising-like model with dipolar and asymmetric short-range interactions, we show here that polar domains are stable in films composed of aggregates as opposed to isolated molecules. Unlike classical molecular systems, these nanoaggregates have large intralayer spacings (a approx 8 nm), leading to a reduction in the repulsive dipolar interactions which oppose polar order within layers. In finite-thickness films of nanostructures, this effect enables the formation of polar domains. We compute exactly the energies of the possible structures consistent with the experiments as a function of film thickness at zero temperature (T). We also provide Monte Carlo simulations at non-zero T for a disordered hexagonal lattice that resembles the smectic-like packing in these nanofilms.

Heterogeneous silicon mesostructures for lipid-supported bioelectric interfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jiang, Yuanwen; Carvalho-de-Souza, João L.; Wong, Raymond C. S.

Silicon-based materials have widespread application as biophysical tools and biomedical devices. Here we introduce a biocompatible and degradable mesostructured form of silicon with multi-scale structural and chemical heterogeneities. The material was synthesized using mesoporous silica as a template through a chemical vapour deposition process. It has an amorphous atomic structure, an ordered nanowire-based framework and random submicrometre voids, and shows an average Young’s modulus that is 2–3 orders of magnitude smaller than that of single-crystalline silicon. In addition, we used the heterogeneous silicon mesostructures to design a lipid-bilayer-supported bioelectric interface that is remotely controlled and temporally transient, and that permitsmore » non-genetic and subcellular optical modulation of the electrophysiology dynamics in single dorsal root ganglia neurons. Our findings suggest that the biomimetic expansion of silicon into heterogeneous and deformable forms can open up opportunities in extracellular biomaterial or bioelectric systems.« less

Heterogeneous silicon mesostructures for lipid-supported bioelectric interfaces

PubMed Central

Jiang, Yuanwen; Carvalho-de-Souza, João L.; Wong, Raymond C. S.; Luo, Zhiqiang; Isheim, Dieter; Zuo, Xiaobing; Nicholls, Alan W.; Jung, Il Woong; Yue, Jiping; Liu, Di-Jia; Wang, Yucai; De Andrade, Vincent; Xiao, Xianghui; Navrazhnykh, Luizetta; Weiss, Dara E.; Wu, Xiaoyang; Seidman, David N.; Bezanilla, Francisco; Tian, Bozhi

2017-01-01

Silicon-based materials have widespread application as biophysical tools and biomedical devices. Here we introduce a biocompatible and degradable mesostructured form of silicon with multiscale structural and chemical heterogeneities. The material was synthesized using mesoporous silica as a template through a chemical-vapor-deposition process. It has an amorphous atomic structure, an ordered nanowire-based framework, and random submicrometre voids, and shows an average Young’s modulus that is 2–3 orders of magnitude smaller than that of single crystalline silicon. In addition, we used the heterogeneous silicon mesostructures to design a lipid-bilayer-supported bioelectric interface that is remotely controlled and temporally transient, and that permits non-genetic and subcellular optical modulation of the electrophysiology dynamics in single dorsal root ganglia neurons. Our findings suggest that the biomimetic expansion of silicon into heterogeneous and deformable forms can open up opportunities in extracellular biomaterial or bioelectric systems. PMID:27348576

Forming-free colossal resistive switching effect in rare-earth-oxide Gd2O3 films for memristor applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Xun; Li, Xiaomin; Gao, Xiangdong; Yu, Weidong; Liu, Xinjun; Zhang, Yiwen; Chen, Lidong; Cheng, Xinhong

2009-10-01

The reproducible forming-free resistive switching (RS) behavior in rare-earth-oxide Gd2O3 polycrystalline thin film was demonstrated. The characteristic of this forming-free RS was similar to that of other forming-necessary binary RS materials except that its initial resistance starts from not the high resistance state (HRS) but the low resistance state (LRS). An ultrahigh resistance switching ratio from HRS to LRS of about six to seven orders of magnitude was achieved at a bias voltage of 0.6 V. Mechanism analysis indicated that the existence of metallic Gd in the Gd2O3 films plays an important role in the forming-free RS performance. Our work provides a novel material with interesting RS behavior, which is beneficial to deepen our understanding of the origin of RS phenomenon.

Surface modification of active material structures in battery electrodes

DOEpatents

Erickson, Michael; Tikhonov, Konstantin

2016-02-02

Provided herein are methods of processing electrode active material structures for use in electrochemical cells or, more specifically, methods of forming surface layers on these structures. The structures are combined with a liquid to form a mixture. The mixture includes a surface reagent that chemically reacts and forms a surface layer covalently bound to the structures. The surface reagent may be a part of the initial liquid or added to the mixture after the liquid is combined with the structures. In some embodiments, the mixture may be processed to form a powder containing the structures with the surface layer thereon. Alternatively, the mixture may be deposited onto a current collecting substrate and dried to form an electrode layer. Furthermore, the liquid may be an electrolyte containing the surface reagent and a salt. The liquid soaks the previously arranged electrodes in order to contact the structures with the surface reagent.

A comprehensive inpatient discharge system.

PubMed Central

O'Connell, E. M.; Teich, J. M.; Pedraza, L. A.; Thomas, D.

1996-01-01

Our group has developed a computer system that supports all phases of the inpatient discharge process. The system fills in most of the physician's discharge order form and the nurse's discharge abstract, using information available from sign-out, order entry, scheduling, and other databases. It supplies information for referrals to outside institutions, and provides a variety of instruction materials for patients. Discharge forms can be completed in advance, so that the patient is not waiting for final paperwork. Physicians and nurses can work on their components independently, rather than in series. Response to the system has been very favorable. PMID:8947755

Molecular theory of smectic ordering in liquid crystals with nanoscale segregation of different molecular fragments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorkunov, M. V.; Osipov, M. A.; Kapernaum, N.; Nonnenmacher, D.; Giesselmann, F.

2011-11-01

A molecular statistical theory of the smectic A phase is developed taking into account specific interactions between different molecular fragments which enables one to describe different microscopic scenario of the transition into the smectic phase. The effects of nanoscale segregation are described using molecular models with different combinations of attractive and repulsive sites. These models have been used to calculate numerically coefficients in the mean filed potential as functions of molecular model parameters and the period of the smectic structure. The same coefficients are calculated also for a conventional smectic with standard Gay-Berne interaction potential which does not promote the segregation. The free energy is minimized numerically to calculate the order parameters of the smectic A phases and to study the nature of the smectic transition in both systems. It has been found that in conventional materials the smectic order can be stabilized only when the orientational order is sufficiently high, In contrast, in materials with nanosegregation the smectic order develops mainly in the form of the orientational-translational wave while the nematic order parameter remains relatively small. Microscopic mechanisms of smectic ordering in both systems are discussed in detail, and the results for smectic order parameters are compared with experimental data for materials of various molecular structure.

Development of high Tc (greater than 100 K) Bi, Tl and Y-based materials as superconducting circuit elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haertling, Gene; Grabert, Gregory; Gilmour, Phillip

1993-01-01

Results on this project over the past three years have shown that the Bi and Tl-based superconducting materials in bulk form are noticeably different from the Y-based 123 material in that superconductivity is considerably harder to achieve, maintain and reproduce. This is due primarily to the difficulty in obtaining the higher Tc phase in pure form since it commonly co-exists with other undesirable, lower Tc phases. In particular, it has been found that long processing times for calcining and firing (20 - 200 hrs.) and close control of temperatures which are very near the melting point are required in order to obtain higher proportions of the desirable, high Tc (2223) phase.

Megahertz organic/polymer diodes

DOEpatents

Katz, Howard Edan; Sun, Jia; Pal, Nath Bhola

2012-12-11

Featured is an organic/polymer diode having a first layer composed essentially of one of an organic semiconductor material or a polymeric semiconductor material and a second layer formed on the first layer and being electrically coupled to the first layer such that current flows through the layers in one direction when a voltage is applied in one direction. The second layer is essentially composed of a material whose characteristics and properties are such that when formed on the first layer, the diode is capable of high frequency rectifications on the order of megahertz rectifications such as for example rectifications at one of above 100KHz, 500KhZ, IMHz, or 10 MHz. In further embodiments, the layers are arranged so as to be exposed to atmosphere.

Closed-form solution of the Ogden-Hill's compressible hyperelastic model for ramp loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berezvai, Szabolcs; Kossa, Attila

2017-05-01

This article deals with the visco-hyperelastic modelling approach for compressible polymer foam materials. Polymer foams can exhibit large elastic strains and displacements in case of volumetric compression. In addition, they often show significant rate-dependent properties. This material behaviour can be accurately modelled using the visco-hyperelastic approach, in which the large strain viscoelastic description is combined with the rate-independent hyperelastic material model. In case of polymer foams, the most widely used compressible hyperelastic material model, the so-called Ogden-Hill's model, was applied, which is implemented in the commercial finite element (FE) software Abaqus. The visco-hyperelastic model is defined in hereditary integral form, therefore, obtaining a closed-form solution for the stress is not a trivial task. However, the parameter-fitting procedure could be much faster and accurate if closed-form solution exists. In this contribution, exact stress solutions are derived in case of uniaxial, biaxial and volumetric compression loading cases using ramp-loading history. The analytical stress solutions are compared with the stress results in Abaqus using FE analysis. In order to highlight the benefits of the analytical closed-form solution during the parameter-fitting process experimental work has been carried out on a particular open-cell memory foam material. The results of the material identification process shows significant accuracy improvement in the fitting procedure by applying the derived analytical solutions compared to the so-called separated approach applied in the engineering practice.

Importance of material and friction characterisation for FE-aided process design of hybrid bevel gears

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behrens, B.-A.; Bouguecha, A.; Bonk, C.; Matthias, T.

2017-10-01

Solid-forming components are often used in areas where they are subjected to very high loads. For most solid components locally divergent and sometimes contradictory requirements exist. Despite these contradictory requirements, almost exclusively monomaterials are nowadays used for the production of solid components. These components often reach their material-specific limits because of increasing demands on the products. Thus a significant increase in product quality and profitability would result from combining different materials in order to create tailored properties. In the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1153 "Tailored Forming" at the Leibniz Universität Hannover, this topic is investigated. The primary objective of the CRC 1153 is to develop and investigate new tailored manufacturing processes to produce reliable hybrid solid semi-finished components. In contrast to existing production processes of hybrid solid components, semi-finished workpieces in the CRC 1153 are joined before the forming phase. Thus, it will be possible to produce complex and highly stressable solid components made of different metals, which cannot be produced yet with the current used technologies. In this work the material and friction characteristics are investigated and the forming tool for the production of hybrid bevel gears made of different steel alloys (C22 and 41Cr4) is designed by numerical simulations. For this purpose, flow curves of both materials are determined by means of upsetting tests at process-related forming temperatures and strain rates. The temperature range for the forming process of the semi-finished product is determined by comparing the respective flow curves regarding similar flow stresses. Furthermore, the friction between the tool and the joining materials is investigated by means of ring upsetting tests at a process-relevant temperature. Finally, a stress analysis of the forming tools is carried out.

Self-assembly of Nano-rods in Photosensitive Phase Separation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ya; Kuksenok, Olga; Maresov, Egor; Balazs, Anna

2012-02-01

Computer simulations reveal how photo-induced chemical reactions in polymeric mixtures can be exploited to create long-range order in materials whose features range from the sub-micron to the nanoscale. The process is initiated by shining a spatially uniform light on a photosensitive AB binary blend, which thereby undergoes both a reversible chemical reaction and phase separation. When a well-collimated, higher intensity light is rastered over the sample, the system forms defect-free, spatially periodic structures. We now build on this approach by introducing nanorods that have a preferential affinity for one the phases in a binary mixture. By rastering over the sample with the higher intensity light, we can create ordered arrays of rods within periodically ordered materials in essentially one processing step.

Self-assembled ordered structures in thin films of HAT5 discotic liquid crystal.

PubMed

Morales, Piero; Lagerwall, Jan; Vacca, Paolo; Laschat, Sabine; Scalia, Giusy

2010-05-20

Thin films of the discotic liquid crystal hexapentyloxytriphenylene (HAT5), prepared from solution via casting or spin-coating, were investigated by atomic force microscopy and polarizing optical microscopy, revealing large-scale ordered structures substantially different from those typically observed in standard samples of the same material. Thin and very long fibrils of planar-aligned liquid crystal were found, possibly formed as a result of an intermediate lyotropic nematic state arising during the solvent evaporation process. Moreover, in sufficiently thin films the crystallization seems to be suppressed, extending the uniform order of the liquid crystal phase down to room temperature. This should be compared to the bulk situation, where the same material crystallizes into a polymorphic structure at 68 °C.

Recent Advances in Chiral Nematic Structure and Iridescent Color of Cellulose Nanocrystal Films

PubMed Central

Gray, Derek G.

2016-01-01

One unique property of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) is their property of forming suspensions with chiral nematic order. This order can be preserved in films cast from the suspensions, raising the possibility of applications as photonic materials and templates. However, it has proved difficult to generate uniform, well-ordered chiral nematic materials from CNC. Recently, the importance of kinetic arrest due to gel formation in the later stages of evaporation has been recognized as a key step in film formation. In this brief review, recent developments regarding the structure of chiral nematic suspensions and films as monitored by polarized light microscopy are outlined, and attention is drawn to the importance of shear forces on the self-organization process. PMID:28335340

Self-Formed Channel Devices Based on Vertically Grown 2D Materials with Large-Surface-Area and Their Potential for Chemical Sensor Applications.

PubMed

Kim, Chaeeun; Park, Jun-Cheol; Choi, Sun Young; Kim, Yonghun; Seo, Seung-Young; Park, Tae-Eon; Kwon, Se-Hun; Cho, Byungjin; Ahn, Ji-Hoon

2018-04-01

2D layered materials with sensitive surfaces are promising materials for use in chemical sensing devices, owing to their extremely large surface-to-volume ratios. However, most chemical sensors based on 2D materials are used in the form of laterally defined active channels, in which the active area is limited to the actual device dimensions. Therefore, a novel approach for fabricating self-formed active-channel devices is proposed based on 2D semiconductor materials with very large surface areas, and their potential gas sensing ability is examined. First, the vertical growth phenomenon of SnS 2 nanocrystals is investigated with large surface area via metal-assisted growth using prepatterned metal electrodes, and then self-formed active-channel devices are suggested without additional pattering through the selective synthesis of SnS 2 nanosheets on prepatterned metal electrodes. The self-formed active-channel device exhibits extremely high response values (>2000% at 10 ppm) for NO 2 along with excellent NO 2 selectivity. Moreover, the NO 2 gas response of the gas sensing device with vertically self-formed SnS 2 nanosheets is more than two orders of magnitude higher than that of a similar exfoliated SnS 2 -based device. These results indicate that the facile device fabrication method would be applicable to various systems in which surface area plays an important role. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Organosilicon Polymers as Precursors for Silicon Containing Ceramics: Recent Developments.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-14

the polymer to a ceramic material, hopefully of the desired composition . In the latter alternative, shrinkage during pyrolysis should not be great...carbon-carbon composite materials. In order to have a useful preceramic polymer . considerations of structure and reactivitv are of paramount importance...process so that on pyrolysis non-volatile, three-dimensional networks (which lead to maximum weight retention) are formed. Thus. preceramic polymer

Simulation-aided constitutive law development - Assessment of low triaxiality void nucleation models via extended finite element method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jifeng; Kontsevoi, Oleg Y.; Xiong, Wei; Smith, Jacob

2017-05-01

In this work, a multi-scale computational framework has been established in order to investigate, refine and validate constitutive behaviors in the context of the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) void mechanics model. The eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) has been implemented in order to (1) develop statistical volume elements (SVE) of a matrix material with subscale inclusions and (2) to simulate the multi-void nucleation process due to interface debonding between the matrix and particle phases. Our analyses strongly suggest that under low stress triaxiality the nucleation rate of the voids f˙ can be well described by a normal distribution function with respect to the matrix equivalent stress (σe), as opposed to that proposed (σbar + 1 / 3σkk) in the original form of the single void GTN model. The modified form of the multi-void nucleation model has been validated based on a series of numerical experiments with different loading conditions, material properties, particle shape/size and spatial distributions. The utilization of XFEM allows for an invariant finite element mesh to represent varying microstructures, which implies suitability for drastically reducing complexity in generating the finite element discretizations for large stochastic arrays of microstructure configurations. The modified form of the multi-void nucleation model is further applied to study high strength steels by incorporating first principles calculations. The necessity of using a phenomenological interface separation law has been fully eliminated and replaced by the physics-based cohesive relationship obtained from Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations in order to provide an accurate macroscopic material response.

Adhesive material transfer in the erosion of an aluminum alloy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salik, J.; Brainard, W. A.

1979-01-01

In order to study the basic mechanisms of erosion, hardened steel balls were shot into annealed 6061 Al alloy targets at velocity of up to 150 m/sec. The projectiles were collected and examined by a scanning electron microscope combined with energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer and it was found that target material in substantial amounts is adhesively transferred to the projectile. The transferred material forms on the projectile surface a layer the thickness of which increases with increases in impact velocity.

Invariant Functional Forms for K(r,P) Type Equations of State for Hydrodynamically Driven Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hrbek, George

2001-06-01

At the 11th American Physical Society Topical Group Meeting on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter, Group Theoretic Methods, as defined by Lie were applied to the problem of temperature independent, hydrodynamic shock in a Birch-Murnaghan continuum. (1) Group parameter ratios were linked to the physical quantities (i.e., KT, K'T, and K''T) specified for the various order Birch-Murnaghan approximations. This technique has now been generalized to provide a mathematical formalism applicable to a wide class of forms (i.e., K(r,P)) for the equation of state. Variations in material expansion and resistance (i.e., counter pressure) are shown to be functions of compression and material variation ahead of the expanding front. Illustrative examples include the Birch-Murnaghan, Vinet, Brennan-Stacey, Shanker, Tait, Poirier, and Jones-Wilkins-Lee (JWL) forms. The results of this study will allow the various equations of state, and their respective fitting coefficients, to be compared with experiments. To do this, one must introduce the group ratios into a numerical simulation for the flow and generate the density, pressure, and particle velocity profiles as the shock moves through the material. (2) (1) Hrbek, G. M., Invariant Functional Forms For The Second, Third, And Fourth Order Birch-Murnaghan Equation of State For Materials Subject to Hydrodynamic Shock, Proceedings of the 11th American Physical Society Topical Group Meeting on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SCCM Shock 99), Snowbird, Utah (2) Hrbek, G. M., Physical Interpretation of Mathematically Invariant K(r,P) Type Equations Of State For Hydrodynamically Driven Flows, Submitted to the 12th American Physical Society Topical Group Meeting on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter (SCCM Shock 01), Atlanta, Georgia

The Molecular Basis of Form and Color: A Chemistry Course for Art Majors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orna, Mary Virginia

1976-01-01

Describes a course including topics such as the nature of electromagnetic radiation, the color of transparent and opaque materials, the detection and description of color, color-order systems, color measurement, and color mixing. (MLH)

Sand Waves That Impede Navigation of Coastal Inlet Navigation Channels

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-01

Merrymeeting Bay. The bay collects coarse-grained sediment from unconsolidated ice-contact and periglacial deposits (Fenster and FitzGerald 1996). During...bed, which is a layer of denser or larger sized sediment left after finer material has been winnowed by a strong current, can inhibit bed form...Order Descriptors (important) • Superposition: simple or compound. • Sediment Characteristics (size, sorting). Third Order Descriptors (useful

Methods for forming thin-film heterojunction solar cells from I-III-VI{sub 2}

DOEpatents

Mickelsen, R.A.; Chen, W.S.

1985-08-13

An improved thin-film, large area solar cell, and methods for forming the same are disclosed, having a relatively high light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency and characterized in that the cell comprises a p-n type heterojunction formed of: (i) a first semiconductor layer comprising a photovoltaic active material selected from the class of I-III-VI{sub 2} chalcopyrite ternary materials which is vacuum deposited in a thin ``composition-graded`` layer ranging from on the order of about 2.5 microns to about 5.0 microns ({approx_equal}2.5 {mu}m to {approx_equal}5.0 {mu}m) and wherein the lower region of the photovoltaic active material preferably comprises a low resistivity region of p-type semiconductor material having a superimposed region of relatively high resistivity, transient n-type semiconductor material defining a transient p-n homojunction; and (ii) a second semiconductor layer comprising a low resistivity n-type semiconductor material; wherein interdiffusion occurs (a) between the elemental constituents of the two discrete juxtaposed regions of the first semiconductor layer defining a transient p-n homojunction layer, and (b) between the transient n-type material in the first semiconductor layer and the second n-type semiconductor layer. 16 figs.

Methods for forming thin-film heterojunction solar cells from I-III-VI[sub 2

DOEpatents

Mickelsen, R.A.; Chen, W.S.

1982-06-15

An improved thin-film, large area solar cell, and methods for forming the same are disclosed, having a relatively high light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency and characterized in that the cell comprises a p-n type heterojunction formed of: (1) a first semiconductor layer comprising a photovoltaic active material selected from the class of I-III-VI[sub 2] chalcopyrite ternary materials which is vacuum deposited in a thin composition-graded'' layer ranging from on the order of about 2.5 microns to about 5.0 microns ([approx equal]2.5[mu]m to [approx equal]5.0[mu]m) and wherein the lower region of the photovoltaic active material preferably comprises a low resistivity region of p-type semiconductor material having a superimposed region of relatively high resistivity, transient n-type semiconductor material defining a transient p-n homojunction; and (2), a second semiconductor layer comprising a low resistivity n-type semiconductor material; wherein interdiffusion (a) between the elemental constituents of the two discrete juxtaposed regions of the first semiconductor layer defining a transient p-n homojunction layer, and (b) between the transient n-type material in the first semiconductor layer and the second n-type semiconductor layer, is allowed.

Shifting orders among suppliers considering risk, price and transportation cost

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Revitasari, C.; Pujawan, I. N.

2018-04-01

Supplier order allocation is an important supply chain decision for an enterprise. It is related to the supplier’s function as a raw material provider and other supporting materials that will be used in production process. Most of works on order allocation has been based on costs and other supply chain performance, but very limited of them taking risks into consideration. In this paper we address the problem of order allocation of a single commodity sourced from multiple suppliers considering supply risks in addition to the attempt of minimizing transportation costs. The supply chain risk was investigated and a procedure was proposed in the risk mitigation phase as a form of risk profile. The objective including risk profile in order allocation is to maximize the product flow from a risky supplier to a relatively less risky supplier. The proposed procedure is applied to a sugar company. The result suggests that order allocations should be maximized to suppliers that have a relatively low risk and minimized to suppliers that have a relatively larger risks.

Implementation of a Novel Electronic Health Record-Embedded Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment System.

PubMed

Zive, Dana M; Cook, Jennifer; Yang, Charissa; Sibell, David; Tolle, Susan W; Lieberman, Michael

2016-11-01

In April 2015, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) deployed a web-based, electronic medical record-embedded application created by third party vendor Vynca Inc. to allow real-time education, and completion of Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST). Forms are automatically linked to the Epic Systems™ electronic health record (EHR) patient header and submitted to a state Registry, improving efficiency, accuracy, and rapid access to and retrieval of these important medical orders. POLST Forms, implemented in Oregon in 1992, are standardized portable medical orders used to document patient treatment goals for end-of-life care. In 2009, Oregon developed the first POLST-only statewide registry with a legislative mandate requiring POLST form signers to register the form unless the patient opts out. The Registry offers 24/7 emergency access to POLST Forms for Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Departments, and Acute Care Units. Because POLST is intended for those nearing end of life, immediate access to these forms at the time of an emergency is critical. Delays in registering a POLST Form may result in unwanted treatment if the paper form is not immediately available. An electronic POLST Form completion system (ePOLST) was implemented to support direct Registry submission. Other benefits of the system include single-sign-on, transmission of HL7 data for patient demographics and other relevant information, elimination of potential errors in form completion using internalized logic, built-in real-time video and text-based education materials for both patients and health care professionals, and mobile linkage for signature capture.

Electrically charged targets

DOEpatents

Goodman, Ronald K.; Hunt, Angus L.

1984-01-01

Electrically chargeable laser targets and method for forming such charged targets in order to improve their guidance along a predetermined desired trajectory. This is accomplished by the incorporation of a small amount of an additive to the target material which will increase the electrical conductivity thereof, and thereby enhance the charge placed upon the target material for guidance thereof by electrostatic or magnetic steering mechanisms, without adversely affecting the target when illuminated by laser energy.

Comparison of the Supercooled Spin Liquid States in the Pyrochlore Magnets Dy2Ti2O7 and Ho2Ti2O7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eyal, Anna; Eyvazov, Azar B.; Dusad, Ritika; Munsie, Timothy J. S.; Luke, Graeme M.; Davis, J. C. Séamus

Despite a well-ordered crystal structure and strong magnetic interactions between the Dy or Ho ions, no long-range magnetic order has been detected in the pyrochlore titanates Ho2Ti2O7 and Dy2Ti2O7. The low temperature state in these materials is governed by spin-ice rules. These constrain the Ising like spins in the materials, yet does not result in a global broken symmetry state. To explore the actual magnetic phases, we simultaneously measure the time- and frequency-dependent magnetization dynamics of Dy2Ti2O7 and Ho2Ti2O7 using toroidal, boundary-free magnetization transport techniques. We demonstrate a distinctive behavior of the magnetic susceptibility of both compounds, that is indistinguishable in form from the permittivity of supercooled dipolar liquids. Moreover, we show that the microscopic magnetic relaxation times for both materials increase along a super-Arrhenius trajectory also characteristic of supercooled glass-forming liquids. Both materials therefore exhibit characteristics of a supercooled spin liquid. Strongly-correlated dynamics of loops of spins is suggested as a possible mechanism which could account for these findings. Potential connections to many-body spin localization will also be discussed.

Ferroelectric properties of substituted barium titanate ceramics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Parveen; Singh, Sangeeta; Juneja, J. K.; Prakash, Chandra; Raina, K. K.

2009-06-01

Barium titanate (BT) is among the most studied ferroelectric material which has been used in various forms, e.g. bulk, thin and thick film, powder, in a number of applications. In order to achieve a material with desired properties, it is modified with a variety of substituents. Most common substituents have been strontium, calcium and zirconium. Here we report studies on lead and zirconium substituted BT. The material series with compositional formula Ba 0.80Pb 0.20Ti 1-xZr xO 3 with, 0< x<0.1 was chosen for investigations. The material was synthesized by solid state reaction method. Reacted powder compacted in form of circular discs were sintered in the range of 1300 °C. All the samples were subjected to X-ray analysis and found to be single phase. Ferroelectric properties were studied as a function of composition and temperature. Pr/ Ps ratio was determined. It was found to decrease with increase in x.

Progress in the materials science of silicene.

PubMed

Yamada-Takamura, Yukiko; Friedlein, Rainer

2014-12-01

In its freestanding, yet hypothetical form, the Si counterpart of graphene called silicene is predicted to possess massless Dirac fermions and to exhibit an experimentally accessible quantum spin Hall effect. Such interesting electronic properties are not realized in two-dimensional (2D) Si honeycomb lattices prepared recently on metallic substrates where the crystal and hybrid electronic structures of these 'epitaxial silicene' phases are strongly influenced by the substrate, and thus different from those predicted for isolated 2D structures. While the realization of such low-dimensional Si π materials has hardly been imagined previously, it is evident that the materials science behind silicene remains challenging. In this contribution, we will review our recent results that lead to an enhanced understanding of epitaxial silicene formed on diboride thin films, and discuss the remaining challenges that must be addressed in order to turn Si 2D nanostructures into technologically interesting nanoelectronic materials.

Physical particularities of nuclear reactors using heavy moderators of neutrons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kulikov, G. G., E-mail: ggkulikov@mephi.ru; Shmelev, A. N.

2016-12-15

In nuclear reactors, thermal neutron spectra are formed using moderators with small atomic weights. For fast reactors, inserting such moderators in the core may create problems since they efficiently decelerate the neutrons. In order to form an intermediate neutron spectrum, it is preferable to employ neutron moderators with sufficiently large atomic weights, using {sup 233}U as a fissile nuclide and {sup 232}Th and {sup 231}Pa as fertile ones. The aim of the work is to investigate the properties of heavy neutron moderators and to assess their advantages. The analysis employs the JENDL-4.0 nuclear data library and the SCALE program packagemore » for simulating the variation of fuel composition caused by irradiation in the reactor. The following main results are obtained. By using heavy moderators with small neutron moderation steps, one is able to (1) increase the rate of resonance capture, so that the amount of fertile material in the fuel may be reduced while maintaining the breeding factor of the core; (2) use the vacant space for improving the fuel-element properties by adding inert, strong, and thermally conductive materials and by implementing dispersive fuel elements in which the fissile material is self-replenished and neutron multiplication remains stable during the process of fuel burnup; and (3) employ mixtures of different fertile materials with resonance capture cross sections in order to increase the resonance-lattice density and the probability of resonance neutron capture leading to formation of fissile material. The general conclusion is that, by forming an intermediate neutron spectrum with heavy neutron moderators, one can use the fuel more efficiently and improve nuclear safety.« less

Dehydration kinetics of shocked serpentine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tyburczy, James A.; Ahrens, Thomas J.

1988-01-01

Experimental rates of dehydration of shocked and unshocked serpentine were determined using a differential scanning calorimetric technique. Dehydration rates in shocked serpentine are enhanced by orders of magnitude over corresponding rates in unshocked material, even though the impact experiments were carried out under conditions that inhibited direct impact-induced devolatilization. Extrapolation to temperatures of the Martian surface indicates that dehydration of shocked material would occur 20 to 30 orders of magnitude more rapidly than for unshocked serpentine. The results indicate that impacted planetary surfaces and associated atmospheres would reach chemical equilibrium much more quickly than calculations based on unshocked material would indicate, even during the earliest, coldest stages of accretion. Furthermore, it is suggested that chemical weathering of shocked planetary surfaces by solid-gas reactions would be sufficiently rapid that true equilibrium mineral assemblages should form.

Formation of South Pole-Aitken Basin as the Result of an Oblique Impact: Implications for Melt Volume and Source of Exposed Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petro, N. E.

2012-01-01

The South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA) is the largest, deepest, and oldest identified basin on the Moon and contains surfaces that are unique due to their age, composition, and depth of origin in the lunar crust [1-3] (Figure 1). SPA has been a target of interest as an area for robotic sample return in order to determine the age of the basin and the composition and origin of its interior [3-6]. As part of the investigation into the origin of SPA materials there have been several efforts to estimate the likely provenance of regolith material in central SPA [5, 6]. These model estimates suggest that, despite the formation of basins and craters following SPA, the regolith within SPA is dominated by locally derived material. An assumption inherent in these models has been that the locally derived material is primarily SPA impact-melt as opposed to local basement material (e.g. unmelted lower crust). However, the definitive identification of SPA derived impact melt on the basin floor, either by remote sensing [2, 7] or via photogeology [8] is extremely difficult due to the number of subsequent impacts and volcanic activity [3, 4]. In order to identify where SPA produced impact melt may be located, it is important to constrain both how much melt would have been produced in a basin forming impact and the likely source of such melted material. Models of crater and basin formation [9, 10] present clear rationale for estimating the possible volumes and sources of impact melt produced during SPA formation. However, if SPA formed as the result of an oblique impact [11, 12], the volume and depth of origin of melted material could be distinct from similar material in a vertical impact [13].

Positrons as interface-sensitive probes of polar semiconductor heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makkonen, I.; Snicker, A.; Puska, M. J.; Mäki, J.-M.; Tuomisto, F.

2010-07-01

Group-III nitrides in their wurtzite crystal structure are characterized by large spontaneous polarization and significant piezoelectric contributions in heterostructures formed of these materials. Polarization discontinuities in polar heterostructures grown along the (0001) direction result in huge built-in electric fields on the order of megavolt per centimeter. We choose the III-nitride heterostructures as archetypal representatives of polar heterostructures formed of semiconducting or insulating materials and study the behavior of positrons in these structures using first-principles electronic-structure theory supported by positron annihilation experiments for bulk systems. The strong electric fields drive positrons close to interfaces, which is clearly seen in the predicted momentum distributions of annihilating electron-positron pairs as changes relative to the constituent bulk materials. Implications of the effect to positron defect studies of polar heterostructures are addressed.

Optimizing the Compressive Strength of Strain-Hardenable Stretch-Formed Microtruss Architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Bosco; Abu Samk, Khaled; Hibbard, Glenn D.

2015-05-01

The mechanical performance of stretch-formed microtrusses is determined by both the internal strut architecture and the accumulated plastic strain during fabrication. The current study addresses the question of optimization, by taking into consideration the interdependency between fabrication path, material properties and architecture. Low carbon steel (AISI1006) and aluminum (AA3003) material systems were investigated experimentally, with good agreement between measured values and the analytical model. The compressive performance of the microtrusses was then optimized on a minimum weight basis under design constraints such as fixed starting sheet thickness and final microtruss height by satisfying the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker condition. The optimization results were summarized as carpet plots in order to meaningfully visualize the interdependency between architecture, microstructural state, and mechanical performance, enabling material and processing path selection.

Methods for forming thin-film heterojunction solar cells from I-III-VI.sub. 2

DOEpatents

Mickelsen, Reid A.; Chen, Wen S.

1982-01-01

An improved thin-film, large area solar cell, and methods for forming the same, having a relatively high light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency and characterized in that the cell comprises a p-n type heterojunction formed of: (i) a first semiconductor layer comprising a photovoltaic active material selected from the class of I-III-VI.sub.2 chalcopyrite ternary materials which is vacuum deposited in a thin "composition-graded" layer ranging from on the order of about 2.5 microns to about 5.0 microns (.congruent.2.5.mu.m to .congruent.5.0.mu.m) and wherein the lower region of the photovoltaic active material preferably comprises a low resistivity region of p-type semiconductor material having a superimposed region of relatively high resistivity, transient n-type semiconductor material defining a transient p-n homojunction; and (ii), a second semiconductor layer comprising a low resistivity n-type semiconductor material; wherein interdiffusion (a) between the elemental constituents of the two discrete juxtaposed regions of the first semiconductor layer defining a transient p-n homojunction layer, and (b) between the transient n-type material in the first semiconductor layer and the second n-type semiconductor layer, causes the transient n-type material in The Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. EG-77-C-01-4042, Subcontract No. XJ-9-8021-1 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Investigation of Flat Clinching Process Combined with Material Forming Technology for Aluminum Alloy.

PubMed

Chen, Chao; Zhao, Shengdun; Han, Xiaolan; Wang, Yongfei; Zhao, Xuzhe

2017-12-15

In recent years, the use of aluminum alloy has tended to increase for building lightweight automobiles to reduce their automotive weight, which is helpful to save energy and protect the environment. In order to join aluminum alloy, a flat-clinching process combined with material forming technology was investigated to join aluminum alloy sheets using an experimental and a numerical method. Al1060 was chosen as the material of the sheet, and DEFORM-2D software was used to build the numerical model. After the numerical model was validated by the experimental results, the influences of punch diameter and holder force on the materials deforming behavior of the clinched joint were analyzed using the numerical model. Then, the material flow, joining ability, and joining quality were investigated to assess the clinched joint. The results showed that an increase in punch diameter could give rise to an increase in neck thickness and interlocking length, while an increase in blank holder force induced a decrease in interlocking length and an increase in neck thickness. The joining quality could be increased by increasing the forming force. It can be concluded that a clinched joint has better joining quality for joining light-weight sheets onto automotive structures.

Water-Rich Fluid Material Containing Orderly Condensed Proteins.

PubMed

Nojima, Tatsuya; Iyoda, Tomokazu

2017-01-24

A fluid material with high protein content (120-310 mg mL -1 ) was formed through the ordered self-assembly of native proteins segregated from water. This material is instantly prepared by the simple mixing of a protein solution with anionic and cationic surfactants. By changing the ratio of the surfactants based on the electrostatic characteristics of the target protein, we observed that the surfactants could function as a versatile molecular glue for protein assembly. Moreover, these protein assemblies could be disassembled back into an aqueous solution depending on the salt conditions. Owing to the water-retaining properties of the hydrophilic part of surfactants, the proteins in this material are in a water-rich environment, which maintains their native structure and function. The inclusion of water also provides functional extensibility to this material, as demonstrated by the preparation of an enzymatically active gel. We anticipate that the unique features of this material will permit the use of proteins not only in solution but also as elements of integrated functionalized materials. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Structure-property relationships in directionally solidified single crystal NiAl

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noebe, R. D.; Kim, J. T.; Gibala, R.

1987-01-01

The ordered intermetallic alloy NiAl is being considered as a potential high temperature structural material, but lack of ductility at ambient temperatures, especially in polycrystalline form, is presently a major obstacle in achieving this goal. Even general agreement of the intrinsic ductility that can be achieved in monocrystals is in dispute. In order to understand this problem, two directionally solidified ingots of NiAl which displayed known differences in ductility were characterized in sufficient detail to identify the corresponding microstructural differences. It was found that the type and size of casting defects, i.e., porosity, present in the material were the major factors in controlling ductility of NiAl single crystals and could explain the order of magnitude variance in fracture strains reported in the literature.

Seismic waves in heterogeneous material: subcell resolution of the discontinuous Galerkin method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro, Cristóbal E.; Käser, Martin; Brietzke, Gilbert B.

2010-07-01

We present an important extension of the arbitrary high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite-element method to model 2-D elastic wave propagation in highly heterogeneous material. In this new approach we include space-variable coefficients to describe smooth or discontinuous material variations inside each element using the same numerical approximation strategy as for the velocity-stress variables in the formulation of the elastic wave equation. The combination of the DG method with a time integration scheme based on the solution of arbitrary accuracy derivatives Riemann problems still provides an explicit, one-step scheme which achieves arbitrary high-order accuracy in space and time. Compared to previous formulations the new scheme contains two additional terms in the form of volume integrals. We show that the increasing computational cost per element can be overcompensated due to the improved material representation inside each element as coarser meshes can be used which reduces the total number of elements and therefore computational time to reach a desired error level. We confirm the accuracy of the proposed scheme performing convergence tests and several numerical experiments considering smooth and highly heterogeneous material. As the approximation of the velocity and stress variables in the wave equation and of the material properties in the model can be chosen independently, we investigate the influence of the polynomial material representation on the accuracy of the synthetic seismograms with respect to computational cost. Moreover, we study the behaviour of the new method on strong material discontinuities, in the case where the mesh is not aligned with such a material interface. In this case second-order linear material approximation seems to be the best choice, with higher-order intra-cell approximation leading to potential instable behaviour. For all test cases we validate our solution against the well-established standard fourth-order finite difference and spectral element method.

Large-scale ordering of nanoparticles using viscoelastic shear processing.

PubMed

Zhao, Qibin; Finlayson, Chris E; Snoswell, David R E; Haines, Andrew; Schäfer, Christian; Spahn, Peter; Hellmann, Goetz P; Petukhov, Andrei V; Herrmann, Lars; Burdet, Pierre; Midgley, Paul A; Butler, Simon; Mackley, Malcolm; Guo, Qixin; Baumberg, Jeremy J

2016-06-03

Despite the availability of elaborate varieties of nanoparticles, their assembly into regular superstructures and photonic materials remains challenging. Here we show how flexible films of stacked polymer nanoparticles can be directly assembled in a roll-to-roll process using a bending-induced oscillatory shear technique. For sub-micron spherical nanoparticles, this gives elastomeric photonic crystals termed polymer opals showing extremely strong tunable structural colour. With oscillatory strain amplitudes of 300%, crystallization initiates at the wall and develops quickly across the bulk within only five oscillations. The resulting structure of random hexagonal close-packed layers is improved by shearing bidirectionally, alternating between two in-plane directions. Our theoretical framework indicates how the reduction in shear viscosity with increasing order of each layer accounts for these results, even when diffusion is totally absent. This general principle of shear ordering in viscoelastic media opens the way to manufacturable photonic materials, and forms a generic tool for ordering nanoparticles.

Large-scale ordering of nanoparticles using viscoelastic shear processing

PubMed Central

Zhao, Qibin; Finlayson, Chris E.; Snoswell, David R. E.; Haines, Andrew; Schäfer, Christian; Spahn, Peter; Hellmann, Goetz P.; Petukhov, Andrei V.; Herrmann, Lars; Burdet, Pierre; Midgley, Paul A.; Butler, Simon; Mackley, Malcolm; Guo, Qixin; Baumberg, Jeremy J.

2016-01-01

Despite the availability of elaborate varieties of nanoparticles, their assembly into regular superstructures and photonic materials remains challenging. Here we show how flexible films of stacked polymer nanoparticles can be directly assembled in a roll-to-roll process using a bending-induced oscillatory shear technique. For sub-micron spherical nanoparticles, this gives elastomeric photonic crystals termed polymer opals showing extremely strong tunable structural colour. With oscillatory strain amplitudes of 300%, crystallization initiates at the wall and develops quickly across the bulk within only five oscillations. The resulting structure of random hexagonal close-packed layers is improved by shearing bidirectionally, alternating between two in-plane directions. Our theoretical framework indicates how the reduction in shear viscosity with increasing order of each layer accounts for these results, even when diffusion is totally absent. This general principle of shear ordering in viscoelastic media opens the way to manufacturable photonic materials, and forms a generic tool for ordering nanoparticles. PMID:27255808

Conjugated organic framework with three-dimensionally ordered stable structure and delocalized π clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jia; Xu, Yanhong; Jin, Shangbin; Chen, Long; Kaji, Toshihiko; Honsho, Yoshihito; Addicoat, Matthew A.; Kim, Jangbae; Saeki, Akinori; Ihee, Hyotcherl; Seki, Shu; Irle, Stephan; Hiramoto, Masahiro; Gao, Jia; Jiang, Donglin

2013-11-01

Covalent organic frameworks are a class of crystalline organic porous materials that can utilize π-π-stacking interactions as a driving force for the crystallization of polygonal sheets to form layered frameworks and ordered pores. However, typical examples are chemically unstable and lack intrasheet π-conjugation, thereby significantly limiting their applications. Here we report a chemically stable, electronically conjugated organic framework with topologically designed wire frameworks and open nanochannels, in which the π conjugation-spans the two-dimensional sheets. Our framework permits inborn periodic ordering of conjugated chains in all three dimensions and exhibits a striking combination of properties: chemical stability, extended π-delocalization, ability to host guest molecules and hole mobility. We show that the π-conjugated organic framework is useful for high on-off ratio photoswitches and photovoltaic cells. Therefore, this strategy may constitute a step towards realizing ordered semiconducting porous materials for innovations based on two-dimensionally extended π systems.

Experimental study on the warm forming and quenching behavior for hot stamping of high-strength aluminum alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Degner, J.; Horn, A.; Merklein, M.

2017-09-01

Within the last decades, stringent regulations on fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and product recyclability forced the automotive sector to implement new strategies within the field of car body manufacturing. Due to their low density and good corrosion resistance, aluminum became one of the most relevant lightweight materials. Recently, especially high- strength aluminum alloys for structural components gained importance. Since the low formability of these alloys limits their application, there is a need for novel process strategies in order to enhance the forming behavior. One promising approach is the hot stamping of aluminum alloys. The combination of quenching and forming in one step after solution heat treatment leads to a significant improvement of the formability. Furthermore, higher manufacturing accuracy can be achieved due to reduced spring back. Within this contribution, the influence of forming temperature on the subsequent material behavior and the heat transfer during quenching will be analyzed. Therefore, the mechanical and thermal material characteristics such as flow behavior and heat transfer coefficient during hot stamping are investigated.

Morphology and genesis of carbonate soils on the Kyle Canyon fan, Nevada, U.S.A.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reheis, M.C.; Sowers, J.M.; Taylor, E.M.; McFadden, L.D.; Harden, J.W.

1992-01-01

The physical and chemical properties of soils formed in an arid climate on calcareous alluvium of the Kyle Canyon alluvial fan, southern Nevada, were studied in order to infer the rates and relative importance of various soil-forming processes. These studies included field and microscopic observations and analyses of thin sections, major oxides, extractable iron, and clay minerals. The results are interpreted to reflect five major pedogenic processes: (1) The calcic horizons and calcretes of Kyle Canyon soils form by precipitation of CaCO3, derived from eolian dust and alluvium, as clast coats, matrix cement, and massive layers. (2) The A and uppermost B horizons are essentially dust-derived, for they contain large amounts of detrital material not present in the alluvial parent material, and their major-oxide content is similar to that of modern dust. (3) Clay particles are translocated from A into B horizons. (4) Iron-bearing minerals in the near-surface B horizons are slowly oxidized. (5) Carbonate and aluminosilicate grains are both displaced and replaced by pedogenic CaCO3; the silica released by replacement of aluminosilicates may be locally precipitated as amorphous or opaline silica and (or) incorporated into newly formed palygorskite and sepiolite. Rates of soil development at Kyle Canyon are approximate due to uncertainties in age estimates. Some soil field properties change at rates that are similar to rates for soils formed in rhyolitic parent material near Mercury, Nevada. The rate of accumulation of CaCO3 (3-5 g m-2 yr-1) at Kyle Canyon is an order of magnitude faster than that near Mercury, but is comparable to rates calculated for soils in southern New Mexico and Utah. ?? 1992.

Visualizing second order tensor fields with hyperstreamlines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delmarcelle, Thierry; Hesselink, Lambertus

1993-01-01

Hyperstreamlines are a generalization to second order tensor fields of the conventional streamlines used in vector field visualization. As opposed to point icons commonly used in visualizing tensor fields, hyperstreamlines form a continuous representation of the complete tensor information along a three-dimensional path. This technique is useful in visulaizing both symmetric and unsymmetric three-dimensional tensor data. Several examples of tensor field visualization in solid materials and fluid flows are provided.

Apparatus for forming thin-film heterojunction solar cells employing materials selected from the class of I-III-VI.sub.2 chalcopyrite compounds

DOEpatents

Mickelsen, Reid A.; Chen, Wen S.

1983-01-01

Apparatus for forming thin-film, large area solar cells having a relatively high light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency and characterized in that the cell comprises a p-n-type heterojunction formed of: (i) a first semiconductor layer comprising a photovoltaic active material selected from the class of I-III-VI.sub.2 chalcopyrite ternary materials which is vacuum deposited in a thin "composition-graded" layer ranging from on the order of about 2.5 microns to about 5.0 microns (.congruent.2.5 .mu.m to .congruent.5.0 .mu.m) and wherein the lower region of the photovoltaic active material preferably comprises a low resistivity region of p-type semiconductor material having a superimposed region of relatively high resistivity, transient n-type semiconductor material defining a transient p-n homojunction; and (ii), a second semiconductor layer comprising a low resistivity n-type semiconductor material wherein interdiffusion (a) between the elemental constituents of the two discrete juxtaposed regions of the first semiconductor layer defining a transient p-n homojunction layer, and (b) between the transient n-type material in the first semiconductor layer and the second n-type semiconductor layer, causes the transient n-type material in the first semiconductor layer to evolve into p-type material, thereby defining a thin layer heterojunction device characterized by the absence of voids, vacancies and nodules which tend to reduce the energy conversion efficiency of the system.

Investigation of the formability of aluminium alloys at elevated temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisza, M.; Budai, D.; Kovács, P. Z.; Lukács, Zs

2016-11-01

Aluminium alloys are more and more widely applied in car body manufacturing. Increasing the formability of aluminium alloys are one of the most relevant tasks in todays’ research topics. In this paper, the focus will be on the investigation of the formability of aluminium alloys concerning those material grades that are more widely applied in the automotive industry including the 5xxx and 6xxx aluminium alloy series. Recently, besides the cold forming of aluminium sheets the forming of aluminium alloys at elevated temperatures became a hot research topic, too. In our experimental investigations, we mostly examined the EN AW 5754 and EN AW 6082 aluminium alloys at elevated temperatures. We analysed the effect of various material and process parameters (e.g. temperature, sheet thickness) on the formability of aluminium alloys with particular emphasis on the Forming Limit Diagrams at elevated temperatures in order to find the optimum forming conditions for these alloys.

Data Mining for New Two- and One-Dimensional Weakly Bonded Solids and Lattice-Commensurate Heterostructures.

PubMed

Cheon, Gowoon; Duerloo, Karel-Alexander N; Sendek, Austin D; Porter, Chase; Chen, Yuan; Reed, Evan J

2017-03-08

Layered materials held together by weak interactions including van der Waals forces, such as graphite, have attracted interest for both technological applications and fundamental physics in their layered form and as an isolated single-layer. Only a few dozen single-layer van der Waals solids have been subject to considerable research focus, although there are likely to be many more that could have superior properties. To identify a broad spectrum of layered materials, we present a novel data mining algorithm that determines the dimensionality of weakly bonded subcomponents based on the atomic positions of bulk, three-dimensional crystal structures. By applying this algorithm to the Materials Project database of over 50,000 inorganic crystals, we identify 1173 two-dimensional layered materials and 487 materials that consist of weakly bonded one-dimensional molecular chains. This is an order of magnitude increase in the number of identified materials with most materials not known as two- or one-dimensional materials. Moreover, we discover 98 weakly bonded heterostructures of two-dimensional and one-dimensional subcomponents that are found within bulk materials, opening new possibilities for much-studied assembly of van der Waals heterostructures. Chemical families of materials, band gaps, and point groups for the materials identified in this work are presented. Point group and piezoelectricity in layered materials are also evaluated in single-layer forms. Three hundred and twenty-five of these materials are expected to have piezoelectric monolayers with a variety of forms of the piezoelectric tensor. This work significantly extends the scope of potential low-dimensional weakly bonded solids to be investigated.

Effect of Material Thermo-viscoplastic Modeling on the Prediction of Forming Limit Curves of Aluminum Alloy 5086

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Xingrong; Leotoing, Lionel; Guines, Dominique; Ragneau, Eric

2015-09-01

A solution to improve the formability of aluminum alloy sheets can consist in investigating warm forming processes. The optimization of forming process parameters needs a precise evaluation of material properties and sheet metal formability for actual operating environment. Based on the analytical M-K theory, a finite element (FE) M-K model was proposed to predict forming limit curves (FLCs) at different temperatures and strain rates. The influences of initial imperfection value ( f 0) and material thermos-viscoplastic model on the FLCs are discussed in this work. The flow stresses of AA5086 were characterized by uniaxial tensile tests at different temperatures (20, 150, and 200 °C) and equivalent strain rates (0.0125, 0.125, and 1.25 s-1). Three types of hardening models (power law model, saturation model, and mixed model) were proposed and adapted to correlate the experimental flow stresses. The three hardening models were implemented into the FE M-K model in order to predict FLCs for different forming conditions. The predicted limit strains are very sensitive to the thermo-viscoplastic modeling of AA5086 and to the calibration of the initial geometrical imperfection which controls the onset of necking.

Development of high Tc (greater than 100 K) Bi, Tl and Y-based materials as superconducting circuit elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haertling, Gene; Grabert, Gregory; Gilmour, Phillip

1994-01-01

Experimental work on this project over the last four years has resulted in establishing processing and characterization techniques for producing both the Bi-based and Tl-based superconductors in their high temperature (2223) forms. In the bulk, dry pressed form, maximum critical temperatures (Tc) of 108.2 K and 117.8 K, respectively, were measured. Results have further shown that the Bi and Tl-based superconducting materials in bulk form are noticeably different from the Y-based 123 material in that superconductivity is considerably harder to achieve, maintain, and reproduce. This is due primarily to the difficulty in obtaining the higher Tc phase in pure form since it commonly co-exists with other undesirable, lower Tc phases. In particular, it has been found that long processing times for calcining and firing (20 - 200 hrs.) and close control of temperatures which are very near the melting point are required in order to obtain higher proportions of the desirable, high Tc (2223) phase. Thus far, the BSCCO bulk materials has been prepared in uniaxially pressed, hot pressed, and tapecast form. The uniaxially pressed material has been synthesized by the mixed oxide, coprecipitation, and melt quenching processes. The tapecast and hot pressed materials have been prepared via the mixed oxide process. In addition, thick films of BSCCO (2223 phase) have been prepared by screen printing on to yttria and magnesia stabilized zirconia with only moderate success; i.e., superconductivity was achieved in these thick films, but the highest Tc obtained in these films was 89.0 K. The Tc's of the bulk hot pressed, tapecast, and screen printed thick film materials were found to be 108.2, 102.4, and 89.0 K, respectively.

Weeds gone wild: a web-based public information project

Treesearch

Jil M. Swearingen

2003-01-01

The Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group (APWG) was formed in August 1995 in order to address the problem of invasive exotic plants on a national level, to produce educational materials, and to forge cooperation with local and regional groups.

Fracture in Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agrawal, Parul; Chavez-Garcia, Jose F.

2011-01-01

The thermal protection materials used for spacecraft heat shields are subjected to various thermal-mechanical loads during an atmospheric entry which can threaten the structural integrity of the system. This paper discusses the development of a novel technique to understand the failure mechanisms inside thermal protection materials. The focus of research is Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA). It has successfully flown on the Stardust spacecraft and is the TPS material chosen for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and Dragon spacecraft. Although PICA has good thermal properties, structurally, it is a weak material. In order to thoroughly understand failure in PICA, fracture tests were performed on FiberForm* (precursor of PICA), virgin and charred PICA materials. Several samples of these materials were tested to investigate failure mechanisms at a microstructural scale. Stress-strain data were obtained simultaneously to estimate the fracture toughness. It was found that cracks initiated and grew in the FiberForm when a critical stress limit was reached such that the carbon fibers separated from the binder. However, both for virgin and charred PICA, crack initiation and growth occurred in the matrix (phenolic) phase. Both virgin and charred PICA showed greater strength values compared to FiberForm coupons, confirming that the presence of the porous matrix helps in absorbing the fracture energy.

Partial breaking of the Coulombic ordering of ionic liquids confined in carbon nanopores

PubMed Central

Futamura, Ryusuke; Iiyama, Taku; Takasaki, Yuma; Gogotsi, Yury; Biggs, Mark J.; Salanne, Mathieu; Ségalini, Julie; Simon, Patrice; Kaneko, Katsumi

2017-01-01

Ionic liquids are composed of equal quantities of positive and negative ions. In the bulk, electrical neutrality occurs in these liquids due to Coulombic ordering, in which ion shells of alternating charge form around a central ion. Their structure under confinement is far less well understood. This hinders the widespread application of ionic liquids in technological applications. Here we use scattering experiments to resolve the structure of the widely used ionic liquid (EMI-TFSI) when it is confined inside nanoporous carbons. We show that Coulombic ordering reduces when the pores can only accommodate a single layer of ions. Instead, equally-charged ion pairs are formed due to the induction of an electric potential of opposite sign in the carbon pore walls. This non-Coulombic ordering is further enhanced in the presence of an applied external electric potential. This finding opens the door for the design of better materials for electrochemical applications. PMID:28920938

A {3,2}-Order Bending Theory for Laminated Composite and Sandwich Beams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Geoffrey M.; Tessler, Alexander

1998-01-01

A higher-order bending theory is derived for laminated composite and sandwich beams thus extending the recent {1,2}-order theory to include third-order axial effect without introducing additional kinematic variables. The present theory is of order {3,2} and includes both transverse shear and transverse normal deformations. A closed-form solution to the cylindrical bending problem is derived and compared with the corresponding exact elasticity solution. The numerical comparisons are focused on the most challenging material systems and beam aspect ratios which include moderate-to-thick unsymmetric composite and sandwich laminates. Advantages and limitations of the theory are discussed.

Magnetism in californium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, J.R.

1988-03-01

A SQUID-based magnetic susceptometer has been constructed for studying small radioactive samples at temperatures below 350 K and in magnetic fields up to 50 kilogauss. The device has been used to study californium (element 98) in a number of solid-state forms: the dhcp metal, several oxides (Cf/sub 2/O/sub 3/ in both the bcc and monoclinic structures, Cf/sub 7/O/sub 12/, CfO/sub 2/ and BaCfO/sub 3/), several monopnictides (CfN, CfAs and CfSb) and the trichloride (in both the hexagonal and orthorhombic structures). All of these materials were studied in polycrystalline form, and hexagonal CfCl/sub 3/ was studied in single-crystal form as well.more » The susceptometer has the sensitivity to measure samples containing less than 10 micrograms of californium. The magnetic susceptibilities of all of the californium materials at temperatures above about 100 K are described well by the Curie-Weiss relationship. This behavior is consistent with the assumption that the magnetic 5f electrons are localized and that the paramagnetic behavior can be interpreted in terms of the properties of the free ion. The measured values of the effective paramagnetic moment, ..mu../sub eff/, for all the californium materials that were studied are reasonably consistent with theoretical values based on intermediate coupling models. All of the californium materials showed some indications of cooperative magnetic effects. The dhcp metal was observed to order ferromagnetically at 52 K, and all of the californium compounds studied showed signs of antiferromagnetic ordering, mostly at temperatures below 25 K. 91 refs., 50 figs., 19 tabs.« less

Engineering of Novel Biocolloid Suspensions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hammer, D. A.; Rodges, S.; Hiddessen, A.; Weitz, D. A.

1999-01-01

Colloidal suspensions are materials with a variety of uses from cleaners and lubricants to food, cosmetics, and coatings. In addition, they can be used as a tool for testing the fundamental tenets of statistical physics. Colloidal suspensions can be synthesized from a wide variety of materials, and in the form of monodisperse particles, which can self-assemble into highly ordered colloidal crystal structures. As such they can also be used as templates for the construction of highly ordered materials. Materials design of colloids has, to date, relied on entropic self-assembly, where crystals form as result of lower free energy due to a transition to order. Here, our goal is to develop a completely new method for materials fabrication using colloidal precursors, in which the self-assembly of the ordered colloidal structures is driven by a highly controllable, attractive interaction. This will greatly increase the range of potential structures that can be fabricated with colloidal particles. In this work, we demonstrate that colloidal suspensions can be crosslinked through highly specific biological crosslinking reactions. In particular, the molecules we use are protein-carbohydrate interactions derived from the immune system. This different driving force for self-assembly will yield different and novel suspensions structures. Because the biological interactions are heterotypic (A binding to B), this chemical system can be used to make binary alloys in which the two colloid subpopulations vary in some property - size, density, volume fraction, magnetic susceptibility, etc. An additional feature of these molecules which is unique - even within the realm of biological recognition - is that the molecules bind reversibly on reasonable time-scales, which will enable the suspension to sample different configurations, and allow us to manipulate and measure the size of the suspension dynamically. Because of the wide variety of structures that can be made from these novel colloids, and because the suspension structure can be altered dynamically, we believe this biocolloid system will yield a novel set of materials with many technological applications, including sensors (both biological and non-biological), optical filters and separation media.

Similar local order in disordered fluorite and aperiodic pyrochlore structures

DOE PAGES

Shamblin, Jacob; Tracy, Cameron; Palomares, Raul; ...

2017-10-01

A major challenge to understanding the response of materials to extreme environments (e.g., nuclear fuels/waste forms and fusion materials) is to unravel the processes by which a material can incorporate atomic-scale disorder, and at the same time, remain crystalline. While it has long been known that all condensed matter, even liquids and glasses, possess short-range order, the relation between fully-ordered, disordered, and aperiodic structures over multiple length scales is not well understood. For example, when defects are introduced (via pressure or irradiation) into materials adopting the pyrochlore structure, these complex oxides either disorder over specific crystallographic sites, remaining crystalline, ormore » become aperiodic. Here we present neutron total scattering results characterizing the irradiation response of two pyrochlores, one that is known to disorder (Er2Sn2O7) and the other to amorphize (Dy2Sn2O7) under ion irradiation. The results demonstrate that in both cases, the local pyrochlore structure is transformed into similar short range configurations that are best fit by the orthorhombic weberite structure, even though the two compositions have distinctly different structures, aperiodic vs. disordered-crystalline, at longer length scales. Thus, a material's resistance to amorphization may not depend primarily on local defect formation energies, but rather on the structure's compatibility with meso-scale modulations of the local order in a way that maintains long-range periodicity.« less

Disentangled Cooperative Orderings in Artificial Rare-Earth Nickelates

DOE PAGES

Middey, S.; Meyers, D.; Kareev, M.; ...

2018-04-09

Coupled transitions between distinct ordered phases are important aspects behind the rich phase complexity of correlated oxides that hinder our understanding of the underlying phenomena. For this reason, fundamental control over complex transitions has become a leading motivation of the designer approach to materials. We have devised a series of new superlattices by combining a Mott insulator and a correlated metal to form ultrashort period superlattices, which allow one to disentangle the simultaneous orderings in RENiO 3. Tailoring an incommensurate heterostructure period relative to the bulk charge ordering pattern suppresses the charge order transition while preserving metal-insulator and antiferromagnetic transitions.more » Such selective decoupling of the entangled phases resolves the long-standing puzzle about the driving force behind the metal-insulator transition and points to the site-selective Mott transition as the operative mechanism. In conclusion, this designer approach emphasizes the potential of heterointerfaces for selective control of simultaneous transitions in complex materials with entwined broken symmetries.« less

Disentangled Cooperative Orderings in Artificial Rare-Earth Nickelates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Middey, S.; Meyers, D.; Kareev, M.

Coupled transitions between distinct ordered phases are important aspects behind the rich phase complexity of correlated oxides that hinder our understanding of the underlying phenomena. For this reason, fundamental control over complex transitions has become a leading motivation of the designer approach to materials. We have devised a series of new superlattices by combining a Mott insulator and a correlated metal to form ultrashort period superlattices, which allow one to disentangle the simultaneous orderings in RENiO 3. Tailoring an incommensurate heterostructure period relative to the bulk charge ordering pattern suppresses the charge order transition while preserving metal-insulator and antiferromagnetic transitions.more » Such selective decoupling of the entangled phases resolves the long-standing puzzle about the driving force behind the metal-insulator transition and points to the site-selective Mott transition as the operative mechanism. In conclusion, this designer approach emphasizes the potential of heterointerfaces for selective control of simultaneous transitions in complex materials with entwined broken symmetries.« less

Self-Ordered Titanium Dioxide Nanotube Arrays: Anodic Synthesis and Their Photo/Electro-Catalytic Applications

PubMed Central

Smith, York R.; Ray, Rupashree S.; Carlson, Krista; Sarma, Biplab; Misra, Mano

2013-01-01

Metal oxide nanotubes have become a widely investigated material, more specifically, self-organized titania nanotube arrays synthesized by electrochemical anodization. As a highly investigated material with a wide gamut of applications, the majority of published literature focuses on the solar-based applications of this material. The scope of this review summarizes some of the recent advances made using metal oxide nanotube arrays formed via anodization in solar-based applications. A general methodology for theoretical modeling of titania surfaces in solar applications is also presented. PMID:28811415

Role of strongly interacting additives in tuning the structure and properties of polymer systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daga, Vikram Kumar

Block copolymer (BCP) nanocomposites are an important class of hybrid materials in which the BCP guides the spatial location and the periodic assembly of the additives. High loadings of well-dispersed nanofillers are generally important for many applications including mechanical reinforcing of polymers. In particular the composites shown in this work might find use as etch masks in nanolithography, or for enabling various phase selective reactions for new materials development. This work explores the use of hydrogen bonding interactions between various additives (such as homopolymers and non-polymeric additives) and small, disordered BCPs to cause the formation of well-ordered morphologies with small domains. A detailed study of the organization of homopolymer chains and the evolution of structure during the process of ordering is performed. The results demonstrate that by tuning the selective interaction of the additive with the incorporating phase of the BCP, composites with significantly high loadings of additives can be formed while maintaining order in the BCP morphology. The possibility of high and selective loading of additives in one of the phases of the ordered BCP composite opens new avenues due to high degree of functionalization and the proximity of the additives within the incorporating phase. This aspect is utilized in one case for the formation of a network structure between adjoining additive cores to derive mesoporous inorganic materials with their structures templated by the BCP. The concept of additive-driven assembly is extended to formulate BCPadditive blends with an ability to undergo photo-induced ordering. Underlying this strategy is the ability to transition a weakly interacting additive to its strongly interacting form. This strategy provides an on-demand, non-intrusive route for formation of well-ordered nanostructures in arbitrarily defined regions of an otherwise disordered material. The second area explored in this dissertation deals with the incorporation of additives into photoresists for next generation extreme ultra violet (EUV) photolithography applications. The concept of hydrogen bonding between the additives and the polymeric photoresist was utilized to cause formation of a physical network that is expected to slow down the diffusion of photoacid leading to better photolithographic performance (25-30 nm resolution obtained).

Niobium superconducting rf cavity fabrication by electrohydraulic forming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cantergiani, E.; Atieh, S.; Léaux, F.; Perez Fontenla, A. T.; Prunet, S.; Dufay-Chanat, L.; Koettig, T.; Bertinelli, F.; Capatina, O.; Favre, G.; Gerigk, F.; Jeanson, A. C.; Fuzeau, J.; Avrillaud, G.; Alleman, D.; Bonafe, J.; Marty, P.

2016-11-01

Superconducting rf (SRF) cavities are traditionally fabricated from superconducting material sheets or made of copper coated with superconducting material, followed by trim machining and electron-beam welding. An alternative technique to traditional shaping methods, such as deep-drawing and spinning, is electrohydraulic forming (EHF). In EHF, half-cells are obtained through ultrahigh-speed deformation of blank sheets, using shockwaves induced in water by a pulsed electrical discharge. With respect to traditional methods, such a highly dynamic process can yield interesting results in terms of effectiveness, repeatability, final shape precision, higher formability, and reduced springback. In this paper, the first results of EHF on high purity niobium are presented and discussed. The simulations performed in order to master the multiphysics phenomena of EHF and to adjust its process parameters are presented. The microstructures of niobium half-cells produced by EHF and by spinning have been compared in terms of damage created in the material during the forming operation. The damage was assessed through hardness measurements, residual resistivity ratio (RRR) measurements, and electron backscattered diffraction analyses. It was found that EHF does not worsen the damage of the material during forming and instead, some areas of the half-cell have shown lower damage compared to spinning. Moreover, EHF is particularly advantageous to reduce the forming time, preserve roughness, and to meet the final required shape accuracy.

Contribution study to the thermal insulation of the builders in the desert regions of exploiting gypsum fiber reinforced palm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafsi, Fouad; Kriker, Abdelouahed; Abani, Said

2017-02-01

Algerian Desert areas were characterized by very hot climate in summer and very cold in winter. The most widely used building material in these areas are concrete, mortar cement, which has a bad thermal insulation, causing a significant increase in cooling and heating costs; in order to avoid this problem it become a must to replace these materials with a good thermal isolation material and lower production cost. This work is part of the evaluation of local materials by improving their performance in the field of thermal insulation, which is considered a first step in the development of new local materials to be used in the construction field, the material used in this study is the gypsum reinforced with date palm fiber. In fact, Algeria has extraordinary resources in natural fibers (from Palm, Abaca, Hemp…) but without any large valorization in building materials. The aim of this work is then to characterization of those date palm fibers in new building materials approved for use in the construction of buildings in the desert areas. The date palm fibers were added to samples of the gypsum material in the form of cutting layers at different volume fraction, so as to determine the extent of their impact in the improvement of the thermal performance. The results were very satisfactory, reaching improvement rate of 16% for samples gypsum reinforced with single cut fiber form, and 32% of the samples reinforced with fiber in the form of layers.

Simplified Methods for Improving the Blast Resistance of Cold-Formed Steel Walls

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

sheathing products such as oriented strand board ( OSB ) offer a level of blast resistance that may be effective in mitigating lower-level blast...considered in order to keep designs to a minimum cost. Standard sheathing materials such as OSB , gypsum and plywood— as well as specially selected sheathing...commercially available clip connectors. Sheathing materials such as gypsum and OSB are brittle and have significantly lower capacity than sheet steel

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (CR&D) Delivery Order 0065: Nanostructured Dynamic Modulus Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

solution-gelation (sol- gel) technique, to form hybrids of these materials with high-Tg open-cell foams so as to enhance shape memory characteristics , and...did not demonstrate the shape memory properties of the original Morthane thermoplastic due to the suppression of crystallinity following sol-gel...method. The utilization of photolatent bases to allow for improved reaction control and the combination of this system with Basotect™ open-cell foam in

Modeling of additive manufacturing processes for metals: Challenges and opportunities

DOE PAGES

Francois, Marianne M.; Sun, Amy; King, Wayne E.; ...

2017-01-09

Here, with the technology being developed to manufacture metallic parts using increasingly advanced additive manufacturing processes, a new era has opened up for designing novel structural materials, from designing shapes and complex geometries to controlling the microstructure (alloy composition and morphology). The material properties used within specific structural components are also designable in order to meet specific performance requirements that are not imaginable with traditional metal forming and machining (subtractive) techniques.

Pressure-Induced Amorphization of Small Pore Zeolites—the Role of Cation-H2O Topology and Anti-glass Formation

PubMed Central

Chan Hwang, Gil; Joo Shin, Tae; Blom, Douglas A.; Vogt, Thomas; Lee, Yongjae

2015-01-01

Systematic studies of pressure-induced amorphization of natrolites (PIA) containing monovalent extra-framework cations (EFC) Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+ allow us to assess the role of two different EFC-H2O configurations within the pores of a zeolite: one arrangement has H2O molecules (NATI) and the other the EFC (NATII) in closer proximity to the aluminosilicate framework. We show that NATI materials have a lower onset pressure of PIA than the NATII materials containing Rb and Cs as EFC. The onset pressure of amorphization (PA) of NATII materials increases linearly with the size of the EFC, whereas their initial bulk moduli (P1 phase) decrease linearly. Only Cs- and Rb-NAT reveal a phase separation into a dense form (P2 phase) under pressure. High-Angle Annular Dark Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (HAADF-STEM) imaging shows that after recovery from pressures near 25 and 20 GPa long-range ordered Rb-Rb and Cs-Cs correlations continue to be present over length scales up to 100 nm while short-range ordering of the aluminosilicate framework is significantly reduced—this opens a new way to form anti-glass structures. PMID:26455345

Electronic Conductivity in Biomimetic α-Helical Peptide Nanofibers and Gels.

PubMed

Ing, Nicole L; Spencer, Ryan K; Luong, Son H; Nguyen, Hung D; Hochbaum, Allon I

2018-03-27

Examples of long-range electronic conductivity are rare in biological systems. The observation of micrometer-scale electronic transport through protein wires produced by bacteria is therefore notable, providing an opportunity to study fundamental aspects of conduction through protein-based materials and natural inspiration for bioelectronics materials. Borrowing sequence and structural motifs from these conductive protein fibers, we designed self-assembling peptides that form electronically conductive nanofibers under aqueous conditions. Conductivity in these nanofibers is distinct for two reasons: first, they support electron transport over distances orders of magnitude greater than expected for proteins, and second, the conductivity is mediated entirely by amino acids lacking extended conjugation, π-stacking, or redox centers typical of existing organic and biohybrid semiconductors. Electrochemical transport measurements show that the fibers support ohmic electronic transport and a metallic-like temperature dependence of conductance in aqueous buffer. At higher solution concentrations, the peptide monomers form hydrogels, and comparisons of the structure and electronic properties of the nanofibers and gels highlight the critical roles of α-helical secondary structure and supramolecular ordering in supporting electronic conductivity in these materials. These findings suggest a structural basis for long-range electronic conduction mechanisms in peptide and protein biomaterials.

Pressure-Induced Amorphization of Small Pore Zeolites-the Role of Cation-H2O Topology and Anti-glass Formation.

PubMed

Chan Hwang, Gil; Joo Shin, Tae; Blom, Douglas A; Vogt, Thomas; Lee, Yongjae

2015-10-12

Systematic studies of pressure-induced amorphization of natrolites (PIA) containing monovalent extra-framework cations (EFC) Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Rb(+), Cs(+) allow us to assess the role of two different EFC-H2O configurations within the pores of a zeolite: one arrangement has H2O molecules (NATI) and the other the EFC (NATII) in closer proximity to the aluminosilicate framework. We show that NATI materials have a lower onset pressure of PIA than the NATII materials containing Rb and Cs as EFC. The onset pressure of amorphization (PA) of NATII materials increases linearly with the size of the EFC, whereas their initial bulk moduli (P1 phase) decrease linearly. Only Cs- and Rb-NAT reveal a phase separation into a dense form (P2 phase) under pressure. High-Angle Annular Dark Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (HAADF-STEM) imaging shows that after recovery from pressures near 25 and 20 GPa long-range ordered Rb-Rb and Cs-Cs correlations continue to be present over length scales up to 100 nm while short-range ordering of the aluminosilicate framework is significantly reduced-this opens a new way to form anti-glass structures.

Impurity Induced Phase Competition and Supersolidity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karmakar, Madhuparna; Ganesh, R.

2017-12-01

Several material families show competition between superconductivity and other orders. When such competition is driven by doping, it invariably involves spatial inhomogeneities which can seed competing orders. We study impurity-induced charge order in the attractive Hubbard model, a prototypical model for competition between superconductivity and charge density wave order. We show that a single impurity induces a charge-ordered texture over a length scale set by the energy cost of the competing phase. Our results are consistent with a strong-coupling field theory proposed earlier in which superconducting and charge order parameters form components of an SO(3) vector field. To discuss the effects of multiple impurities, we focus on two cases: correlated and random distributions. In the correlated case, the CDW puddles around each impurity overlap coherently leading to a "supersolid" phase with coexisting pairing and charge order. In contrast, a random distribution of impurities does not lead to coherent CDW formation. We argue that the energy lowering from coherent ordering can have a feedback effect, driving correlations between impurities. This can be understood as arising from an RKKY-like interaction, mediated by impurity textures. We discuss implications for charge order in the cuprates and doped CDW materials such as NbSe2.

Methods for forming thin-film heterojunction solar cells from I-III-VI.sub. 2

DOEpatents

Mickelsen, Reid A [Bellevue, WA; Chen, Wen S [Seattle, WA

1985-08-13

An improved thin-film, large area solar cell, and methods for forming the same, having a relatively high light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency and characterized in that the cell comprises a p-n type heterojunction formed of: (i) a first semiconductor layer comprising a photovoltaic active material selected from the class of I-III-VI.sub.2 chalcopyrite ternary materials which is vacuum deposited in a thin "composition-graded" layer ranging from on the order ot about 2.5 microns to about 5.0 microns (.congruent.2.5 .mu.m to .congruent.5.0 .mu.m) and wherein the lower region of the photovoltaic active material preferably comprises a low resistivity region of p-type semiconductor material having a superimposed region of relatively high resistivity, transient n-type semiconductor material defining a transient p-n homojunction; and (ii), a second semiconductor layer comprising a low resistivity n-type semiconductor material; wherein interdiffusion (a) between the elemental constituents of the two discrete juxtaposed regions of the first semiconductor layer defining a transient p-n homojunction layer, and (b) between the transient n-type material in the first semiconductor layer and the second n-type semiconductor layer, causes the The Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. EG-77-C-01-4042, Subcontract No. XJ-9-8021-1 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Rotor-stator molecular crystals of fullerenes with cubane.

PubMed

Pekker, Sándor; Kováts, Eva; Oszlányi, Gábor; Bényei, Gyula; Klupp, Gyöngyi; Bortel, Gábor; Jalsovszky, István; Jakab, Emma; Borondics, Ferenc; Kamarás, Katalin; Bokor, Mónika; Kriza, György; Tompa, Kálmán; Faigel, Gyula

2005-10-01

Cubane (C8H8) and fullerene (C60) are famous cage molecules with shapes of platonic or archimedean solids. Their remarkable chemical and solid-state properties have induced great scientific interest. Both materials form polymorphic crystals of molecules with variable orientational ordering. The idea of intercalating fullerene with cubane was raised several years ago but no attempts at preparation have been reported. Here we show that C60 and similarly C70 form high-symmetry molecular crystals with cubane owing to topological molecular recognition between the convex surface of fullerenes and the concave cubane. Static cubane occupies the octahedral voids of the face-centred-cubic structures and acts as a bearing between the rotating fullerene molecules. The smooth contact of the rotor and stator molecules decreases significantly the temperature of orientational ordering. These materials have great topochemical importance: at elevated temperatures they transform to high-stability covalent derivatives although preserving their crystalline appearance. The size-dependent molecular recognition promises selective formation of related structures with higher fullerenes and/or substituted cubanes.

Surface topography and ordering-variant segregation in GaInP[sub 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Friedman, D.J.; Zhu, J.G.; Kibbler, A.E.

1993-09-27

Using transmission electron diffraction dark-field imaging, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Nomarski microscopy, we demonstrate a direct connection between surface topography and cation site ordering in GaInP[sub 2]. We study epilayers grown by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy on GaAs substrates oriented 2[degree] off (100) towards (110). Nomarski microscopy shows that, as growth proceeds, the surface of ordered material forms faceted structures aligned roughly along [011]. A comparison with the dark-field demonstrates that the [1[bar 1]1] and [11[bar 1

SMA Foils for MEMS: From Material Properties to the Engineering of Microdevices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohl, Manfred; Ossmer, Hinnerk; Gueltig, Marcel; Megnin, Christof

2018-03-01

In the early nineties, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology has been still in its infancy. As silicon (Si) is not a transducer material, it was clear at the very beginning that mechanically active materials had to be introduced to MEMS in order to enable functional microdevices with actuation capability beyond electrostatics. At that time, shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been available in bulk form, mainly as SMA wires and SMA plates. On the macro scale, these materials show highest work densities compared to other actuation principles in the order of 107 J/m3, which stimulated research on the integration of SMA to MEMS. Subsequently, two approaches for producing planar materials have been initiated (1) magnetron sputtering of SMA thin films and (2) the integration of rolled SMA foils, which both turned out to be very successful creating a paradigm change in microactuation technology. The following review covers important milestones of the research and development of SMA foil-based microactuators including materials characterization, design engineering, technology, and demonstrator development as well as first commercial products.

SMA Foils for MEMS: From Material Properties to the Engineering of Microdevices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohl, Manfred; Ossmer, Hinnerk; Gueltig, Marcel; Megnin, Christof

2017-12-01

In the early nineties, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology has been still in its infancy. As silicon (Si) is not a transducer material, it was clear at the very beginning that mechanically active materials had to be introduced to MEMS in order to enable functional microdevices with actuation capability beyond electrostatics. At that time, shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been available in bulk form, mainly as SMA wires and SMA plates. On the macro scale, these materials show highest work densities compared to other actuation principles in the order of 107 J/m3, which stimulated research on the integration of SMA to MEMS. Subsequently, two approaches for producing planar materials have been initiated (1) magnetron sputtering of SMA thin films and (2) the integration of rolled SMA foils, which both turned out to be very successful creating a paradigm change in microactuation technology. The following review covers important milestones of the research and development of SMA foil-based microactuators including materials characterization, design engineering, technology, and demonstrator development as well as first commercial products.

Chemically programmed self-sorting of gelator networks.

PubMed

Morris, Kyle L; Chen, Lin; Raeburn, Jaclyn; Sellick, Owen R; Cotanda, Pepa; Paul, Alison; Griffiths, Peter C; King, Stephen M; O'Reilly, Rachel K; Serpell, Louise C; Adams, Dave J

2013-01-01

Controlling the order and spatial distribution of self-assembly in multicomponent supramolecular systems could underpin exciting new functional materials, but it is extremely challenging. When a solution of different components self-assembles, the molecules can either coassemble, or self-sort, where a preference for like-like intermolecular interactions results in coexisting, homomolecular assemblies. A challenge is to produce generic and controlled 'one-pot' fabrication methods to form separate ordered assemblies from 'cocktails' of two or more self-assembling species, which might have relatively similar molecular structures and chemistry. Self-sorting in supramolecular gel phases is hence rare. Here we report the first example of the pH-controlled self-sorting of gelators to form self-assembled networks in water. Uniquely, the order of assembly can be predefined. The assembly of each component is preprogrammed by the pK(a) of the gelator. This pH-programming method will enable higher level, complex structures to be formed that cannot be accessed by simple thermal gelation.

Ordered organic-organic multilayer growth

DOEpatents

Forrest, Stephen R.; Lunt, Richard R.

2016-04-05

An ordered multilayer crystalline organic thin film structure is formed by depositing at least two layers of thin film crystalline organic materials successively wherein the at least two thin film layers are selected to have their surface energies within .+-.50% of each other, and preferably within .+-.15% of each other, whereby every thin film layer within the multilayer crystalline organic thin film structure exhibit a quasi-epitaxial relationship with the adjacent crystalline organic thin film.

Magnetic Nanocomposites and Their Incorporation into Higher Order Biosynthetic Functional Architectures

DOE PAGES

Watt, John; Collins, Aaron M.; Vreeland, Erika C.; ...

2018-01-17

A magnetically active Fe 3O 4/poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(butadiene) (PEO-b-PBD) nanocomposite is formed by the encapsulation of magnetite nanoparticles with a short-chain amphiphilic block copolymer. This material is then incorporated into the self-assembly of higher order polymer architectures, along with an organic pigment, to yield biosynthetic, bifunctional optical and magnetically active Fe 3O 4/bacteriochlorophyll c/PEO-b-PBD polymeric chlorosomes.

Ordered organic-organic multilayer growth

DOEpatents

Forrest, Stephen R; Lunt, Richard R

2015-01-13

An ordered multilayer crystalline organic thin film structure is formed by depositing at least two layers of thin film crystalline organic materials successively wherein the at least two thin film layers are selected to have their surface energies within .+-.50% of each other, and preferably within .+-.15% of each other, whereby every thin film layer within the multilayer crystalline organic thin film structure exhibit a quasi-epitaxial relationship with the adjacent crystalline organic thin film.

Method of forming a stress relieved amorphous tetrahedrally-coordinated carbon film

DOEpatents

Friedmann, Thomas A.; Sullivan, John P.

2000-01-01

A stress-relieved amorphous-diamond film is formed by depositing an amorphous diamond film with specific atomic structure and bonding on to a substrate, and annealing the film at sufficiently high temperature to relieve the compressive stress in said film without significantly softening said film. The maximum annealing temperature is preferably on the order of 650.degree. C., a much lower value than is expected from the annealing behavior of other materials.

Big Data Quality Case Study Preliminary Findings, U.S. Army MEDCOM MODS

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

captured in electronic form is relatively small, on the order of hundreds of thousands of health profiles at say around 500K per profile, or in the...in electronic form, then different language identification, handwriting recognition, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques could be used...and patterns” [15]. Volume - The free text fields vary in length from say ten characters to several hundred characters. Other materials can be much

Determination of Stress Coefficient Terms in Cracked Solids for Monoclinic Materials with Plane Symmetry at x3 = 0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yuan, F. G.

1998-01-01

Determination of all the coefficients in the crack tip field expansion for monoclinic materials under two-dimensional deformation is presented in this report. For monoclinic materials with a plane of material symmetry at x(sub 3) = 0, the in-plane deformation is decoupled from the anti-plane deformation. In the case of in-plane deformation, utilizing conservation laws of elasticity and Betti's reciprocal theorem, together with selected auxiliary fields, T-stress and third-order stress coefficients near the crack tip are evaluated first from path-independent line integrals. To determine the T-stress terms using the J-integral and Betti's reciprocal work theorem, auxiliary fields under a concentrated force and moment acting at the crack tip are used respectively. Through the use of Stroh formalism in anisotropic elasticity, analytical expressions for all the coefficients including the stress intensity factors are derived in a compact form that has surprisingly simple structure in terms of the Barnett-Lothe tensors, L. The solution forms for degenerated materials, orthotropic, and isotropic materials are presented.

Apparatus and process for making a superconducting magnet for particle accelerators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jarabak, A.J.; Sunderman, W.H.; Mendola, E.G.

1992-03-10

This patent describes an apparatus for manufacturing a coil of superconducting material. It comprises a horizontally disposed winding mandrel; an adjustable support for receiving a spool of superconducting material, the spool having a vertical axis; means for translating the spool of superconducting material in a generally oval path around the winding mandrel so that the superconducting material is de-reeled from the spool, in order to wind a predetermined amount of superconducting material onto the mandrel, such that a coil of superconducting material is formed; means for guiding the superconducting material from the spool so as to deliver the superconducting materialmore » to the winding mandrel on a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis of the spool and parallel with a winding plane on the winding mandrel; means for imparting a tensioning force on the superconducting material as it is guided from the spool; means for rotating the winding mandrel about the horizontal axis thereof; means for clamping the superconducting material against the winding mandrel as the wire is wound thereon; means for securing the coil to the winding mandrel for lifting mandrel with the coil thereon; and means for curing the coil of superconducting material whereby a finished coil of superconducting material is formed.« less

Fabrication of low density ceramic material

DOEpatents

Meek, T.T.; Blake, R.D.; Sheinberg, H.

1985-01-01

A precursor mixture and a method of making a low-density ceramic structural material are disclosed. The precursor mixture includes hollow microballoons, typically made of glass, together with a cementing agent capable of being cured by microwave irradiation. A preferred cementing agent is liquid hydrated potassium silicate, which is mixed with the glass microballoons to form a slurry. Upon irradiation the potassium silicate is dehydrated to form a solid porous matrix in which the microballoons are evenly distributed. Ground glass or other filling agents may be included in the slurry to enhance the properties of the final product. Low-density structural ceramics having densities on the order of 0.1 to 0.3 are obtained.

High-Fidelity Micromechanics Model Developed for the Response of Multiphase Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aboudi, Jacob; Pindera, Marek-Jerzy; Arnold, Steven M.

2002-01-01

A new high-fidelity micromechanics model has been developed under funding from the NASA Glenn Research Center for predicting the response of multiphase materials with arbitrary periodic microstructures. The model's analytical framework is based on the homogenization technique, but the method of solution for the local displacement and stress fields borrows concepts previously employed in constructing the higher order theory for functionally graded materials. The resulting closed-form macroscopic and microscopic constitutive equations, valid for both uniaxial and multiaxial loading of periodic materials with elastic and inelastic constitutive phases, can be incorporated into a structural analysis computer code. Consequently, this model now provides an alternative, accurate method.

Biologically-Derived Photonic Materials for Thermal Protection Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Sylvia M.; Squire, Thomas H.; Lawson, John W.; Gusman, Michael; Lau, K.-H.; Sanjurjo, Angel

2014-01-01

Space vehicles entering a planetary atmosphere at high velocity can be subject to substantial radiative heating from the shock layer in addition to the convective heating caused by the flow of hot gas past the vehicle surface. The radiative component can be very high but of a short duration. Approaches to combat this effect include investigation of various materials to reflect the radiation. Photonic materials can be used to reflect radiation. The wavelengths reflected depend on the length scale of the ordered microstructure. Fabricating photonic structures, such as layers, can be time consuming and expensive. We have used a biologically-derived material as the template for forming a high temperature photonic material that could be incorporated into a heatshield thermal protection material.

Thermal Diffusivity in Bone and Hydroxyapatite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calderón, A.; Peña Rodríguez, G.; Muñoz Hernández, R. A.; Díaz Gongora, J. A. I.; Mejia Barradas, C. M.

2004-09-01

We report thermal diffusivity measurements in bull bone and commercial hydroxyapatite (HA), both in powder form, in order to determinate the thermal compatibility between these materials. Besides this, we report a comparison between these measured values and those of metallic samples frequently used in implants, as high purity titanium and stainless steel. Our results show a good thermal compatibility (74%) between HA and bone, both in powder form. Finally, it was obtained a one order of magnitude difference between the thermal diffusivity values of metallic samples and those corresponding values to bone and HA being this difference greater in titanium than in stainless steel, which is important to consider in some biomedical and dental applications.

Numerical simulation on chain-die forming of an AHSS top-hat section

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Majji, Raju; Xiang, Yang; Ding, Scott; Yang, Chunhui

2018-05-01

The applications of Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) in the automotive industry are rapidly increasing due to a demand for a lightweight material that significantly reduces fuel consumption without compromising passenger safety. Automotive industries and material suppliers are expected by consumers to deliver reliable and affordable products, thus stimulating these manufacturers to research solutions to meet these customer requirements. The primary advantage of AHSS is its extremely high strength to weight ratio, an ideal material for the automotive industry. However, its low ductility is a major disadvantage, in particular, when using traditional cold forming processes such as roll forming and deep drawing process to form profiles. Consequently, AHSS parts frequently fail to form. Thereby, in order to improve quality and reliability on manufacturing AHSS products, a recently-developed incremental cold sheet metal forming technology called Chain-die Forming (CDF) is recognised as a potential solution to the forming process of AHSS. The typical CDF process is a combination of bending and roll forming processes which is equivalent to a roll with a large deforming radius, and incrementally forms the desired shape with split die and segments. This study focuses on manufacturing an AHSS top-hat section with minimum passes without geometrical or surface defects by using finite element modelling and simulations. The developed numerical simulation is employed to investigate the influences on the main control parameter of the CDF process while forming AHSS products and further develop new die-punch sets of compensation design via a numerical optimal process. In addition, the study focuses on the tool design to compensate spring-back and reduce friction between tooling and sheet-metal. This reduces the number of passes, thereby improving productivity and reducing energy consumption and material waste. This numerical study reveals that CDF forms AHSS products of complex profiles with much less residual stress, low spring back, low strain and of higher geometrical accuracy compared to other traditional manufacturing processes.

Identification of Important Process Variables for Fiber Spinning of Protein Nanotubes Generated from Waste Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-11

nanotubes , which sold at the same current cost as carbon nanotubes , this would equate to a $788 million industry. In the USA, the potential to source eye...advantages over carbon nanotubes due to the ability to functionalized them 31. The nanotubes are a highly ordered, insoluble form of protein. Fibrils...1756 Identification of important process variables for fiber spinning of protein nanotubes generated from waste materials. Research Team (listed

Lithographically-Scribed Planar Holographic Optical CDMA Devices and Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-15

operate with quite high refractive index contrast (order 0.5). Thin -filn filter devices are viewed as relatively low in chromatic dispersion. We have...stack consists of planar interfaces between materials of refractive index n, and n,. Let An = In2 - nil and n = (n, - n1)/2. The planar interfaces are... index ). It may be desirable to have a relatively large refractive index differential when diffractive elements are formed from cladding material at a

DNA-nanoparticle assemblies go organic: macroscopic polymeric materials with nanosized features.

PubMed

Mentovich, Elad D; Livanov, Konstantin; Prusty, Deepak K; Sowwan, Mukules; Richter, Shachar

2012-05-30

One of the goals in the field of structural DNA nanotechnology is the use of DNA to build up 2- and 3-D nanostructures. The research in this field is motivated by the remarkable structural features of DNA as well as by its unique and reversible recognition properties. Nucleic acids can be used alone as the skeleton of a broad range of periodic nanopatterns and nanoobjects and in addition, DNA can serve as a linker or template to form DNA-hybrid structures with other materials. This approach can be used for the development of new detection strategies as well as nanoelectronic structures and devices. Here we present a new method for the generation of unprecedented all-organic conjugated-polymer nanoparticle networks guided by DNA, based on a hierarchical self-assembly process. First, microphase separation of amphiphilic block copolymers induced the formation of spherical nanoobjects. As a second ordering concept, DNA base pairing has been employed for the controlled spatial definition of the conjugated-polymer particles within the bulk material. These networks offer the flexibility and the diversity of soft polymeric materials. Thus, simple chemical methodologies could be applied in order to tune the network's electrical, optical and mechanical properties. One- two- and three-dimensional networks have been successfully formed. Common to all morphologies is the integrity of the micelles consisting of DNA block copolymer (DBC), which creates an all-organic engineered network.

Kinetic Control of Aqueous Hydrolysis: Modulating Structure/Property Relationships in Inorganic Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neilson, James R.

2011-12-01

A grand challenge in materials science and chemistry revolves around the preparation of materials with desired properties by controlling structure on multiple length scales. Biology approaches this challenge by evolving tactics to transform soluble precursors into materials and composites with macro-scale and atomic precision. Studies of biomineralization in siliceous sponges led to the discovery of slow, catalytic hydrolysis of molecular precursors in the biogenesis of silica skeletal elements with well defined micro- and nano-scale architectures. However, the role of aqueous hydrolysis in the limit of kinetic control is not well understood; this allows us to form a central hypothesis: that the kinetics of hydrolysis modulate the structures of materials and their properties. As a model system, the diffusion of a simple hydrolytic catalyst (such as ammonia) across an air-water interface into a metal salt solution reproduces some aspects of the chemistry found in biomineralization, namely kinetic and vectorial control. Variation of the catalyst concentration modulates the hydrolysis rate, and thus alters the resulting structure of the inorganic crystals. Using aqueous solutions of cobalt(II) chloride, each product (cobalt hydroxide chloride) forms with a unique composition, despite being prepared from identical mother liquors. Synchrotron X-ray total scattering methods are needed to locate the atomic positions in the material, which are not aptly described by a traditional crystallographic unit cell due to structural disorder. Detailed definition of the structure confirms that the hydrolysis conditions systematically modulate the arrangement of atoms in the lattice. This tightly coupled control of crystal formation and knowledge of local and average structures of these materials provides insight into the unusual magnetic properties of these cobalt hydroxides. The compounds studied show significant and open magnetization loops with little variation with composition or structure, yet subtle and systematic changes in the mean-field spin interaction strength and spin entropy loss. Meanwhile, neutron powder diffraction reveals a fully compensated Ńeel state; a detailed analysis of the local structure defines the aperiodic clusters of polyhedra responsible for magnetic order. The rate of hydrolysis of metal precursors modulates the disposition of these polyhedral clusters. The strategy of kinetically controlling aqueous hydrolysis also extends to the formation of stoichiometrically ordered bimetallic crystals [MSn(OH)6], where the hydrolysis behavior for dissimilar metal cations must be controlled via counteranions or precursor selection. In the formation of these ordered double perovskite hydroxides, the rate of hydrolysis is held constant in the limit of kinetic control. Instead, the propensities of different cations to undergo controlled hydrolysis are probed by their ability to form ordered crystals. Collectively, these studies demonstrate how systematic variation in the kinetic conditions of materials preparation and the character of each solute control the structure and properties of materials, with a precision not attainable through traditional or near-equilibrium approaches.

Highly ordered nanocomposites via a monomer self-assembly in situ condensation approach

DOEpatents

Gin, D.L.; Fischer, W.M.; Gray, D.H.; Smith, R.C.

1998-12-15

A method for synthesizing composites with architectural control on the nanometer scale is described. A polymerizable lyotropic liquid-crystalline monomer is used to form an inverse hexagonal phase in the presence of a second polymer precursor solution. The monomer system acts as an organic template, providing the underlying matrix and order of the composite system. Polymerization of the template in the presence of an optional cross-linking agent with retention of the liquid-crystalline order is carried out followed by a second polymerization of the second polymer precursor within the channels of the polymer template to provide an ordered nanocomposite material. 13 figs.

Highly ordered nanocomposites via a monomer self-assembly in situ condensation approach

DOEpatents

Gin, Douglas L.; Fischer, Walter M.; Gray, David H.; Smith, Ryan C.

1998-01-01

A method for synthesizing composites with architectural control on the nanometer scale is described. A polymerizable lyotropic liquid-crystalline monomer is used to form an inverse hexagonal phase in the presence of a second polymer precursor solution. The monomer system acts as an organic template, providing the underlying matrix and order of the composite system. Polymerization of the template in the presence of an optional cross-linking agent with retention of the liquid-crystalline order is carried out followed by a second polymerization of the second polymer precursor within the channels of the polymer template to provide an ordered nanocomposite material.

Spontaneous magnetic order in complex materials: Role of longitudinal spin-orbit interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Subrata; Vijay, Amrendra

2017-06-01

We show that the longitudinal spin-orbit interactions (SOI) critically determine the fate of spontaneous magnetic order (SMO) in complex materials. To study the magnetic response of interacting electrons constituting the material, we implement an extension of the Hubbard model that faithfully accounts for the SOI. Next, we use the double-time Green functions of quantum statistical mechanics to obtain the spontaneous magnetization, Msp , and thence ascertain the possibility of SMO. For materials with quenched SOI, in an arbitrary dimension, Msp vanishes at finite temperatures, implying the presence of the disordered (paramagnetic) phase. This is consistent with and goes beyond the Bogolyubov's inequality based analysis in one and two dimensions. In the presence of longitudinal SOI, Msp , for materials in an arbitrary dimension, remains non-zero at finite temperatures, which indicates the existence of the ordered (ferromagnetic) phase. As a plausible experimental evidence of the present SOI-based phenomenology, we discuss, inter alia, a recent experimental study on Y4Mn1-xGa12-yGey, an intermetallic compound, which exhibits a magnetic phase transition (paramagnetic to ferromagnetic) upon tuning the fraction of Ge atoms and thence the vacancies of the magnetic centers in this system. The availability of Ge atoms to form a direct chemical bond with octahedral Mn in this material appears to quench the SOI and, as a consequence, favours the formation of the disordered (paramagnetic) phase.

PEROXIDE PROCESS FOR SEPARATION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS

DOEpatents

Seaborg, G.T.; Perlman, I.

1958-09-16

reduced state, from hexavalent uranium. It consists in treating an aqueous solution containing such uranium and plutonium ions with sulfate ions in order to form a soluble uranium sulfate complex and then treating the solution with a soluble thorium compound and a soluble peroxide compound in order to ferm a thorium peroxide carrier precipitate which carries down with it the plutonium peroxide present. During this treatment the pH of the solution must be maintained between 2 and 3.

Melt processing of Bi--2212 superconductors using alumina

DOEpatents

Holesinger, Terry G.

1999-01-01

Superconducting articles and a method of forming them, where the superconducting phase of an article is Bi.sub.2 Sr.sub.2 CaCu.sub.2 O.sub.y (Bi-2212). Alumina is combined with Bi-2212 powder or Bi-2212 precursor powder and, in order to form an intimate mixture, the mixture is melted and rapidly cooled to form a glassy solid. The glassy solid is comminuted and the resulting powder is combined with a carrier. An alternative to melting is to form the mixture of nanophase alumina and material having a particle size of less than about 10 microns. The powder, with the carrier, is melt processed to form a superconducting article.

Pharmacobezoars described and demystified.

PubMed

Simpson, Serge-Emile

2011-02-01

A bezoar is a concretion of foreign material that forms and persists in the gastrointestinal tract. Bezoars are classified by their material origins. Phytobezoars contain plant material, trichobezoars contain hair, lactobezoars contain milk proteins, and pharmacobezoars contain pharmaceutical products. Tablets, suspensions, and even insoluble drug delivery vehicles can, on rare occasions, and sometimes under specific circumstances, form pharmacobezoars. The goal of this review is to catalog and examine all of the available reports in the English language medical literature that convincingly describe the formation and management of pharmacobezoars. Articles included in this review were identified by performing searches using the terms "bezoar," "pharmacobezoar," and "concretion" in the following databases: OVID MEDLINE, PubMed, and JSTOR. The complete MEDLINE and JSTOR holdings were included in the search without date ranges. The results were limited to English language publications. Articles that described nonmedication bezoars were not included in the review. Articles describing phytobezoars, food bezoars, fecal impactions, illicit drug packet ingestions, enteral feeding material bezoars, and hygroscopic diet aid bezoars were excluded. The bibliographic references within the articles already accumulated were then examined in order to gather additional pharmacobezoar cases. The cases are grouped by pharmaceutical agent that formed the bezoar, and groupings are arranged in alphabetical order. Discussions and conclusions specific to each pharmaceutical agent are included in that agent's subheading. Patterns and themes that emerged in the review of the assembled case reports are reviewed and presented in a more concise format. Pharmacobezoars form under a wide variety of circumstances and in a wide variety of patients. They are difficult to diagnose reliably. Rules for suspecting, diagnosing, and properly managing a pharmacobezoar are highly dependent on the pharmaceutical agent or agents involved. Becoming familiar with the sparse data available on pharmacobezoars and maintaining a high index of suspicion in future clinical encounters may be the best way to improve diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy.

Rational design of fiber forming supramolecular structures

PubMed Central

Wang, Benjamin K; Kanahara, Satoko M

2016-01-01

Recent strides in the development of multifunctional synthetic biomimetic materials through the self-assembly of multi-domain peptides and proteins over the past decade have been realized. Such engineered systems have wide-ranging application in bioengineering and medicine. This review focuses on fundamental fiber forming α-helical coiled-coil peptides, peptide amphiphiles, and amyloid-based self-assembling peptides; followed by higher order collagen- and elastin-mimetic peptides with an emphasis on chemical / biological characterization and biomimicry. PMID:27022140

Process for manufacturing tantalum capacitors

DOEpatents

Lauf, Robert J.; Holcombe, Cressie E.; Dykes, Norman L.

1993-01-01

A process for manufacturing tantalum capacitors in which microwave energy is used to sinter a tantalum powder compact in order to achieve higher surface area and improved dielectric strength. The process comprises cold pressing tantalum powder with organic binders and lubricants to form a porous compact. After removal of the organics, the tantalum compact is heated to 1300.degree. to 2000.degree. C. by applying microwave radiation. Said compact is then anodized to form a dielectric oxide layer and infiltrated with a conductive material such as MnO.sub.2. Wire leads are then attached to form a capacitor to said capacitor is hermetically packaged to form the finished product.

Process for manufacturing tantalum capacitors

DOEpatents

Lauf, R.J.; Holcombe, C.E.; Dykes, N.L.

1993-02-02

A process for manufacturing tantalum capacitors in which microwave energy is used to sinter a tantalum powder compact in order to achieve higher surface area and improved dielectric strength. The process comprises cold pressing tantalum powder with organic binders and lubricants to form a porous compact. After removal of the organics, the tantalum compact is heated to 1,300 to 2,000 C by applying microwave radiation. Said compact is then anodized to form a dielectric oxide layer and infiltrated with a conductive material such as MnO[sub 2]. Wire leads are then attached to form a capacitor to said capacitor is hermetically packaged to form the finished product.

Tire Crumb Research Study Literature Review / Gap AnalysisWhite Paper Summary of Results

EPA Science Inventory

In order to more fully understand data gaps in human exposure and toxicity to tire crumb materials, ATSDR, CPSC and EPA undertook a collaborative effort in the form of a scientific literature review and subsequent gaps analysis. The first objective of the Literature Review and Ga...

75 FR 72987 - Brokers of Household Goods Transportation by Motor Vehicle

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-29

... revise broker marketing materials, forms, and orders for service, including technical writing, Web site... are FMCSA-authorized household goods motor carriers with which the broker has a written agreement, as... broker has a written agreement, as required by Sec. 371.115. We agree that brokers should not...

Comparative Narrative: Jesus across the Centuries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuller, Lawrence B.

An honors seminar at Bloomsburg University (Pennsylvania) investigated the story of Jesus as it has evolved in different media over nearly two millennia. Initially the students studied two gospels with contrasting versions of the life of Jesus, in order to explore the process whereby oral material is transcribed into written form by different…

Surface Modifications of Materials by Electrochemical Methods to Improve the Properties for Industrial and Medical Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benea, Lidia

2018-06-01

There are two applied electrochemical methods in our group in order to obtain advanced functional surfaces on materials: (i) direct electrochemical synthesis by electro-codeposition process and (ii) anodization of materials to form nanoporous oxide layers followed by electrodeposition of hydroxyapatite or other bioactive molecules and compounds into porous film. Electrodeposition is a process of low energy consumption, and therefore very convenient for the surface modification of various types of materials. Electrodeposition is a powerful method compared with other methods, which led her to be adopted and spread rapidly in nanotechnology to obtain nanostructured layers and films. Nanoporous thin oxide layers on titanum alloys as support for hydroxyapatite or other biomolecules electrodeposition in view of biomedical applications could be obtained by electrochemical methods. For surface modification of titanium or titanium alloys to improve the biocompatibility or osseointegration, the two steps must be fulfilled; the first is controlled growth of oxide layer followed by second being biomolecule electrodeposition into nanoporous formed titanium oxide layer.

Self-composite comprised of nanocrystalline diamond and a non-diamond component useful for thermoelectric applications

DOEpatents

Gruen, Dieter M.

2012-09-04

One provides nanocrystalline diamond material that comprises a plurality of substantially ordered diamond crystallites that are sized no larger than about 10 nanometers. One then disposes a non-diamond component within the nanocrystalline diamond material. By one approach this non-diamond component comprises an electrical conductor that is formed at the grain boundaries that separate the diamond crystallites from one another. The resultant nanowire is then able to exhibit a desired increase with respect to its ability to conduct electricity while also preserving the thermal conductivity behavior of the nanocrystalline diamond material.

Self-composite comprised of nanocrystalline diamond and a non-diamond component useful for thermoelectric applications

DOEpatents

Gruen, Dieter M [Downers Grove, IL

2009-08-11

One provides nanocrystalline diamond material that comprises a plurality of substantially ordered diamond crystallites that are sized no larger than about 10 nanometers. One then disposes a non-diamond component within the nanocrystalline diamond material. By one approach this non-diamond component comprises an electrical conductor that is formed at the grain boundaries that separate the diamond crystallites from one another. The resultant nanowire is then able to exhibit a desired increase with respect to its ability to conduct electricity while also preserving the thermal conductivity behavior of the nanocrystalline diamond material.

Assessing local structure motifs using order parameters for motif recognition, interstitial identification, and diffusion path characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimmermann, Nils E. R.; Horton, Matthew K.; Jain, Anubhav; Haranczyk, Maciej

2017-11-01

Structure-property relationships form the basis of many design rules in materials science, including synthesizability and long-term stability of catalysts, control of electrical and optoelectronic behavior in semiconductors as well as the capacity of and transport properties in cathode materials for rechargeable batteries. The immediate atomic environments (i.e., the first coordination shells) of a few atomic sites are often a key factor in achieving a desired property. Some of the most frequently encountered coordination patterns are tetrahedra, octahedra, body and face-centered cubic as well as hexagonal closed packed-like environments. Here, we showcase the usefulness of local order parameters to identify these basic structural motifs in inorganic solid materials by developing classification criteria. We introduce a systematic testing framework, the Einstein crystal test rig, that probes the response of order parameters to distortions in perfect motifs to validate our approach. Subsequently, we highlight three important application cases. First, we map basic crystal structure information of a large materials database in an intuitive manner by screening the Materials Project (MP) database (61,422 compounds) for element-specific motif distributions. Second, we use the structure-motif recognition capabilities to automatically find interstitials in metals, semiconductor, and insulator materials. Our Interstitialcy Finding Tool (InFiT) facilitates high-throughput screenings of defect properties. Third, the order parameters are reliable and compact quantitative structure descriptors for characterizing diffusion hops of intercalants as our example of magnesium in MnO2-spinel indicates. Finally, the tools developed in our work are readily and freely available as software implementations in the pymatgen library, and we expect them to be further applied to machine-learning approaches for emerging applications in materials science.

Assessing Local Structure Motifs Using Order Parameters for Motif Recognition, Interstitial Identification, and Diffusion Path Characterization

DOE PAGES

Zimmermann, Nils E. R.; Horton, Matthew K.; Jain, Anubhav; ...

2017-11-13

Structure–property relationships form the basis of many design rules in materials science, including synthesizability and long-term stability of catalysts, control of electrical and optoelectronic behavior in semiconductors, as well as the capacity of and transport properties in cathode materials for rechargeable batteries. The immediate atomic environments (i.e., the first coordination shells) of a few atomic sites are often a key factor in achieving a desired property. Some of the most frequently encountered coordination patterns are tetrahedra, octahedra, body and face-centered cubic as well as hexagonal close packed-like environments. Here, we showcase the usefulness of local order parameters to identify thesemore » basic structural motifs in inorganic solid materials by developing classification criteria. We introduce a systematic testing framework, the Einstein crystal test rig, that probes the response of order parameters to distortions in perfect motifs to validate our approach. Subsequently, we highlight three important application cases. First, we map basic crystal structure information of a large materials database in an intuitive manner by screening the Materials Project (MP) database (61,422 compounds) for element-specific motif distributions. Second, we use the structure-motif recognition capabilities to automatically find interstitials in metals, semiconductor, and insulator materials. Our Interstitialcy Finding Tool (InFiT) facilitates high-throughput screenings of defect properties. Third, the order parameters are reliable and compact quantitative structure descriptors for characterizing diffusion hops of intercalants as our example of magnesium in MnO 2-spinel indicates. Finally, the tools developed in our work are readily and freely available as software implementations in the pymatgen library, and we expect them to be further applied to machine-learning approaches for emerging applications in materials science.« less

Assessing Local Structure Motifs Using Order Parameters for Motif Recognition, Interstitial Identification, and Diffusion Path Characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zimmermann, Nils E. R.; Horton, Matthew K.; Jain, Anubhav

Structure–property relationships form the basis of many design rules in materials science, including synthesizability and long-term stability of catalysts, control of electrical and optoelectronic behavior in semiconductors, as well as the capacity of and transport properties in cathode materials for rechargeable batteries. The immediate atomic environments (i.e., the first coordination shells) of a few atomic sites are often a key factor in achieving a desired property. Some of the most frequently encountered coordination patterns are tetrahedra, octahedra, body and face-centered cubic as well as hexagonal close packed-like environments. Here, we showcase the usefulness of local order parameters to identify thesemore » basic structural motifs in inorganic solid materials by developing classification criteria. We introduce a systematic testing framework, the Einstein crystal test rig, that probes the response of order parameters to distortions in perfect motifs to validate our approach. Subsequently, we highlight three important application cases. First, we map basic crystal structure information of a large materials database in an intuitive manner by screening the Materials Project (MP) database (61,422 compounds) for element-specific motif distributions. Second, we use the structure-motif recognition capabilities to automatically find interstitials in metals, semiconductor, and insulator materials. Our Interstitialcy Finding Tool (InFiT) facilitates high-throughput screenings of defect properties. Third, the order parameters are reliable and compact quantitative structure descriptors for characterizing diffusion hops of intercalants as our example of magnesium in MnO 2-spinel indicates. Finally, the tools developed in our work are readily and freely available as software implementations in the pymatgen library, and we expect them to be further applied to machine-learning approaches for emerging applications in materials science.« less

Conjugated organic framework with three-dimensionally ordered stable structure and delocalized π clouds

PubMed Central

Guo, Jia; Xu, Yanhong; Jin, Shangbin; Chen, Long; Kaji, Toshihiko; Honsho, Yoshihito; Addicoat, Matthew A.; Kim, Jangbae; Saeki, Akinori; Ihee, Hyotcherl; Seki, Shu; Irle, Stephan; Hiramoto, Masahiro; Gao, Jia; Jiang, Donglin

2013-01-01

Covalent organic frameworks are a class of crystalline organic porous materials that can utilize π–π-stacking interactions as a driving force for the crystallization of polygonal sheets to form layered frameworks and ordered pores. However, typical examples are chemically unstable and lack intrasheet π-conjugation, thereby significantly limiting their applications. Here we report a chemically stable, electronically conjugated organic framework with topologically designed wire frameworks and open nanochannels, in which the π conjugation-spans the two-dimensional sheets. Our framework permits inborn periodic ordering of conjugated chains in all three dimensions and exhibits a striking combination of properties: chemical stability, extended π-delocalization, ability to host guest molecules and hole mobility. We show that the π-conjugated organic framework is useful for high on-off ratio photoswitches and photovoltaic cells. Therefore, this strategy may constitute a step towards realizing ordered semiconducting porous materials for innovations based on two-dimensionally extended π systems. PMID:24220603

Effects of process variation in short cycle stretch forming in beverage can production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Matthias; Liewald, Mathias

2016-10-01

Short Cycle Stretch Forming (SCS) is an innovative stretch forming technology developed at the Institute for Metal Forming Technology (IFU) at the University of Stuttgart. The SCS technology combines plane pre-stretching and deep drawing operations within the same stroke of press ram. Material is yielding from the inner to the outer part of the sheet. The sheet thickness is reduced and denting resistance and yield stress are increased due to hardening effects. SCS-Technology is enhanced due to rotational-symmetrical bodies by applying this technology to a cupping process in tinplate can production. A process simulation for SCS-Cupping processes was conducted. Based on these results a tool was manufactured and commissioned. Experimental results showed that material yields from the middle of the blank to the outer area of the cup wall. Due to the volume of material, the initial diameter can be reduced and material costs can be saved. In this paper different process settings and their effect on the amount of material, which yielded from the middle of the blank to its outside, are observed in a number of experimental series. A blank holder is added to the process in order to avoid wrinkling. The influence of this additional blank holder is therefore investigated in a first experimental set-up by varying blank holder force. In a further investigation the effects of two materials with different thicknesses is observed. Finally, an experimental series is conducted to observe the effect of blank diameter on the SCS-Cupping process. The results of this paper show that SCS-Cupping offers a promising potential for material savings and outline main effects for this technology.

Comparison of the biological NH3 removal characteristics among four inorganic packing materials.

PubMed

Hirai, M; Kamamoto, M; Yani, M; Shoda, M

2001-01-01

Four inorganic packing materials were evaluated in terms of their availability as a packing material of a packed tower deodorization apparatus (biofilter) from the viewpoints of biological NH3 removal characteristics and some physical properties. Porous ceramics (A), calcinated cristobalite (B), calcinated and formed obsidian (C), granulated and calculated soil (D) were used. The superiority of these packing materials determined based on the values of non-biological removal per unit weight or unit volume of packing material, complete removal capacity of NH3 per unit weight of packing material per day or unit volume of packing material per day and pressure drop of the packed bed was in the order of A approximately = C > B > or = D. Packing materials A and C with high porosity, maximum water content, and suitable mean pore diameter showed excellent removal capacity.

Development of improved amorphous materials for laser systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neilson, G. F.; Weinberg, M. C.

1974-01-01

Crystallization calculations were performed in order to determine the possibility of forming a particular type of laser glass with the avoidance of devitrification in an outer space laboratory. It was demonstrated that under the homogenuous nucleating conditions obtainable in a zero gravity laboratory this laser glass may be easily quenched to a virtually crystal-free product. Experimental evidence is provided that use of this material as a host in a neodymium glass laser would result in more than a 10 percent increase in efficiency when compared to laser glass rods of a similar composition currently commercially available. Differential thermal analysis, thermal gradient oven, X-ray diffraction, and liquidus determination experiments were carried out to determine the basics of the crystallization behavior of the glass, and small-angle X-ray scattering and splat-cooling experiments were performed in order to provide additional evidence for the feasibility of producing this laser glass material, crystal free, in an outer space environment.

Self-assembly strategies for the synthesis of functional nanostructured materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perego, M.; Seguini, G.

2016-06-01

Self-assembly is the autonomous organization of components into patterns or structures without human intervention. This is the approach followed by nature to generate living cells and represents one of the practical strategies to fabricate ensembles of nanostructures. In static self-assembly the formation of ordered structures could require energy but once formed the structures are stable. The introduction of additional regular features in the environment could be used to template the self-assembly guiding the organization of the components and determining the final structure they form. In this regard self-assembly of block copolymers represents a potent platform for fundamental studies at the nanoscale and for application-driven investigation as a tool to fabricate functional nanostructured materials. Block copolymers can hierarchically assemble into chemically distinct domains with size and periodicity on the order of 10nm or below, offering a potentially inexpensive route to generate large-area nanostructured materials. The final structure characteristics of these materials are dictated by the properties of the elementary block copolymers, like chain length, volume fraction or degree of block incompatibility. Modern synthetic chemistry offers the possibility to design these macromolecules with very specific length scales and geometries, directly embodying in the block copolymers the code that drives their self- assembling process. The understanding of the kinetics and thermodynamics of the block copolymer self-assembly process in the bulk phase as well as in thin films represents a fundamental prerequisite toward the exploitation of these materials. Incorporating block copolymer into device fabrication procedures or directly into devices, as active elements, will lead to the development of a new generation of devices fabricated using the fundamental law of nature to our advantage in order to minimize cost and power consumption in the fabrication process. Moreover the capability to precisely organize these nano-objects on appropriate substrates is the key point to support the technological development of new device concepts with predictable characteristics based on these nano-materials. In the next coming years this area of research, at the intersection between fundamental science and technology, is expected to disclose additional insights in the physics of the self-assembly process and to delineate unforeseen applications for these exciting materials.

Development of the Gliding Hole of the Dynamics Compression Plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salim, U. A.; Suyitno; Magetsari, R.; Mahardika, M.

2017-02-01

The gliding hole of the dynamics compression plate is designed to facilitate relative movement of pedicle screw during surgery application. The gliding hole shape is then geometrically complex. The gliding hole manufactured using machining processes used to employ ball-nose cutting tool. Then, production cost is expensive due to long production time. This study proposed to increase productivity of DCP products by introducing forming process (cold forming). The forming process used to involve any press tool devices. In the closed die forming press tool is designed with little allowance, then work-pieces is trapped in the mould after forming. Therefore, it is very important to determine hole geometry and dimensions of raw material in order to success on forming process. This study optimized the hole sizes with both geometry analytics and experiments. The success of the forming process was performed by increasing the holes size on the raw materials. The holes size need to be prepared is diameter of 5.5 mm with a length of 11.4 mm for the plate thickness 3 mm and diameter of 6 mm with a length of 12.5 mm for the plate thickness 4 mm.

Formation of amorphous materials

DOEpatents

Johnson, William L.; Schwarz, Ricardo B.

1986-01-01

Metastable amorphous or fine crystalline materials are formed by solid state reactions by diffusion of a metallic component into a solid compound or by diffusion of a gas into an intermetallic compound. The invention can be practiced on layers of metals deposited on an amorphous substrate or by intermixing powders with nucleating seed granules. All that is required is that the diffusion of the first component into the second component be much faster than the self-diffusion of the first component. The method is practiced at a temperature below the temperature at which the amorphous phase transforms into one or more crystalline phases and near or below the temperature at which the ratio of the rate of diffusion of the first component to the rate of self-diffusion is at least 10.sup.4. This anomalous diffusion criteria is found in many binary, tertiary and higher ordered systems of alloys and appears to be found in all alloy systems that form amorphous materials by rapid quenching. The method of the invention can totally convert much larger dimensional materials to amorphous materials in practical periods of several hours or less.

Mechanisms and modelling of waste-cement and cement-host rock interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2017-06-01

Safe and sustainable disposal of hazardous and radioactive waste is a major concern in today's industrial societies. The hazardous waste forms originate from residues of thermal treatment of waste, fossil fuel combustion and ferrous/non-ferrous metal smelting being the most important ones in terms of waste production. Low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste is produced in the course of nuclear applications in research and energy production. For both waste forms encapsulation in alkaline, cement-based matrices is considered to ensure long-term safe disposal. Cementitious materials are in routine use as industrial materials and have mainly been studied with respect to their evolution over a typical service life of several decades. Use of these materials in waste management applications, however, requires assessments of their performance over much longer time periods on the order of thousands to several ten thousands of years.

Effect of Geometric Parameters on Formability and Strain Path During Tube Hydrforming Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omar, A.; Harisankar, K. R.; Tewari, Asim; Narasimhan, K.

2016-08-01

Forming limit diagram (FLD) is an important tool to measure the material's formability for metal forming processes. In order to successfully manufacture a component through tube hydroforming process it is very important to know the effect of material properties, process and geometrical parameters on the outcome of finished product. This can be obtained by running a finite element code which not only saves time and money but also gives a result with considerable accuracy. Therefore, in this paper the mutual effect of diameter as well as thickness has been studied. Firstly the finite element based prediction is carried out to assess the formability of seamless and welded tubes with varying thickness. Later on, effect of varying diameter and thickness on strain path is predicted using statistical based regression analysis. Finally, the mutual effect of varying material property alongwith varying thickness and diameter on constraint factor is studied.

An Adaptive Resonance Theory account of the implicit learning of orthographic word forms.

PubMed

Glotin, H; Warnier, P; Dandurand, F; Dufau, S; Lété, B; Touzet, C; Ziegler, J C; Grainger, J

2010-01-01

An Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) network was trained to identify unique orthographic word forms. Each word input to the model was represented as an unordered set of ordered letter pairs (open bigrams) that implement a flexible prelexical orthographic code. The network learned to map this prelexical orthographic code onto unique word representations (orthographic word forms). The network was trained on a realistic corpus of reading textbooks used in French primary schools. The amount of training was strictly identical to children's exposure to reading material from grade 1 to grade 5. Network performance was examined at each grade level. Adjustment of the learning and vigilance parameters of the network allowed us to reproduce the developmental growth of word identification performance seen in children. The network exhibited a word frequency effect and was found to be sensitive to the order of presentation of word inputs, particularly with low frequency words. These words were better learned with a randomized presentation order compared with the order of presentation in the school books. These results open up interesting perspectives for the application of ART networks in the study of the dynamics of learning to read. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Processing and Properties of Airframe Materials.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

size to develop a composite with 61% fine grains mixed with 39% coarse grains by volume. The stack was placed inside a stainless steel vacuum bag and...alloys, considerable interest exists for superplastic forming of the alloys. However, the first order priority is to consolidate a void- free and...1o- 0 1 5 " 20 25 Oelto K. bPa (sqrt(m)) Fig. 3.3-38 Secondary cracking vs AK, forged material, as-forged, heat treatment No. 2, including load shed

Cross-Roll Flow Forming of ODS Alloy Heat Exchanger Tubes For Hoop Creep Enhancement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bimal Kad

2007-09-30

Mechanically alloyed oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) Fe-Cr-Al alloy thin walled tubes and sheets, produced via powder processing and consolidation methodologies are promising materials for eventual use at temperatures up to 1200 C in the power generation industry, far above the temperature capabilities of conventional alloys. Target end-uses range from gas turbine combustor liners to high aspect ratio (L/D) heat exchanger tubes. Grain boundary creep processes at service temperatures, particularly those acting in the hoop direction, are the dominant failure mechanisms for such components. The processed microstructure of ODS alloys consists of high aspect ratio grains aligned parallel to the tubemore » axis, a result of dominant axial metal flow which aligns the dispersoid particles and other impurities in the longitudinal direction. The dispersion distribution is unaltered on a micro scale by recrystallization thermal treatments, but the high aspect ratio grain shape typically obtained limits transverse grain spacing and consequently the hoop creep response. Improving hoop creep in ODS-alloy components will require understanding and manipulating the factors that control the recrystallization behavior, and represents a critical materials design and development challenge that must be overcome in order to fully exploit the potential of ODS alloys. The objectives of this program were to (1) increase creep-strength at temperature in ODS-alloy tube and liner components by 100% via, (2) preferential cross-roll flow forming and grain/particle fibering in the critical hoop direction. The research program outlined was iterative and intended to systematically (i) examine and identify post-extrusion forming methodologies to create hoop strengthened tubes, to be (ii) evaluated at 'in-service' loads at service temperatures and environments. Our report outlines the significant hoop creep enhancements possible via secondary cross-rolling and/or flow-forming operations. Each of the secondary processes i.e. hot rotary forming and ambient-temperature flow forming exhibited improvement over the base-line hoop-creep performance. The flow formed MA956 tubes exhibited performance superior to all other rolling/forming variants. At the conclusion of this program 2ksi creep-test exposure for flow formed materials exceeded 7300 hours, 7694 hours and 4200 hours for creep tests operating at 950 C, 975 C and 1000 C respectively. The Larsen-Miller parameter for these improvised flow-formed tubes now exceeds 54.14, i.e., better than ever recorded previously. The creep performance enhancement in cross-rolled MA956 material samples versus the base creep property is elucidated. At least 2-3 orders of magnitude of improvement in creep rates/day and concomitant increases in creeplife are demonstrated for the flow formed tubes versus the base reference tests.« less

Pulsed radiolysis of model aromatic polymers and epoxy based matrix materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, A.; Moacanin, J.; Liang, R.; Coulter, D.

1982-01-01

Models of primary processes leading to deactivation of energy deposited by a pulse of high energy electrons were derived for epoxy matrix materials and polyl-vinyl naphthalene. The basic conclusion is that recombination of initially formed charged states is complete within 1 nanosecond, and subsequent degradation chemistry is controlled by the reactivity of these excited states. Excited states in both systems form complexes with ground state molecules. These excimers or exciplexes have their characteristics emissive and absorptive properties and may decay to form separated pairs of ground state molecules, cross over to the triplet manifold or emit fluorescence. ESR studies and chemical analyses subsequent to pulse radiolysis were performed in order to estimate bond cleavage probabilities and net reaction rates. The energy deactivation models which were proposed to interpret these data have led to the development of radiation stabilization criteria for these systems.

Investigation of the Formability of TRIP780 Steel Sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Yang

The formability of a metal sheet is dependent on its work hardening behaviour and its forming limits; and both aspects must be carefully determined in order to accurately simulate a particular forming process. This research aims to characterize the formability of a TRIP780 sheet steel using advanced experimental testing and analysis techniques. A series of flat rolling and tensile tests, as well as shear tests were conducted to determine the large deformation work hardening behaviour of this TRIP780 steel. Nakazima tests were carried out up to fracture to determine the forming limits of this sheet material. A highly-automated method for generating a robust FLC for sheet materials from DIC strain measurements was created with the help of finite element simulations, and evaluated against the conventional method. A correction algorithm that aims to compensate for the process dependent effects in the Nakazima test was implemented and tested with some success.

A Proposed Method for the Computer-aided Discovery and Design of High-strength, Ductile Metals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winter, Ian Stewart

Gum Metal, a class of Ti-Nb alloys, has generated a great deal of interest in the metallurgical community since its development in 2003. These alloys display numerous novel and anomalous properties, many of which only occur after severe plastic deformation has been incurred on the material. Such properties include: super-elasticity, super-coldworkability, Invar and Elinvar behavior, high ductility, as well as high strength. The high strength of gum metal has generated particular enthusiasm as it is on the order of the predicted ideal strength of the material. Many of the properties of gum metal appear to be a direct result of tuning the composition to be near an elastic instability resulting in a high degree of elastic anisotropy. This presents an opportunity for the computer-aided discovery and design of structural materials as the ideal strength and elastic anisotropy can be approximated from the elastic constants. Two approaches are described for searching for this high ansitropy. In the first, The possibility of forming gum metal in Mg is explored by tuning the material to be near the BCC-HCP transition either by pressure or alloying with Li. The second makes use of the Materials Project's elastic constants database, which contains thousands of ordered compounds, in order to screen for gum metal candidates. By defining an elastic anisotropy parameter consistent with the behavior of gum metal and calculating it for all cubic materials in the elastic constants database several gum metal candidates are found. In order to better assess their candidacy information on the intrinsic ductility of these materials is necessary. A method is proposed for calculating the ideal strength and deformation mode of a solid solution from first-principles. In order to validate this method the intrinsic ductile-to-brittle transition composition of Ti-V systems is calculated. It is further shown that this method can be applied to the calculation of an ideal tensile yield surface.

Application of magnetic pulse forming to aeronautic small pieces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sow, C.; Bazin, G.; Daniel, D.; Bon, E.; Priem, D.; Racineux, G.

2018-05-01

Stelia Aerospace company is specialized in the forming of small (Lmax <200 mm), medium (200 mm 1000 mm) sheets for the aerospace industry. In order to diversify the production facilities of Stelia Aerospace we evaluated the capacity of the magnetic pulse forming to produce small parts. The material used is the aluminum alloy 2024-T4. The sheets used have a thickness of 1 mm, 2 mm and 1.6 mm. Stelia Aerospace manufactures more than 100 different small parts but they are all made up of a limited set of elementary geometries. These elementary geometries include: straight and interrupted straight fallen edges, concave and convex fallen edges, fallen edges holes and joggling. In this paper we present the work we have done to develop forming tools for one of these elementary geometries, the straight fallen edge. Special attention is paid to the geometric and metallurgic quality of parts. In order to evaluate dimensional reproducibility of the process, smalls series of parts were produced.

The Effects of Cold Work on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Intermetallic Strengthened Alumina-Forming Austenitic Stainless Steels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, B.; Trotter, G.; Baker, Ian

2015-08-01

In order to achieve energy conversion efficiencies of > 50 pct for steam turbines/boilers in power generation systems, materials are required that are both strong and corrosion-resistant at > 973 K (700 A degrees C), and economically viable. Austenitic steels strengthened with Laves phase, NiAl and Ni3Al precipitates, and alloyed with aluminum to improve oxidation resistance, are potential candidate materials for these applications. The microstructure and microchemistry of recently developed alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Different thermo-mechanical treatments were performed on these steels to improve their mechanicalmore » performance. These reduced the grain size significantly to the nanoscale (similar to 100 nm) and the room temperature yield strength to above 1000 MPa. A solutionizing anneal at 1473 K (1200 A degrees C) was found to be effective for uniformly redistributing the Laves phase precipitates that form upon casting. (C) The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2015« less

Method of Suppressing Sublimation in Advanced Thermoelectric Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sakamoto, Jeffrey S. (Inventor); Caillat, Thierry (Inventor); Fleurial, Jean-Pierre (Inventor); Snyder, G. Jeffrey (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A method of applying a physical barrier to suppress thermal decomposition near a surface of a thermoelectric material including applying a continuous metal foil to a predetermined portion of the surface of the thermoelectric material, physically binding the continuous metal foil to the surface of the thermoelectric material using a binding member, and heating in a predetermined atmosphere the applied and physically bound continuous metal foil and the thermoelectric material to a sufficient temperature in order to promote bonding between the continuous metal foil and the surface of the thermoelectric material. The continuous metal foil forms a physical barrier to enclose a predetermined portion of the surface. Thermal decomposition is suppressed at the surface of the thermoelectric material enclosed by the physical barrier when the thermoelectric element is in operation.

Evaluation of the Ca ion release, pH and surface apatite formation of a prototype tricalcium silicate cement.

PubMed

Yamamoto, S; Han, L; Noiri, Y; Okiji, T

2017-12-01

To evaluate the Ca 2+ -releasing, alkalizing and apatite-like surface precipitate-forming abilities of a prototype tricalcium silicate cement, which was mainly composed of synthetically prepared tricalcium silicate and zirconium oxide radiopacifier. The prototype tricalcium silicate cement, white ProRoot MTA (WMTA) and TheraCal LC (a light-cured resin-modified calcium silicate-filled material) were examined. The chemical compositions were analysed with a wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy electron probe microanalyser with an image observation function (SEM-EPMA). The pH and Ca 2+ concentrations of water in which the set materials had been immersed were measured, and the latter was assessed with the EDTA titration method. The surface precipitates formed on the materials immersed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were analysed with SEM-EPMA and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction were used for statistical analysis (α = 0.05). The prototype cement contained Ca, Si and Zr as major elemental constituents, whereas it did not contain some metal elements that were detected in the other materials. The Ca 2+ concentrations and pH of the immersion water samples exhibited the following order: WMTA = prototype cement > TheraCal LC (P < 0.05). All three materials produced Ca- and P-containing surface precipitates after PBS immersion, and the precipitates produced by TheraCal LC displayed lower Ca/P ratios than those formed by the other materials. XRD peaks corresponding to hydroxyapatite were detected in the precipitates produced by the prototype cement and WMTA. The prototype tricalcium silicate cement exhibited similar Ca 2+ -releasing, alkalizing and apatite-like precipitate-forming abilities to WMTA. The Ca 2+ -releasing, alkalizing and apatite-like precipitate-forming abilities of TheraCal LC were lower than those of the other materials. © 2016 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of hypromellose 2910 free films.

PubMed

Cespi, Marco; Bonacucina, Giulia; Mencarelli, Giovanna; Casettari, Luca; Palmieri, Giovanni Filippo

2011-10-01

It is common practice to coat oral solid dosage forms with polymeric materials for controlled release purposes or for practical and aesthetic reasons. Good knowledge of thermo-mechanical film properties or their variation as a function of polymer grade, type and amount of additives or preparation method is of prime importance in developing solid dosage forms. This work focused on the dynamic mechanical thermal characteristics of free films of hypromellose 2910 (also known as HPMC), prepared using three grades of this polymer from two different manufacturers, in order to assess whether polymer chain length or origin affects the mechanical or thermo-mechanical properties of the final films. Hypromellose free films were obtained by casting their aqueous solutions prepared at a specific concentrations in order to obtain the same viscosity for each. The films were stored at room temperature until dried and then examined using a dynamic mechanical analyser. The results of the frequency scans showed no significant differences in the mechanical moduli E' and E″ of the different samples when analysed at room temperature; however, the grade of the polymer affected material transitions during the heating process. Glass transition temperature, apparent activation energy and fragility parameters depended on polymer chain length, while the material brand showed little impact on film performance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Portable containment sleever apparatus

DOEpatents

Rea, Michael J.; Brown, Roger A.

2000-01-01

A sleever apparatus includes an inner member with a central passage through which an item to be sleeved is passed. An outer member surrounds the inner member and defines a space between the members for holding a supply of containment material, which is preferably plastic sleeving. The apparatus has a handle which allows a user to hold the apparatus and walk the apparatus along the length of the item to be sleeved. As the user passes the item through the sleever apparatus, the containment material exits through a slit at one end of the apparatus in order to contain the item. The sleever apparatus may be formed of disposable materials, such as cardboard, and may be intended for a single use application. Alternatively, the sleever apparatus may be comprised of more permanent materials such as PVC or fiberglass. The sleever apparatus may include a serrated end for cutting the containment material and may include appropriate tubing and valves for either directing an inert gas into the containment material around the item or for withdrawing air from within the containment material in order to create a vacuum. In one embodiment, the sleever apparatus has a cartridge that can be replaced with another cartridge once the supply of the containment material has been depleted.

Location of laccase in ordered mesoporous materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mayoral, Álvaro; Gascón, Victoria; Blanco, Rosa M.

2014-11-01

The functionalization with amine groups was developed on the SBA-15, and its effect in the laccase immobilization was compared with that of a Periodic Mesoporous Aminosilica. A method to encapsulate the laccase in situ has now been developed. In this work, spherical aberration (C{sub s}) corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with high angle annular dark field detector and electron energy loss spectroscopy were applied to identify the exact location of the enzyme in the matrix formed by the ordered mesoporous solids.

Location of laccase in ordered mesoporous materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayoral, Álvaro; Gascón, Victoria; Blanco, Rosa M.; Márquez-Álvarez, Carlos; Díaz, Isabel

2014-11-01

The functionalization with amine groups was developed on the SBA-15, and its effect in the laccase immobilization was compared with that of a Periodic Mesoporous Aminosilica. A method to encapsulate the laccase in situ has now been developed. In this work, spherical aberration (Cs) corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with high angle annular dark field detector and electron energy loss spectroscopy were applied to identify the exact location of the enzyme in the matrix formed by the ordered mesoporous solids.

Influences of surface charge, size, and concentration of colloidal nanoparticles on fabrication of self-organized porous silica in film and particle forms.

PubMed

Nandiyanto, Asep Bayu Dani; Suhendi, Asep; Arutanti, Osi; Ogi, Takashi; Okuyama, Kikuo

2013-05-28

Studies on preparation of porous material have attracted tremendous attention because existence of pores can provide material with excellent performances. However, current preparation reports described successful production of porous material with only partial information on charges, interactions, sizes, and compositions of the template and host materials. In this report, influences of self-assembly parameters (i.e., surface charge, size, and concentration of colloidal nanoparticles) on self-organized porous material fabrication were investigated. Silica nanoparticles (as a host material) and polystyrene (PS) spheres (as a template) were combined to produce self-assembly porous materials in film and particle forms. The experimental results showed that the porous structure and pore size were controllable and strongly depended on the self-assembly parameters. Materials containing highly ordered pores were effectively created only when process parameters fall within appropriate conditions (i.e., PS surface charge ≤ -30 mV; silica-to-PS size ratio ≤0.078; and silica-to-PS mass ratio of about 0.50). The investigation of the self-assembly parameter landscape was also completed using geometric considerations. Because optimization of these parameters provides significant information in regard to practical uses, results of this report could be relevant to other functional properties.

Novel antibacterial mouthguard material manufactured using silver-nanoparticleembedded ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer masterbatch.

PubMed

Yoshida, Yuriko; Churei, Hiroshi; Takeuchi, Yasuo; Wada, Takahiro; Uo, Motohiro; Izumi, Yuichi; Ueno, Toshiaki

2018-01-26

The purpose of the present study was to develop an antibacterial mouthguard (MG) material using a masterbatch of silvernanoparticle-embedded ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers. In order to verify that the testing material was clinically applicable as an antibacterial MG material, we conducted an antibacterial test, a shock absorption test, and analysis of in vitro silver release. The colony-forming activity of Streptococcus sobrinus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Escherichia coli were significantly inhibited on the testing materials compared with the commercial EVA sheet (p<0.05). The shock absorption capability of the testing material was not significantly different from that of the commercial EVA sheet. Cumulative silver release (in pure water) from the testing materials were infinitesimal after soaking for 20 days, which implied that there could be no harm in wearing the MG during exercise. These results showed that this testing material could be clinically applicable as an antibacterial MG material.

Advanced Warheads Concepts: An Advanced Equation of State for Overdriven Detonation

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-05-01

equation of state (Jones-Wilkens Lee-Baker ( JWLB )] for high explosive detonation products. JWLB is suitable for overdriven detonation and material...In order to achieve a suitable equation of state, an appropriate equation of state form ( JWLB ) was derived. A standard explosive (octol 75/25) was...resulting equation of slate form, named Jones-Wilkens-Lcc-Baker ( JWLB ), is as follows: L ’L RiVJ .RiV+AJE + C(1.W(oH-l) -RoV X-JA^VC’V + O) The

Simulation and experimental research on spherical dome by 3D laser forming of square feet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lijun; Wang, Yang

2007-01-01

Laser forming is a technique of using the energy from a laser beam to modify and adjust the curvature of sheet metals or hard materials. 2-dimensional laser forming can reasonably accurately control bend angles with various materials. To advance this process further for realistic forming applications in a manufacturing industry, it is necessary to consider larger scale controlled 3-dimensional laser forming. However, this is a different situation for 3-dimensional laser forming. The work presented in this paper uses the spider scanning path to form the thin square sheet to spherical dome by laser forming. The explicit dynamic analysis on 3-dimentional laser forming is shown in the article. On the base of temperature gradient mechanism of 2-dimensional laser forming, depending on the geometry and the thermo-physical properties of stainless steel lCrl8Ni9Ti, develop the mechanism of laser forming of thin square sheet to the spherical dome. This paper discusses the interaction between moving laser beam and sheet, the temperature field on the sheet, and the step transition of stress and deformation in laser forming. In order to give the verification on the results of simulation, the correlative experiment has progressed with Lumonics JK7O2H Nd:YAG laser. The results of experiments are in accord with the simulation.

Conformation Control of a Conjugated Polymer through Complexation with Bile Acids Generates Its Novel Spectral and Morphological Properties.

PubMed

Tsuchiya, Youichi; Noguchi, Takao; Yoshihara, Daisuke; Roy, Bappaditya; Yamamoto, Tatsuhiro; Shinkai, Seiji

2016-11-29

Control of higher-order polymer structures attracts a great deal of interest for many researchers when they lead to the development of materials having various advanced functions. Among them, conjugated polymers that are useful as starting materials in the design of molecular wires are particularly attractive. However, an equilibrium existing between isolated chains and bundled aggregates is inevitable and has made their physical properties very complicated. As an attempt to simplify this situation, we previously reported that a polymer chain of a water-soluble polythiophene could be isolated through complexation with a helix-forming polysaccharide. More recently, a covalently self-threading polythiophene was reported, the main chain of which was physically protected from self-folding and chain-chain π-stacking. In this report, we wish to report a new strategy to isolate a water-soluble polythiophene and to control its higher-order structure by a supramolecular approach: that is, among a few bile acids, lithocholate can form stoichiometric complexes with cationic polythiophene to isolate the polymer chain, and the higher-order structure is changeable by the molar ratio. The optical and morphological studies have been thoroughly performed, and the resultant complex has been applied to the selective recognition of two AMP structural isomers.

Configuration of ripple domains and their topological defects formed under local mechanical stress on hexagonal monolayer graphene.

PubMed

Park, Yeonggu; Choi, Jin Sik; Choi, Taekjib; Lee, Mi Jung; Jia, Quanxi; Park, Minwoo; Lee, Hoonkyung; Park, Bae Ho

2015-03-24

Ripples in graphene are extensively investigated because they ensure the mechanical stability of two-dimensional graphene and affect its electronic properties. They arise from spontaneous symmetry breaking and are usually manifested in the form of domains with long-range order. It is expected that topological defects accompany a material exhibiting long-range order, whose functionality depends on characteristics of domains and topological defects. However, there remains a lack of understanding regarding ripple domains and their topological defects formed on monolayer graphene. Here we explore configuration of ripple domains and their topological defects in exfoliated monolayer graphenes on SiO2/Si substrates using transverse shear microscope. We observe three-color domains with three different ripple directions, which meet at a core. Furthermore, the closed domain is surrounded by an even number of cores connected together by domain boundaries, similar to topological vortex and anti-vortex pairs. In addition, we have found that axisymmetric three-color domains can be induced around nanoparticles underneath the graphene. This fascinating configuration of ripple domains may result from the intrinsic hexagonal symmetry of two-dimensional graphene, which is supported by theoretical simulation using molecular dynamics. Our findings are expected to play a key role in understanding of ripple physics in graphene and other two-dimensional materials.

Nanolayered Features of Collagen-like Peptides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valluzzi, Regina; Bini, Elisabetta; Haas, Terry; Cebe, Peggy; Kaplan, David L.

2003-01-01

We have been investigating collagen-like model oligopeptides as molecular bases for complex ordered biomimetic materials. The collagen-like molecules incorporate aspects of native collagen sequence and secondary structure. Designed modifications to native primary and secondary structure have been incorporated to control the nanostructure and microstructure of the collagen-like materials produced. We find that the collagen-like molecules form a number of lyotropic rod liquid crystalline phases, which because of their strong temperature dependence in the liquid state can also be viewed as solvent intercalated thermotropic liquid crystals. The liquid crystalline phases formed by the molecules can be captured in the solid state by drying off solvent, resulting in solid nanopatterned (chemically and physically) thermally stable (to greater than 100 C) materials. Designed sequences which stabilize smectic phases have allowed a variety of nanoscale multilayered biopolymeric materials to be developed. Preliminary investigations suggest that chemical patterns running perpendicular to the smectic layer plane can be functionalized and used to localize a variety of organic, inorganic, and organometallic moieties in very simple multilayered nanocomposites. The phase behavior of collagen-like oligopeptide materials is described, emphasizing the correlation between mesophase, molecular orientation, and chemical patterning at the microscale and nanoscale. In many cases, the textures observed for smectic and hexatic phase collagens are remarkably similar to the complex (and not fully understood) helicoids observed in biological collagen-based tissues. Comparisons between biological morphologies and collagen model liquid crystalline (and solidified materials) textures may help us understand the molecular features which impart order and function to the extracellular matrix and to collagen-based mineralized tissues. Initial studies have utilized synthetic collagen-like peptides while future work will also focus on similar sequences generated via genetic engineering methods.

Engineering the Ground State of Complex Oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyers, Derek Joseph

Transition metal oxides featuring strong electron-electron interactions have been at the forefront of condensed matter physics research in the past few decades due to the myriad of novel and exciting phases derived from their competing interactions. Beyond their numerous intriguing properties displayed in the bulk they have also shown to be quite susceptible to externally applied perturbation in various forms. The dominant theme of this work is the exploration of three emerging methods for engineering the ground states of these materials to access both their applicability and their deficiencies. The first of the three methods involves a relatively new set of compounds which adhere to a unique paradigm in chemical doping, a-site ordered perovskites. These compounds are iso-structural, i.e. constant symmetry, despite changing the dopant ions. We find that these materials, featuring Cu at the doped A-site, display the Zhang-Rice state, to varying degrees, found in high temperature superconducting cuprates, with the choice of B-site allowing "self-doping" within the material. Further, we find that within CaCu3Ir 4O12 the Cu gains a localized magnetic moment and leads to the experimentally observed heavy fermion state in the materials, one of only two such non-f-electron heavy fermion materials. Next, epitaxial constraint is used to modify the ground state of the rare-earth nickelates in ultra thin film form. Application of compressive (tensile) strain is found to suppress (maintain) the temperature at which the material goes through a Mott metal-insulator transition. Further, while for EuNiO3 thin films the typical bulk-like magnetic and charge ordering is found to occur, epitaxial strain is found to suppress the charge ordering in NdNiO3 thin films due to pinning to the substrate and the relatively weak tendency to monoclinically distort. Finally, the creation of superlattices of EuNiO3 and LaNiO3 was shown to not only allow the selection of the temperature at which the metal-insulator transition occurs, but through digital control the Ni site symmetry can be artificially broken leading to a previously unseen monoclinic metallic phase. Further, by creating a structure which does or does not match the bulk-like rock salt charge order pattern it was found this transition can be either strongly enhanced or removed entirely.

Method of assembling and sealing an alkali metal battery

DOEpatents

Elkins, Perry E.; Bell, Jerry E.; Harlow, Richard A.; Chase, Gordon G.

1983-01-01

A method of initially assembling and then subsequently hermetically sealing a container portion of an alkali metal battery to a ceramic portion of such a battery is disclosed. Sealing surfaces are formed respectively on a container portion and a ceramic portion of an alkali metal battery. These sealing surfaces are brought into juxtaposition and a material is interposed therebetween. This interposed material is one which will diffuse into sealing relationship with both the container portion and the ceramic portion of the alkali metal battery at operational temperatures of such a battery. A pressure is applied between these sealing surfaces to cause the interposed material to be brought into intimate physical contact with such juxtaposed surfaces. A temporary sealing material which will provide a seal against a flow of alkali metal battery reactants therethrough at room temperatures and is applied over the juxtaposed sealing surfaces and material interposed therebetween. The entire assembly is heated to an operational temperature so that the interposed material diffuses into the container portion and the ceramic portion to form a hermetic seal therebetween. The pressure applied to the juxtaposed sealing surfaces is maintained in order to ensure the continuation of the hermetic seal.

Method of assembling and sealing an alkali metal battery

DOEpatents

Elkins, P.E.; Bell, J.E.; Harlow, R.A.; Chase, G.G.

1983-03-01

A method of initially assembling and then subsequently hermetically sealing a container portion of an alkali metal battery to a ceramic portion of such a battery is disclosed. Sealing surfaces are formed respectively on a container portion and a ceramic portion of an alkali metal battery. These sealing surfaces are brought into juxtaposition and a material is interposed there between. This interposed material is one which will diffuse into sealing relationship with both the container portion and the ceramic portion of the alkali metal battery at operational temperatures of such a battery. A pressure is applied between these sealing surfaces to cause the interposed material to be brought into intimate physical contact with such juxtaposed surfaces. A temporary sealing material which will provide a seal against a flow of alkali metal battery reactants there through at room temperatures and is applied over the juxtaposed sealing surfaces and material interposed there between. The entire assembly is heated to an operational temperature so that the interposed material diffuses into the container portion and the ceramic portion to form a hermetic seal there between. The pressure applied to the juxtaposed sealing surfaces is maintained in order to ensure the continuation of the hermetic seal. 4 figs.

Comparison of the biological H2S removal characteristics among four inorganic packing materials.

PubMed

Hirai, M; Kamamoto, M; Yani, M; Shoda, M

2001-01-01

Four inorganic packing materials were evaluated in terms of their availability as packing materials of a packed tower deodorization apparatus (biofilter) from the viewpoints of biological H2S removal characteristics and some physical properties. Among porous ceramics (A), calcinated cristobalite (B), calcinated and formed obsidian (C), granulated and calcinated soil (D), the superiority of these packing materials determined based on the values of non-biological removal per unit weight or unit volume of packing material, complete removal capacity of H2S per unit weight of packing material per day or unit volume of packing material per day and pressure drop of the packed bed was in the order of A approximately equal to C > D approximately equal to B, which is correlated with the maximum water content, porosity, and mean pore diameter.

Imaging of Crystalline and Amorphous Surface Regions Using Time-of-Flight Secondary-Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS): Application to Pharmaceutical Materials.

PubMed

Iuraş, Andreea; Scurr, David J; Boissier, Catherine; Nicholas, Mark L; Roberts, Clive J; Alexander, Morgan R

2016-04-05

The structure of a material, in particular the extremes of crystalline and amorphous forms, significantly impacts material performance in numerous sectors such as semiconductors, energy storage, and pharmaceutical products, which are investigated in this paper. To characterize the spatial distribution for crystalline-amorphous forms at the uppermost molecular surface layer, we performed time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) measurements for quench-cooled amorphous and recrystallized samples of the drugs indomethacin, felodipine, and acetaminophen. Polarized light microscopy was used to localize crystallinity induced in the samples under controlled conditions. Principal component analysis was used to identify the subtle changes in the ToF-SIMS spectra indicative of the amorphous and crystalline forms for each drug. The indicators of amorphous and crystalline surfaces were common in type across the three drugs, and could be explained in general terms of crystal packing and intermolecular bonding, leading to intramolecular bond scission in the formation of secondary ions. Less intramolecular scission occurred in the amorphous form, resulting in a greater intensity of molecular and dimer secondary ions. To test the generality of amorphous-crystalline differentiation using ToF-SIMS, a different recrystallization method was investigated where acetaminophen single crystals were recrystallized from supersaturated solutions. The findings indicated that the ability to assign the crystalline/amorphous state of the sample using ToF-SIMS was insensitive to the recrystallization method. This demonstrates that ToF-SIMS is capable of detecting and mapping ordered crystalline and disordered amorphous molecular materials forms at micron spatial resolution in the uppermost surface of a material.

Integrating Multimedia into the Malaysian Classroom: Engaging Students in Interactive Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neo, Tse-Kian; Neo, Mai

2004-01-01

In recent years, with the infusion of the multimedia technology into the education arena, traditional educational materials can be translated into interactive electronic form through the use of multimedia authoring tools. This has allowed teachers to design and incorporate multimedia elements and choreograph them in an orderly sequence to convey…

29 CFR 18.103 - Rulings on evidence.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... is more probably true than not true that the error did not materially contribute to the decision or... if explicitly not relied upon by the judge in support of the decision or order. (b) Record of offer... making of an offer in question and answer form. (c) Plain error. Nothing in this rule precludes taking...

Digital Learning Material for Model Building in Molecular Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aegerter-Wilmsen, Tinri; Janssen, Fred; Hartog, Rob; Bisseling, Ton

2005-01-01

Building models to describe processes forms an essential part of molecular biology research. However, in molecular biology curricula little attention is generally being paid to the development of this skill. In order to provide students the opportunity to improve their model building skills, we decided to develop a number of digital cases about…

A Curriculum Guide for Achieving Equity in Education and the Workplace.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vocational Curriculum Resource Center of Maine, Fairfield.

This curriculum guide provides instructional materials that offer suggestions and strategies to change mindsets and remove barriers in order to pave the way for a gender-equitable, technically trained work force. A DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) chart forms the basis for the task performance guides provided for five audiences: students,…

Nonlinear probabilistic finite element models of laminated composite shells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Engelstad, S. P.; Reddy, J. N.

1993-01-01

A probabilistic finite element analysis procedure for laminated composite shells has been developed. A total Lagrangian finite element formulation, employing a degenerated 3-D laminated composite shell with the full Green-Lagrange strains and first-order shear deformable kinematics, forms the modeling foundation. The first-order second-moment technique for probabilistic finite element analysis of random fields is employed and results are presented in the form of mean and variance of the structural response. The effects of material nonlinearity are included through the use of a rate-independent anisotropic plasticity formulation with the macroscopic point of view. Both ply-level and micromechanics-level random variables can be selected, the latter by means of the Aboudi micromechanics model. A number of sample problems are solved to verify the accuracy of the procedures developed and to quantify the variability of certain material type/structure combinations. Experimental data is compared in many cases, and the Monte Carlo simulation method is used to check the probabilistic results. In general, the procedure is quite effective in modeling the mean and variance response of the linear and nonlinear behavior of laminated composite shells.

Ordered Nanostructured Amphiphile Self-Assembly Materials from Endogenous Nonionic Unsaturated Monoethanolamide Lipids in Water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sagnella, Sharon M.; Conn, Charlotte E.; Krodkiewska, Irena

2010-08-23

The self-assembly, solid state and lyotropic liquid crystalline phase behavior of a series of endogenous n-acylethanolamides (NAEs) with differing degrees of unsaturation, viz., oleoyl monoethanolamide, linoleoyl monoethanolamide, and linolenoyl monoethanolamide, have been examined. The studied molecules are known to possess inherent biological function. Both the monoethanolamide headgroup and the unsaturated hydrophobe are found to be important in dictating the self-assembly behavior of these molecules. In addition, all three molecules form lyotropic liquid crystalline phases in water, including the inverse bicontinuous cubic diamond (Q{sub II}{sup D}) and gyroid (Q{sub II}{sup G}) phases. The ability of the NAE's to form inverse cubicmore » phases and to be dispersed into ordered nanostructured colloidal particles, cubosomes, in excess water, combined with their endogenous nature and natural medicinal properties, makes this new class of soft mesoporous amphiphile self-assembly materials suitable candidates for investigation in a variety of advanced multifunctional applications, including encapsulation and controlled release of therapeutic agents and incorporation of medical imaging agents.« less

Performance of two differently designed permeable reactive barriers with sulfate and zinc solutions.

PubMed

Pérez, Norma; Schwarz, Alex O; Barahona, Esteban; Sanhueza, Pamela; Diaz, Isabel; Urrutia, Homero

2018-06-18

For the first time, this laboratory-scale study evaluates the feasibility of incorporating diffusive exchange in permeable reactive barriers. In order to do this, the performance of two permeable reactive barriers (PRB) with different internal substrate arrangements were compared during the administration of a sulfate solution without metals (for 163 days) and with metals (for 60 days), simulating groundwater contaminated with acid mine drainage (AMD). In order to simulate a traditional PRB, a homogeneous distribution was implemented in the first reactor and the other PRB reactor utilized diffusion-active technology (DAPRB). In the DAPRB, the distribution of the reactive material was interspersed with the conductive material. The measurements in the internal ports showed that transverse gradients of sulfide formed in the DAPRB, causing the diffusion of sulfide from the substrate toward the layer interface, which is where the sulfide reacts by forming complexes with the metal. The DAPRB prevents the microorganisms from direct contact with AMD. This protection caused greater activity (sulfide production). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self Assembled Structures by Directional Solidification of Eutectics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dynys, Frederick W.; Sayir, Ali

2004-01-01

Interest in ordered porous structures has grown because of there unique properties such as photonic bandgaps, high backing packing density and high surface to volume ratio. Inspired by nature, biometric strategies using self assembled organic molecules dominate the development of hierarchical inorganic structures. Directional solidification of eutectics (DSE) also exhibit self assembly characteristics to form hierarchical metallic and inorganic structures. Crystallization of diphasic materials by DSE can produce two dimensional ordered structures consisting of rods or lamella. By selective removal of phases, DSE is capable to fabricate ordered pore arrays or ordered pin arrays. Criteria and limitations to fabricate hierarchical structures will be presented. Porous structures in silicon base alloys and ceramic systems will be reported.

Theoretical backgrounds of non-tempered materials production based on new raw materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lesovik, V. S.; Volodchenko, A. A.; Glagolev, E. S.; Chernysheva, N. V.; Lashina, I. V.; Feduk, R. S.

2018-03-01

One of the trends in construction material science is development and implementation of highly effective finish materials which improve architectural exterior of cities. Silicate materials widely-used in the construction today have rather low decorative properties. Different coloring agents are used in order to produce competitive materials, but due to the peculiarities of the production, process very strict specifications are applied to them. The use of industrial wastes or variety of rock materials as coloring agents is of great interest nowadays. The article shows that clay rock can be used as raw material in production of finish materials of non-autoclaved solidification. This raw material due to its material composition actively interacts with cementing component in steam treatment at 90–95 °C with formation of cementing joints that form a firm coagulative-cristalized and crystallization structure of material providing high physic-mechanical properties of silicate goods. It is determined that energy-saving, colored finish materials with compression strength up to 16 MPa can be produced from clay rocks.

Numerical investigations on the lateral angular co-extrusion of aluminium and steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behrens, B.-A.; Klose, C.; Chugreev, A.; Thürer, S. E.; Uhe, J.

2018-05-01

In order to save weight and costs, different materials can be combined within one component. In the novel process chain being developed within the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1153, joined semi-finished workpieces are used to produce hybrid solid components with locally adapted properties. Different materials are joined in an initial step before the forming process takes place. Hereby, the quality of the joining zone is improved by means of the thermo-mechanical treatment during the forming and machining processes. The lateral angular co-extrusion (LACE) approach is used to produce semi-finished workpieces because it allows for the production of coaxial semi-finished products consisting of aluminium and steel. In the further process chain, these semi-finished products are processed into hybrid bearing bushings with locally adapted properties by die forging. In the scope of this work, numerical investigations of the co-extrusion of aluminium-steel compounds were carried out using finite element (FE) simulation in order to examine the influence of the process parameters on the co-extrusion process. For this purpose, the relevant material properties of the aluminium alloy EN AW-6082 were determined experimentally and subsequently implemented in the numerical model. The obtained numerical model was used to study the impact of different ram speeds, press ratios and billet temperatures on the resulting extrusion forces and the material flow. The numerical results have been validated using force-time curves obtained from experimental extrusion tests carried out on a 2.5 MN laboratory extrusion press.

DNA-nanoparticle assemblies go organic: Macroscopic polymeric materials with nanosized features

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background One of the goals in the field of structural DNA nanotechnology is the use of DNA to build up 2- and 3-D nanostructures. The research in this field is motivated by the remarkable structural features of DNA as well as by its unique and reversible recognition properties. Nucleic acids can be used alone as the skeleton of a broad range of periodic nanopatterns and nanoobjects and in addition, DNA can serve as a linker or template to form DNA-hybrid structures with other materials. This approach can be used for the development of new detection strategies as well as nanoelectronic structures and devices. Method Here we present a new method for the generation of unprecedented all-organic conjugated-polymer nanoparticle networks guided by DNA, based on a hierarchical self-assembly process. First, microphase separation of amphiphilic block copolymers induced the formation of spherical nanoobjects. As a second ordering concept, DNA base pairing has been employed for the controlled spatial definition of the conjugated-polymer particles within the bulk material. These networks offer the flexibility and the diversity of soft polymeric materials. Thus, simple chemical methodologies could be applied in order to tune the network's electrical, optical and mechanical properties. Results and conclusions One- two- and three-dimensional networks have been successfully formed. Common to all morphologies is the integrity of the micelles consisting of DNA block copolymer (DBC), which creates an all-organic engineered network. PMID:22646980

Investigations of the local environment and macroscopic alignment behavior of novel polymerizeable lyotropic liquid crystals using nuclear magnetic resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juang, Elizabeth

In this dissertation, a variety of NMR techniques were used to explore the local environment of novel polymerizeable lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC). The LLC monomers examined in this study self-assemble in the presence of a small amount of water to form uniform, nanometer-scale tubes with aqueous interiors. The phase architecture is retained upon photopolymerization to yield the resulting nanoporous material. By dissolving reactive precursors into the aqueous phase, well- structured nancomposite materials have also been formed. Proposed uses for these novel polymerizeable LLCs are as porous water filtration membranes, as heterogeneous organic catalysts, and as nanocomposite materials for load bearing and optical applications. In order to better exploit these polymerizeable LLCs for materials development, the local environment must be examined. In addition, the macroscopic orientation of these materials remains an important step in their advancement. Various NMR studies were conducted on these novel LLCs. NMR T1 relaxation measurements were conducted to elucidate the local environment and dynamics of the 23Na counterions located inside the aqueous channels. 2H NMR line shape analyses were used to characterize the local structure and dynamics near the hydrophilic headgroup. 29 Si NMR studies were performed on silica nanocomposites formed with these LLC structures. Finally, the macroscopic alignment behavior of these novel LLCs using shear and magnetic fields was examined.

Effect of material flexibility on the thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrophobically induced evaporation of water.

PubMed

Altabet, Y Elia; Haji-Akbari, Amir; Debenedetti, Pablo G

2017-03-28

The evaporation of water induced by confinement between hydrophobic surfaces has received much attention due to its suggested functional role in numerous biophysical phenomena and its importance as a general mechanism of hydrophobic self-assembly. Although much progress has been made in understanding the basic physics of hydrophobically induced evaporation, a comprehensive understanding of the substrate material features (e.g., geometry, chemistry, and mechanical properties) that promote or inhibit such transitions remains lacking. In particular, comparatively little research has explored the relationship between water's phase behavior in hydrophobic confinement and the mechanical properties of the confining material. Here, we report the results of extensive molecular simulations characterizing the rates, free energy barriers, and mechanism of water evaporation when confined between model hydrophobic materials with tunable flexibility. A single-order-of-magnitude reduction in the material's modulus results in up to a nine-orders-of-magnitude increase in the evaporation rate, with the corresponding characteristic time decreasing from tens of seconds to tens of nanoseconds. Such a modulus reduction results in a 24-orders-of-magnitude decrease in the reverse rate of condensation, with time scales increasing from nanoseconds to tens of millions of years. Free energy calculations provide the barriers to evaporation and confirm our previous theoretical predictions that making the material more flexible stabilizes the confined vapor with respect to liquid. The mechanism of evaporation involves surface bubbles growing/coalescing to form a subcritical gap-spanning tube, which then must grow to cross the barrier.

Atomic-order thermal nitridation of group IV semiconductors for ultra-large-scale integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murota, Junichi; Le Thanh, Vinh

2015-03-01

One of the main requirements for ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) is atomic-order control of process technology. Our concept of atomically controlled processing for group IV semiconductors is based on atomic-order surface reaction control in Si-based CVD epitaxial growth. On the atomic-order surface nitridation of a few nm-thick Ge/about 4 nm-thick Si0.5Ge0.5/Si(100) by NH3, it is found that N atoms diffuse through nm-order thick Ge layer into Si0.5Ge0.5/Si(100) substrate and form Si nitride, even at 500 °C. By subsequent H2 heat treatment, although N atomic amount in Ge layer is reduced drastically, the reduction of the Si nitride is slight. It is suggested that N diffusion in Ge layer is suppressed by the formation of Si nitride and that Ge/atomic-order N layer/Si1-xGex/Si (100) heterostructure is formed. These results demonstrate the capability of CVD technology for atomically controlled nitridation of group IV semiconductors for ultra-large-scale integration. Invited talk at the 7th International Workshop on Advanced Materials Science and Nanotechnology IWAMSN2014, 2-6 November, 2014, Ha Long, Vietnam.

The effective compliance of spatially evolving planar wing-cracks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayyagari, R. S.; Daphalapurkar, N. P.; Ramesh, K. T.

2018-02-01

We present an analytic closed form solution for anisotropic change in compliance due to the spatial evolution of planar wing-cracks in a material subjected to largely compressive loading. A fully three-dimensional anisotropic compliance tensor is defined and evaluated considering the wing-crack mechanism, using a mixed-approach based on kinematic and energetic arguments to derive the coefficients in incremental compliance. Material, kinematic and kinetic parametric influences on the increments in compliance are studied in order to understand their physical implications on material failure. Model verification is carried out through comparisons to experimental uniaxial compression results to showcase the predictive capabilities of the current study.

Fragmentation of structural energetic materials: implications for performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aydelotte, B.; Braithwaite, C. H.; Thadhani, N. N.

2014-05-01

Fragmentation results for structural energetic materials based on intermetallic forming mixtures are reviewed and the implications of the fragment populations are discussed. Cold sprayed Ni+Al and explosively compacted mixtures of Ni+Al+W and Ni+Al+W+Zr powders were fabricated into ring shaped samples and explosively fragmented. Ring velocity was monitored and fragments were soft captured in order to study the fragmentation process. It was determined that the fragments produced by these structural energetic materials are much smaller than those typically produced by ductile metals such as steel or aluminum. This has implications for combustion processes that may occur subsequent to the fragmentation process.

Quantitative model of super-Arrhenian behavior in glass forming materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caruthers, J. M.; Medvedev, G. A.

2018-05-01

The key feature of glass forming liquids is the super-Arrhenian temperature dependence of the mobility, where the mobility can increase by ten orders of magnitude or more as the temperature is decreased if crystallization does not intervene. A fundamental description of the super-Arrhenian behavior has been developed; specifically, the logarithm of the relaxation time is a linear function of 1 /U¯x , where U¯x is the independently determined excess molar internal energy and B is a material constant. This one-parameter mobility model quantitatively describes data for 21 glass forming materials, which are all the materials where there are sufficient experimental data for analysis. The effect of pressure on the loga mobility is also described using the same U¯x(T ,p ) function determined from the difference between the liquid and crystalline internal energies. It is also shown that B is well correlated with the heat of fusion. The prediction of the B /U¯x model is compared to the Adam and Gibbs 1 /T S¯x model, where the B /U¯x model is significantly better in unifying the full complement of mobility data. The implications of the B /U¯x model for the development of a fundamental description of glass are discussed.

Formulation and process considerations affecting the stability of solid dosage forms formulated with methacrylate copolymers.

PubMed

Petereit, H U; Weisbrod, W

1999-01-01

General considerations concerning the stability of coated dosage forms are discussed, in order to avoid predictable interactions which may cause long-term stability problems. As polymers themselves maintain a high chemical stability and a low reactivity, instability phenomena mainly have to be explained by interactions of low molecular weight substances or physical changes. Possible interactions of functional groups can be predicted easily and insulating subcoates are proper countermeasures. Impurities, remaining in the polymeric material from the manufacturing process, may accelerate the hydrolysis of sensitive drugs. Instabilities of coated dosage forms are mainly based on physical interactions, caused by improper formulations of coating suspensions (i.e. plasticizers or pigments) or the film coating process. Residual moisture or solvents, probably enclosed in the core and migrating over time, may increase the permeability of coatings, due to plasticizing effects. The functionality of coatings from aqueous dispersions is linked to coalescence of latex particles. Thus any incomplete film formation, caused by too high or too low coating temperatures, may result in high permeable coatings. During storage, preferably under stress conditions this process will continue and thus change the release profile. Therefore bed temperatures of 10-20 degrees C above MFT must ensure the formation of homogeneous polymer layers during the coating process. Stability test procedures and packaging materials also need to be adapted to the physicochemical properties of the dosage form, in order to get meaningful results in stability tests.

Nanostructured Block Copolymer Solutions and Composites: Mechanical and Structural Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, Lynn

2015-03-01

Self-assembled block copolymer templates are used to control the nanoscale structure of materials that would not otherwise order in solution. In this work, we have developed a technique to use close-packed cubic and cylindrical mesophases of a thermoreversible block copolymer (PEO-PPO-PEO) to impart spatial order on dispersed nanoparticles. The thermoreversible nature of the template allows for the dispersion of particles synthesized outside the template. This feature extends the applicability of this templating method to many particle-polymer systems, including proteins, and also permits a systematic evaluation of the impact of design parameters on the structure and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. The criteria for forming co-crystals have been characterized using small-angle scatting and the mechanical properties of these soft crystals determined. Numerous crystal structures have been reported for the block copolymer system and we have taken advantage of several to generate soft co-crystals. The result of this templating is spatially ordered nanoparticle arrays embedded within the block copolymer nanostructure. These soft materials can be shear aligned into crystals with long range order and this shear alignment is discussed. Finally, the dynamics of nanoparticles within the nanostructured material are characterized with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). The applications and general behavior of these nanostructured hydrogels are outlined.

Functional organic materials based on polymerized liquid-crystal monomers: supramolecular hydrogen-bonded systems.

PubMed

Broer, Dirk J; Bastiaansen, Cees M W; Debije, Michael G; Schenning, Albertus P H J

2012-07-16

Functional organic materials are of great interest for a variety of applications. To obtain precise functional properties, well-defined hierarchically ordered supramolecular materials are crucial. The self-assembly of liquid crystals has proven to be an extremely useful tool in the development of well-defined nanostructured materials. We have chosen the illustrative example of photopolymerizable hydrogen-bonding mesogens to show that a wide variety of functional materials can be made from a relatively simple set of building blocks. Upon mixing these compounds with other reactive mesogens, nematic, chiral nematic, and smectic or columnar liquid-crystalline phases can be formed that can be applied as actuators, sensors and responsive reflectors, and nanoporous membranes, respectively. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Study on the light-color mixing of rare earth luminescent materials for anti-counterfeiting application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jishu; Zhang, Yingzi; Tao, Jin; Zhu, Yanan

2018-04-01

In order to find out the light color mixing mechanism of rare earth luminescent materials used in anti-counterfeiting fibers, we prepared three kinds of rare earth luminescent materials according to RGB tri-primary color, and mixed it together to form different mixtures in certain proportion. The phase structures of the luminescent material monomers were measured by x-ray diffractometer. The photochromic properties of the luminescent materials were tested and analyzed by fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results show that the light color mixing was consistent with the blending principle of additive color, but not the same because of the photochromic properties of rare earth luminescent materials, and we explored the reasons in the light wavelength and intensity. It was found that the enhancement of the luminescence intensity of the mixture on account of the superimposing of luminescence.

Recent developments in the fabrication of ordered nanostructure arrays based on nanosphere lithography.

PubMed

Wei, Xueyong

2010-11-01

Since it was invented two decades ago, Nanosphere Lithography (NSL) has been widely studied as a low cost and flexible technique to fabricate nanostructures. Based on the registered patents and some selected papers, this review will discuss recent developments of different NSL strategies for the fabrication of ordered nanostructure arrays. The mechanism of self-assembly process and the techniques for preparing the self-assembled nanosphere template are first briefly introduced. The nanosphere templates are used either as shadow masks or as moulds for pattern transfer. Much more work now combines NSL with other lithographic techniques and material growth methods to form novel nanostructures of complex shape or various materials. Hence, this review finally gives a discussion on some future directions in NSL study.

Conformation-Directed Formation of Self-Healing Diblock Copolypeptide Hydrogels via Polyion Complexation.

PubMed

Sun, Yintao; Wollenberg, Alexander L; O'Shea, Timothy Mark; Cui, Yanxiang; Zhou, Z Hong; Sofroniew, Michael V; Deming, Timothy J

2017-10-25

Synthetic diblock copolypeptides were designed to incorporate oppositely charged ionic segments that form β-sheet-structured hydrogel assemblies via polyion complexation when mixed in aqueous media. The observed chain conformation directed assembly was found to be required for efficient hydrogel formation and provided distinct and useful properties to these hydrogels, including self-healing after deformation, microporous architecture, and stability against dilution in aqueous media. While many promising self-assembled materials have been prepared using disordered or liquid coacervate polyion complex (PIC) assemblies, the use of ordered chain conformations in PIC assemblies to direct formation of new supramolecular morphologies is unprecedented. The promising attributes and unique features of the β-sheet-structured PIC hydrogels described here highlight the potential of harnessing conformational order derived from PIC assembly to create new supramolecular materials.

Joining of aluminum sheet and glass fiber reinforced polymer using extruded pins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conte, Romina; Buhl, Johannes; Ambrogio, Giuseppina; Bambach, Markus

2018-05-01

The present contribution proposes a new approach for joining sheet metal and fiber reinforced composites. The joining process draws upon a Friction Stir Forming (FSF) process, which is performed on the metal sheet to produce slender pins. These pins are used to pierce through the composite. Joining is complete by forming a locking head out of the part if the pin sticks out of the composite. Pins of different diameters and lengths were produced from EN AW-1050 material, which were joined to glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6. The strength of the joint has been experimentally tested in order to understand the effect of the process temperature on the pins strength and therefore on the joining. The results demonstrate the feasibility of this new technique, which uses no excess material.

Constraints on the formation age of cometary material from the NASA Stardust mission.

PubMed

Matzel, J E P; Ishii, H A; Joswiak, D; Hutcheon, I D; Bradley, J P; Brownlee, D; Weber, P K; Teslich, N; Matrajt, G; McKeegan, K D; MacPherson, G J

2010-04-23

We measured the 26Al-26Mg isotope systematics of a approximately 5-micrometer refractory particle, Coki, returned from comet 81P/Wild 2 in order to relate the time scales of formation of cometary inclusions to their meteoritic counterparts. The data show no evidence of radiogenic 26Mg and define an upper limit to the abundance of 26Al at the time of particle formation: 26Al/27Al < 1 x 10(-5). The absence of 26Al indicates that Coki formed >1.7 million years after the oldest solids in the solar system, calcium- and aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs). The data suggest that high-temperature inner solar system material formed, was subsequently transferred to the Kuiper Belt, and was incorporated into comets several million years after CAI formation.

SHIPMENT OF TWO DOE-STD-3013 CONTAINERS IN A 9977 TYPE B PACKAGE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abramczyk, G.; Bellamy, S.; Loftin, B.

2011-06-06

The 9977 is a certified Type B Packaging authorized to ship uranium and plutonium in metal and oxide forms. Historically, the standard container for these materials has been the DOE-STD-3013 which was specifically designed for the long term storage of plutonium bearing materials. The Department of Energy has used the 9975 Packaging containing a single 3013 container for the transportation and storage of these materials. In order to reduce container, shipping, and storage costs, the 9977 Packaging is being certified for transportation and storage of two 3013 containers. The challenges and risks of this content and the 9977s ability tomore » meet the Code of Federal Regulations for the transport of these materials are presented.« less

Outgassing of solid material into vacuum thermal insulation spaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Pao-Lien

1994-01-01

Many cryogenic storage tanks use vacuum between inner and outer tank for thermal insulation. These cryogenic tanks also use a radiation shield barrier in the vacuum space to prevent radiation heat transfer. This shield is usually constructed by using multiple wraps of aluminized mylar and glass paper as inserts. For obtaining maximum thermal performance, a good vacuum level must be maintained with the insulation system. It has been found that over a period of time solid insulation materials will vaporize into the vacuum space and the vacuum will degrade. In order to determine the degradation of vacuum, the rate of outgassing of the insulation materials must be determined. Outgassing rate of several insulation materials obtained from literature search were listed in tabular form.

2D and 3D photonic crystal materials for photocatalysis and electrochemical energy storage and conversion.

PubMed

Collins, Gillian; Armstrong, Eileen; McNulty, David; O'Hanlon, Sally; Geaney, Hugh; O'Dwyer, Colm

2016-01-01

This perspective reviews recent advances in inverse opal structures, how they have been developed, studied and applied as catalysts, catalyst support materials, as electrode materials for batteries, water splitting applications, solar-to-fuel conversion and electrochromics, and finally as photonic photocatalysts and photoelectrocatalysts. Throughout, we detail some of the salient optical characteristics that underpin recent results and form the basis for light-matter interactions that span electrochemical energy conversion systems as well as photocatalytic systems. Strategies for using 2D as well as 3D structures, ordered macroporous materials such as inverse opals are summarized and recent work on plasmonic-photonic coupling in metal nanoparticle-infiltrated wide band gap inverse opals for enhanced photoelectrochemistry are provided.

PHOTONICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY Laser nanostructuring of materials surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zavestovskaya, I. N.

2010-12-01

This paper reviews results of experimental and theoretical studies of surface micro- and nanostructuring of metals and other materials irradiated directly by short and ultrashort laser pulses. Special attention is paid to direct laser action involving melting of the material (with or without ablation), followed by ultrarapid surface solidification, which is an effective approach to producing surface nanostructures. Theoretical analysis of recrystallisation kinetics after irradiation by ultrashort laser pulses makes it possible to determine the volume fraction of crystallised phase and the average size of forming crystalline structures as functions of laser treatment regime and thermodynamic properties of the material. The present results can be used to optimise pulsed laser treatment regime in order to ensure control nanostructuring of metal surfaces.

Aging mechanisms in amorphous phase-change materials.

PubMed

Raty, Jean Yves; Zhang, Wei; Luckas, Jennifer; Chen, Chao; Mazzarello, Riccardo; Bichara, Christophe; Wuttig, Matthias

2015-06-24

Aging is a ubiquitous phenomenon in glasses. In the case of phase-change materials, it leads to a drift in the electrical resistance, which hinders the development of ultrahigh density storage devices. Here we elucidate the aging process in amorphous GeTe, a prototypical phase-change material, by advanced numerical simulations, photothermal deflection spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy experiments. We show that aging is accompanied by a progressive change of the local chemical order towards the crystalline one. Yet, the glass evolves towards a covalent amorphous network with increasing Peierls distortion, whose structural and electronic properties drift away from those of the resonantly bonded crystal. This behaviour sets phase-change materials apart from conventional glass-forming systems, which display the same local structure and bonding in both phases.

2D and 3D photonic crystal materials for photocatalysis and electrochemical energy storage and conversion

PubMed Central

Collins, Gillian; Armstrong, Eileen; McNulty, David; O’Hanlon, Sally; Geaney, Hugh; O’Dwyer, Colm

2016-01-01

Abstract This perspective reviews recent advances in inverse opal structures, how they have been developed, studied and applied as catalysts, catalyst support materials, as electrode materials for batteries, water splitting applications, solar-to-fuel conversion and electrochromics, and finally as photonic photocatalysts and photoelectrocatalysts. Throughout, we detail some of the salient optical characteristics that underpin recent results and form the basis for light-matter interactions that span electrochemical energy conversion systems as well as photocatalytic systems. Strategies for using 2D as well as 3D structures, ordered macroporous materials such as inverse opals are summarized and recent work on plasmonic–photonic coupling in metal nanoparticle-infiltrated wide band gap inverse opals for enhanced photoelectrochemistry are provided. PMID:27877904

Multifunctional mesoporous silica nanoparticles for combined therapeutic, diagnostic and targeted action in cancer treatment.

PubMed

Rosenholm, Jessica M; Sahlgren, Cecilia; Lindén, Mika

2011-07-01

The main objective in the development of nanomedicine is to obtain delivery platforms for targeted delivery of drugs or imaging agents for improved therapeutic efficacy, reduced side effects and increased diagnostic sensitivity. A (nano)material class that has been recognized for its controllable properties on many levels is ordered mesoporous inorganic materials, typically in the form of amorphous silica (SiO2). Characteristics for this class of materials include mesoscopic order, tunable pore dimensions in the (macro)molecular size range, a high pore volume and surface area, the possibility for selective surface functionality as well as morphology control. The robust but biodegradable ceramic matrix moreover provides shelter for incorporated agents (drugs, proteins, imaging agents, photosensitizers) leaving the outer particle surface free for further modification. The unique features make these materials particularly amenable to modular design, whereby functional moieties and features may be interchanged or combined to produce multifunctional nanodelivery systems combining targeting, diagnostic, and therapeutic actions. This review covers the latest developments related to the use of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) as nanocarriers in biomedical applications, with special focus on cancer therapy and diagnostics.

Continuation of tailored composite structures of ordered staple thermoplastic material

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santare, Michael H.; Pipes, R. Byron

1992-01-01

The search for the cost effective composite structure has motivated the investigation of several approaches to develop composite structure from innovative material forms. Among the promising approaches is the conversion of a planar sheet to components of complex curvature through sheet forming or stretch forming. In both cases, the potential for material stretch in the fiber direction appears to offer a clear advantage in formability over continuous fiber systems. A framework was established which allows the simulation of the anisotropic mechanisms of deformation of long discontinuous fiber laminates wherein the matrix phase is a viscous fluid. Predictions for the effective viscosities of a hyper-anisotropic medium consisting of collimated, discontinuous fibers suspended in viscous matrix were extended to capture the characteristics of typical polymers including non-Newtonian behavior and temperature dependence. In addition, the influence of fiber misorientation was also modeled by compliance averaging to determine ensemble properties for a given orientation distribution. A design tool is presented for predicting the effect of material heterogeneity on the performance of curved composite beams such as those used in aircraft fuselage structures. Material heterogeneity can be induced during manufacturing processes such as sheet forming and stretch forming of thermoplastic composites. This heterogeneity can be introduced in the form of fiber realignment and spreading during the manufacturing process causing radial and tangential gradients in material properties. Two analysis procedures are used to solve the beam problems. The first method uses separate two-dimensional elasticity solutions for the stresses in the flange and web sections of the beam. The separate solutions are coupled by requiring that forces and displacements match section boundaries. The second method uses an approximate Rayleigh-Ritz technique to find the solutions for more complex beams. Analyses are performed for curved beams of various cross-sections loaded in pure bending and with a uniform distributed load. Preliminary results show that the geometry of the beam dictates the effect of heterogeneity on performance. The role of heterogeneity is larger in beams with a small average radius-to-depth ration, R/t, where R is the average radius of the beam and t is the difference between the inside and outside radii. Results of the anlysis are in the form of stresses and displacements and are compared to both mechanics of materials and numerical solutions obtained using finite element analysis.

Language Acquisition and Language Learning: Developing the System of External and Internal Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zascerinska, Jelena

2010-01-01

Introduction. The use of three-five languages is of the greatest importance in order to form varied cooperative networks for the creation of new knowledge. Aim of the paper is to analyze the synergy between language acquisition and language learning. Materials and Methods. The search for the synergy between language acquisition and language…

The effects of embedded internal delaminations on composite laminate compression strength; an experimental review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nettles, Alan T.

1994-01-01

Delaminations in laminated composite materials can degrade the compressive strength of these materials. Delaminations can form as a result of impact damage or processing flaws. In order to better understand the effects of these delaminations on the compressive behavior of laminated composite plates, programs have been conducted to assess the criticality of prescribed delaminations of known size, shape, and location on the compression strength of laminated composites. A review of these programs is presented along with highlights of pertinent findings from each.

Assembly of Layered Monetite-Chitosan Nanocomposite and Its Transition to Organized Hydroxyapatite.

PubMed

Ruan, Qichao; Liberman, David; Zhang, Yuzheng; Ren, Dongni; Zhang, Yunpeng; Nutt, Steven; Moradian-Oldak, Janet

2016-06-13

Bioinspired synthesis of hierarchically structured calcium phosphate (CaP) material is a highly promising strategy for developing improved bone substitute materials. However, synthesis of CaP materials with outstanding mechanical properties still remains an ongoing challenge. Inspired by the formation of lamellar structure in nacre, we designed an organic matrix composed of chitosan and cis-butenediolic acid (maleic acid, MAc) that could assemble into a layered complex and further guide the mineralization of monetite crystals, resulting in the formation of organized and parallel arrays of monetite platelets with a brick-and-mortar structure. Using the layered monetite-chitosan composite as a precursor, we were able to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HAp) with multiscale hierarchically ordered structure via a topotactic phase transformation process. On the nanoscale, needlelike HAp crystallites assembled into organized bundles that aligned to form highly oriented plates on the microscale. On the large-scale level, these plates with different crystal orientations were stacked together to form a layered structure. The organized structures and composite feature yielded CaP materials with improved mechanical properties close to those of bone. Our study introduces a biomimetic approach that may be practical for the design of advanced, mechanically robust materials for biomedical applications.

An Experimental Investigation on the Generation of a Stable Arch in Granular Materials Using a Developed Trapdoor Apparatus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadi, Ali; Seyedi Hosseininia, Ehsan

2017-06-01

This paper discusses the formation of stable arches in granular materials by using a series of laboratory tests. To this aim, a developed trapdoor apparatus is designed to find dimensions of arches formed over the door in cohesionless aggregates. This setup has two new important applications. In order to investigate the maximum width of the opening generated exactly on the verge of failure, the door can be open to an arbitrary size. In addition, the box containing granular materials (or base angle) is able to be set on optional angles from zero to 90 degrees with respect to the horizontal. Therefore, it is possible to understand the effect of different levels of gravity accelerations on the formed arches. It is observed that for all tested granular materials, increasing the door size and decreasing the base angle, both cause to increase the width and height of the arch. Moreover, the shape of all arches is governed by a parabola. Furthermore, the maximum door width is approximately five to 8.6 times the particle size, depending on the internal friction angle of materials and the base angle.

Dodecagonal quasicrystalline order in a diblock copolymer melt.

PubMed

Gillard, Timothy M; Lee, Sangwoo; Bates, Frank S

2016-05-10

We report the discovery of a dodecagonal quasicrystalline state (DDQC) in a sphere (micelle) forming poly(isoprene-b-lactide) (IL) diblock copolymer melt, investigated as a function of time following rapid cooling from above the order-disorder transition temperature (TODT = 66 °C) using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements. Between TODT and the order-order transition temperature TOOT = 42 °C, an equilibrium body-centered cubic (BCC) structure forms, whereas below TOOT the Frank-Kasper σ phase is the stable morphology. At T < 40 °C the supercooled disordered state evolves into a metastable DDQC that transforms with time to the σ phase. The times required to form the DDQC and σ phases are strongly temperature dependent, requiring several hours and about 2 d at 35 °C and more than 10 and 200 d at 25 °C, respectively. Remarkably, the DDQC forms only from the supercooled disordered state, whereas the σ phase grows directly when the BCC phase is cooled below TOOT and vice versa upon heating. A transition in the rapidly supercooled disordered material, from an ergodic liquid-like arrangement of particles to a nonergodic soft glassy-like solid, occurs below ∼40 °C, coincident with the temperature associated with the formation of the DDQC. We speculate that this stiffening reflects the development of particle clusters with local tetrahedral or icosahedral symmetry that seed growth of the temporally transient DDQC state. This work highlights extraordinary opportunities to uncover the origins and stability of aperiodic order in condensed matter using model block polymers.

A Continuum Model for the Effect of Dynamic Recrystallization on the Stress⁻Strain Response.

PubMed

Kooiker, H; Perdahcıoğlu, E S; van den Boogaard, A H

2018-05-22

Austenitic Stainless Steels and High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) steels show significant dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) during hot forming. In order to design optimal and safe hot-formed products, a good understanding and constitutive description of the material behavior is vital. A new continuum model is presented and validated on a wide range of deformation conditions including high strain rate deformation. The model is presented in rate form to allow for the prediction of material behavior in transient process conditions. The proposed model is capable of accurately describing the stress⁻strain behavior of AISI 316LN in hot forming conditions, also the high strain rate DRX-induced softening observed during hot torsion of HSLA is accurately predicted. It is shown that the increase in recrystallization rate at high strain rates observed in experiments can be captured by including the elastic energy due to the dynamic stress in the driving pressure for recrystallization. Furthermore, the predicted resulting grain sizes follow the power-law dependence with steady state stress that is often reported in literature and the evolution during hot deformation shows the expected trend.

Standard classification of software documentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tausworthe, R. C.

1976-01-01

General conceptual requirements for standard levels of documentation and for application of these requirements to intended usages. These standards encourage the policy to produce only those forms of documentation that are needed and adequate for the purpose. Documentation standards are defined with respect to detail and format quality. Classes A through D range, in order, from the most definitive down to the least definitive, and categories 1 through 4 range, in order, from high-quality typeset down to handwritten material. Criteria for each of the classes and categories, as well as suggested selection guidelines for each are given.

Self-ordering of small-diameter metal nanoparticles by dewetting on hexagonal mesh templates.

PubMed

Meshot, Eric R; Zhao, Zhouzhou; Lu, Wei; Hart, A John

2014-09-07

Arrays of small-diameter nanoparticles with high spatial order are useful for chemical and biological sensors, data storage, synthesis of nanowires and nanotubes, and many other applications. We show that self-ordered metal nanoparticle arrays can be formed by dewetting of thin films on hexagonal mesh substrates made of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO). Upon heating, the metal (Fe) film dewets onto the interstitial sites (i.e., the node points) between pores on the top surface of the AAO. We investigated the particle morphology and dynamics of dewetting using a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM), grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), and numerical simulations. Templated metal particles are more monodisperse and have higher local order than those formed by the same dewetting process on flat, nonporous alumina. The degree of order depends on the initial film thickness, and for the optimal thickness tested (nominally 2 nm), we achieved uniform coverage and high order of the particles, comparable to that of the AAO template itself. Computational modeling of dewetting on templates with various pore order and size shows that the order of AAO pores is primarily influential in determining particle position and spacing, while the variance in pore size is less impactful. Potential uses of these ordered nanoparticle arrays on porous materials include plasmonic sensors and spatially controlled catalysts.

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE

DOEpatents

Shuck, A.B.

1958-04-01

A device is described that is specifically designed to cast uraniumn fuel rods in a vacuunn, in order to obtain flawless, nonoxidized castings which subsequently require a maximum of machining or wastage of the expensive processed material. A chamber surrounded with heating elements is connected to the molds, and the entire apparatus is housed in an airtight container. A charge of uranium is placed in the chamber, heated, then is allowed to flow into the molds While being rotated. Water circulating through passages in the molds chills the casting to form a fine grained fuel rod in nearly finished form.

An Explosives Products Thermodynamic Equation of State Appropriate for Material Acceleration and Overdriven Detonation: Theoretical Background and Formulation

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-01

provide poor representations of overdriven detonation. The Jones-Wilkens- Lee-Baker ( JWLB ) has been formulated to provide a more accurate representation...Chapman-Jouguet state. The resulting equation of state form, named Jones-Wilkens-Lee-Baker ( JWLB ), is P. A,[-+ e-R-iV -t-V-4- C(1 V(wl 1 where, ,=L(AAi...is the specific internal energy. The JWLB equation of state form is based on a first order expansion around the principal isentrope: A, .’ie’R iV + CV

[Humors and odors: body order and social order in nineteenth-century Rio de Janeiro].

PubMed

Lima, T A

Archeological diggings in household garbage deposits from nineteenth-century Rio have uncovered an abundance of equipment used in the elimination of fecal material and phlegm. These findings formed the basis for an analysis and interpretation of the era's attitudes regarding body fluids, as adopted when the mentalities of the new 'bourgeois' segments - then undergoing a process of rise and consolidation - were impregnated by Hippocratic humoralism. The text shows how the introduction of a 'body order' was fundamental in building and keeping the social order in the nineteenth century. It likewise shows how the ideology of hygienization was one of the most important and efficacious strategies for underpinning the bourgeoisie's (victorious) project to achieve hegemony.

From Solute, Fluidic and Particulate Precursors to Complex Organizations of Matter.

PubMed

Rao, Ashit; Cölfen, Helmut

2018-03-24

The organization of matter from its constitutive units recruits intermediate states with distinctive degrees of self-association and molecular order. Existing as clusters, droplets, gels as well as amorphous and crystalline nanoparticles, these precursor forms have fundamental contributions towards the composition and structure of inorganic and organic architectures. In this personal account, we show that the transitions from atoms, molecules or ionic species to superstructures of higher order are intertwined with the interfaces and interactions of precursor and intermediate states. Structural organizations distributed across different length scales are explained by the multistep nature of nucleation and crystallization, which can be guided towards functional hybrid materials by the strategic application of additives, templates and reaction environments. Thus, the non-classical pathways for material formation and growth offer conceptual frameworks for elucidating, inducing and directing fascinating material organizations of biogenic and synthetic origins. © 2018 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Spin transport and spin torque in antiferromagnetic devices

DOE PAGES

Zelezny, J.; Wadley, P.; Olejnik, K.; ...

2018-03-02

Ferromagnets are key materials for sensing and memory applications. In contrast, antiferromagnets which represent the more common form of magnetically ordered materials, have found less practical application beyond their use for establishing reference magnetic orientations via exchange bias. This might change in the future due to the recent progress in materials research and discoveries of antiferromagnetic spintronic phenomena suitable for device applications. Experimental demonstration of the electrical switching and detection of the Néel order open a route towards memory devices based on antiferromagnets. Apart from the radiation and magnetic-field hardness, memory cells fabricated from antiferromagnets can be inherently multilevel, whichmore » could be used for neuromorphic computing. Switching speeds attainable in antiferromagnets far exceed those of ferromagnetic and semiconductor memory technologies. Here we review the recent progress in electronic spin-transport and spin-torque phenomena in antiferromagnets that are dominantly of the relativistic quantum mechanical origin. We discuss their utility in pure antiferromagnetic or hybrid ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic memory devices.« less

Spin transport and spin torque in antiferromagnetic devices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zelezny, J.; Wadley, P.; Olejnik, K.

Ferromagnets are key materials for sensing and memory applications. In contrast, antiferromagnets which represent the more common form of magnetically ordered materials, have found less practical application beyond their use for establishing reference magnetic orientations via exchange bias. This might change in the future due to the recent progress in materials research and discoveries of antiferromagnetic spintronic phenomena suitable for device applications. Experimental demonstration of the electrical switching and detection of the Néel order open a route towards memory devices based on antiferromagnets. Apart from the radiation and magnetic-field hardness, memory cells fabricated from antiferromagnets can be inherently multilevel, whichmore » could be used for neuromorphic computing. Switching speeds attainable in antiferromagnets far exceed those of ferromagnetic and semiconductor memory technologies. Here we review the recent progress in electronic spin-transport and spin-torque phenomena in antiferromagnets that are dominantly of the relativistic quantum mechanical origin. We discuss their utility in pure antiferromagnetic or hybrid ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic memory devices.« less

Spin transport and spin torque in antiferromagnetic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Železný, J.; Wadley, P.; Olejník, K.; Hoffmann, A.; Ohno, H.

2018-03-01

Ferromagnets are key materials for sensing and memory applications. In contrast, antiferromagnets, which represent the more common form of magnetically ordered materials, have found less practical application beyond their use for establishing reference magnetic orientations via exchange bias. This might change in the future due to the recent progress in materials research and discoveries of antiferromagnetic spintronic phenomena suitable for device applications. Experimental demonstration of the electrical switching and detection of the Néel order open a route towards memory devices based on antiferromagnets. Apart from the radiation and magnetic-field hardness, memory cells fabricated from antiferromagnets can be inherently multilevel, which could be used for neuromorphic computing. Switching speeds attainable in antiferromagnets far exceed those of ferromagnetic and semiconductor memory technologies. Here, we review the recent progress in electronic spin-transport and spin-torque phenomena in antiferromagnets that are dominantly of the relativistic quantum-mechanical origin. We discuss their utility in pure antiferromagnetic or hybrid ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic memory devices.

Creep Forming of Carbon-Reinforced Ceramic-Matrix Composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vaughn, Wallace L.; Scotti, Stephan J.; Ashe, Melissa P.; Connolly, Liz

2007-01-01

A set of lecture slides describes an investigation of creep forming as a means of imparting desired curvatures to initially flat stock plates of carbon-reinforced ceramic-matrix composite (C-CMC) materials. The investigation is apparently part of a continuing effort to develop improved means of applying small CCMC repair patches to reinforced carbon-carbon leading edges of aerospace vehicles (e.g., space shuttles) prior to re-entry into the atmosphere of the Earth. According to one of the slides, creep forming would be an intermediate step in a process that would yield a fully densified, finished C-CMC part having a desired size and shape (the other steps would include preliminary machining, finish machining, densification by chemical vapor infiltration, and final coating). The investigation included experiments in which C-CMC disks were creep-formed by heating them to unspecified high temperatures for time intervals of the order of 1 hour while they were clamped into single- and double-curvature graphite molds. The creep-formed disks were coated with an oxidation- protection material, then subjected to arc-jet tests, in which the disks exhibited no deterioration after exposure to high-temperature test conditions lasting 490 seconds.

Development of active, nanoparticle, antimicrobial technologies for muscle-based packaging applications.

PubMed

Morris, Michael A; Padmanabhan, Sibu C; Cruz-Romero, Malco C; Cummins, Enda; Kerry, Joseph P

2017-10-01

Fresh and processed muscle-based foods are highly perishable food products and packaging plays a crucial role in providing containment so that the full effect of preservation can be achieved through the provision of shelf-life extension. Conventional packaging materials and systems have served the industry well, however, greater demands are being placed upon industrial packaging formats owing to the movement of muscle-based products to increasingly distant markets, as well as increased customer demands for longer product shelf-life and storage capability. Consequently, conventional packaging materials and systems will have to evolve to meet these challenges. This review presents some of the new strategies that have been developed by employing novel nanotechnological concepts which have demonstrated some promise in significantly extending the shelf-life of muscle-based foods by providing commercially-applicable, antimicrobially-active, smart packaging solutions. The primary focus of this paper is applied to subject aspects, such as; material chemistries employed, forming methods utilised, interactions of the packaging functionalities including nanomaterials employed with polymer substrates and how such materials ultimately affect microbes. In order that such materials become industrially feasible, it is important that safe, stable and commercially-viable packaging materials are shown to be producible and effective in order to gain public acceptance, legislative approval and industrial adoption. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Material fabrication using acoustic radiation forces

DOEpatents

Sinha, Naveen N.; Sinha, Dipen N.; Goddard, Gregory Russ

2015-12-01

Apparatus and methods for using acoustic radiation forces to order particles suspended in a host liquid are described. The particles may range in size from nanometers to millimeters, and may have any shape. The suspension is placed in an acoustic resonator cavity, and acoustical energy is supplied thereto using acoustic transducers. The resulting pattern may be fixed by using a solidifiable host liquid, forming thereby a solid material. Patterns may be quickly generated; typical times ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. In a one-dimensional arrangement, parallel layers of particles are formed. With two and three dimensional transducer arrangements, more complex particle configurations are possible since different standing-wave patterns may be generated in the resonator. Fabrication of periodic structures, such as metamaterials, having periods tunable by varying the frequency of the acoustic waves, on surfaces or in bulk volume using acoustic radiation forces, provides great flexibility in the creation of new materials. Periodicities may range from millimeters to sub-micron distances, covering a large portion of the range for optical and acoustical metamaterials.

The design and modeling of periodic materials with novel properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, Jonathan Bernard

Cellular materials are ubiquitous in our world being found in natural and engineered systems as structural materials, sound and energy absorbers, heat insulators and more. Stochastic foams made of polymers, metals and even ceramics find wide use due to their novel properties when compared to monolithic materials. Properties of these so called hybrid materials, those that combine materials or materials and space, are derived from the localization of thermomechanical stresses and strains on the mesoscale as a function of cell topology. The effects of localization can only be generalized in stochastic materials arising from their inherent potential complexity, possessing variations in local chemistry, microstructural inhomogeneity and topological variations. Ordered cellular materials on the other hand, such as lattices and honeycombs, make for much easier study, often requiring analysis of only a single unit-cell. Theoretical bounds predict that hybrid materials have the potential to push design envelopes offering lighter stiffer and stronger materials. Hybrid materials can achieve very low and even negative coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) while retaining a relatively high stiffness -- properties completely unmatched by monolithic materials. In the first chapter of this thesis a two-dimensional lattice is detailed that possess near maximum stiffness, relative to the tightest theoretical bound, and low, zero and even appreciably negative thermal expansion. Its CTE and stiffness are given in closed form as a function of geometric parameters and the material properties. This result is confirmed with finite elements (FE) and experiment. In the second chapter the compressive stiffness of three-dimensional ordered foams, both closed and open cell, are predicted with FE and the results placed in property space in terms of stiffness and density. A novel structure is identified that effectively achieves theoretical bounds for Young's, shear and bulk modulus simultaneously, over a wide range of relative densities, greatly expanding the property space of available materials with a pragmatic manufacturable structure. A variety of other novel and previously studied ordered foam topologies are also presented that are largely representative of the spectrum of performance of such materials, shedding insight into the behavior of all cellular materials.

Colloquium: Herbertsmithite and the search for the quantum spin liquid

DOE PAGES

Norman, M. R.

2016-12-02

Quantum spin liquids form a novel class of matter where, despite the existence of strong exchange interactions, spins do not order down to the lowest measured temperature. Typically, these occur in lattices that act to frustrate the appearance of magnetism. In two dimensions, the classic example is the kagome lattice composed of corner sharing triangles. There are a variety of minerals whose transition metal ions form such a lattice. Hence, a number of them have been studied and were then subsequently synthesized in order to obtain more pristine samples. Of particular note was the report in 2005 by Dan Nocera'smore » group of the synthesis of herbertsmithite, composed of a lattice of copper ions sitting on a kagome lattice, which indeed does not order down to the lowest measured temperature despite the existence of a large exchange interaction of 17 meV. Over the past decade, this material has been extensively studied, yielding a number of intriguing surprises that have in turn motivated a resurgence of interest in the theoretical study of the spin 1/2 Heisenberg model on a kagome lattice. In this paper, this Colloquium reviews these developments and then discusses potential future directions, both experimental and theoretical, as well as the challenge of doping these materials with the hope that this could lead to the discovery of novel topological and superconducting phases.« less

Configuration of ripple domains and their topological defects formed under local mechanical stress on hexagonal monolayer graphene

DOE PAGES

Park, Yeonggu; Choi, Jin Sik; Choi, Taekjib; ...

2015-03-24

Ripples in graphene are extensively investigated because they ensure the mechanical stability of two-dimensional graphene and affect its electronic properties. They arise from spontaneous symmetry breaking and are usually manifested in the form of domains with long-range order. It is expected that topological defects accompany a material exhibiting long-range order, whose functionality depends on characteristics of domains and topological defects. However, there remains a lack of understanding regarding ripple domains and their topological defects formed on monolayer graphene. Here we explore configuration of ripple domains and their topological defects in exfoliated monolayer graphenes on SiO₂/Si substrates using transverse shear microscope.more » We observe three-color domains with three different ripple directions, which meet at a core. Furthermore, the closed domain is surrounded by an even number of cores connected together by domain boundaries, similar to topological vortex and anti-vortex pairs. In addition, we have found that axisymmetric three-color domains can be induced around nanoparticles underneath the graphene. This fascinating configuration of ripple domains may result from the intrinsic hexagonal symmetry of two-dimensional graphene, which is supported by theoretical simulation using molecular dynamics. Our findings are expected to play a key role in understanding of ripple physics in graphene and other two-dimensional materials.« less

Configuration of ripple domains and their topological defects formed under local mechanical stress on hexagonal monolayer graphene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Yeonggu; Choi, Jin Sik; Choi, Taekjib

Ripples in graphene are extensively investigated because they ensure the mechanical stability of two-dimensional graphene and affect its electronic properties. They arise from spontaneous symmetry breaking and are usually manifested in the form of domains with long-range order. It is expected that topological defects accompany a material exhibiting long-range order, whose functionality depends on characteristics of domains and topological defects. However, there remains a lack of understanding regarding ripple domains and their topological defects formed on monolayer graphene. Here we explore configuration of ripple domains and their topological defects in exfoliated monolayer graphenes on SiO₂/Si substrates using transverse shear microscope.more » We observe three-color domains with three different ripple directions, which meet at a core. Furthermore, the closed domain is surrounded by an even number of cores connected together by domain boundaries, similar to topological vortex and anti-vortex pairs. In addition, we have found that axisymmetric three-color domains can be induced around nanoparticles underneath the graphene. This fascinating configuration of ripple domains may result from the intrinsic hexagonal symmetry of two-dimensional graphene, which is supported by theoretical simulation using molecular dynamics. Our findings are expected to play a key role in understanding of ripple physics in graphene and other two-dimensional materials.« less

A quarantine protocol for analysis of returned extraterrestrial samples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bagby, J. R.; Sweet, H. C.; Devincenzi, D. L.

1983-01-01

A protocol is presented for the analysis at an earth-orbiting quarantine facility of return samples of extraterrestrial material that might contain (nonterrestrial) life forms. The protocol consists of a series of tests designed to determine whether the sample, conceptualized as a 1-kg sample of Martian soil, is free from nonterrestrial biologically active agents and so may safely be sent to a terrestrial containment facility, or it exhibits biological activity requiring further (second-order) testing outside the biosphere. The first-order testing procedure seeks to detect the presence of any replicating organisms or toxic substances through a series of experiments including gas sampling, analysis of radioactivity, stereomicroscopic inspection, chemical analysis, microscopic examination, the search for metabolic products under growth conditions, microbiologicl assays, and the challenge of cultured cells with any agents found or with the extraterrestrial material as is. Detailed plans for the second-order testing would be developed in response to the actual data received from primary testing.

Nanoconfinement platform for nanostructure quantification via grazing-transmission X-ray scattering

DOEpatents

Black, Charles T.; Yager, Kevin G.

2017-01-31

A nano-confinement platform that may allow improved quantification of the structural order of nanometer-scale systems. Sample-holder `chips` are designed for the GTSAXS experimental geometry. The platform involves fabricated nanostructured sample holders on and in one or more corners of a substrate support where the sample material of interest is positioned at the corner of the substrate support. In an embodiment, the substrate material making up the substrate support beneath the sample-holding area is removed. A scattering x-ray sample platform includes a substrate support arranged in a parallelepiped form, having a substantially flat base and a substantially flat top surface, the top surface being substantially parallel with the base, the parallelepiped having a plurality of corners. At least one corner of the substrate support has a sample holding area formed in the top surface of the substrate support and within a predetermined distance from the corner. The sample holding area includes a regular array of nano-wells formed in the top surface of the substrate support.

The effects of cold work on the microstructure and mechanical properties of intermetallic strengthened alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels

DOE PAGES

Hu, Bin; Baker, Ian; Miller, Michael K.; ...

2015-06-12

In order to achieve energy conversion efficiencies of >50 pct for steam turbines/boilers in power generation systems, materials are required that are both strong and corrosion-resistant at >973 K (700 °C), and economically viable. Austenitic steels strengthened with Laves phase, NiAl and Ni 3Al precipitates, and alloyed with aluminum to improve oxidation resistance, are potential candidate materials for these applications. The microstructure and microchemistry of recently developed alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Different thermo-mechanical treatments were performed on these steels to improve their mechanical performance. These reducedmore » the grain size significantly to the nanoscale (~100 nm) and the room temperature yield strength to above 1000 MPa. Lastly, a solutionizing anneal at 1473 K (1200 °C) was found to be effective for uniformly redistributing the Laves phase precipitates that form upon casting.« less

Nanoparticle Assemblies at Fluid Interfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Russell, Thomas P.

2015-03-10

A systematic study of the structure and dynamics of nanoparticles (NP) and NP-surfactants was performed. The ligands attached to both the NPs and NP-surfactants dictate the manner in which the nanoscopic materials assemble at fluid interfaces. Studies have shown that a single layer of the nanoscpic materials form at the interface to reduce the interactions between the two immiscible fluids. The shape of the NP is, also, important, where for spherical particles, a disordered, liquid-like monolayer forms, and, for nanorods, ordered domains at the interface is found and, if the monolayers are compressed, the orientation of the nanorods with respectmore » to the interface can change. By associating end-functionalized polymers to the NPs assembled at the interface, NP-surfactants are formed that increase the energetic gain in segregating each NP at the interface which allows the NP-surfactants to jam at the interface when compressed. This has opened the possibility of structuring the two liquids by freezing in shape changes of the liquids.« less

Influence of hydrogen on formability and bendability of DP1180 steel for car body application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Q.; Han, F.; Wortberg, D.; Bleck, W.; Liewald, M.

2016-11-01

In order to reach future light weight targets, it is increasing necessary to use advanced high strength steels with tensile strength 980 MPa or higher in automotive body-inwhite structures. Due to the sensitivity to hydrogen embrittlement and the limited understanding of various aspects of hydrogen embrittlement on processing and function, the wide application of these steels is still limited. In the current work, the influence of hydrogen on the multiaxial forming behavior was investigated by determining the forming limit curve and bending limit curve of DP1180 steel. Hydrogen concentration in the material was modified by cathodic charging. Then Nakajima tests on hydrogen uncharged and pre-charged samples were carried out in order to adjust and study different strain states resulting in the forming limit curve. In the study of bending limit curve, the steel sheets were pre-strained by Marciniak test. Bending load on the uncharged and pre-charged samples was introduced by VDA238-100 bending tests. The experimental results indicated that the presence of hydrogen affected the formability and bendability of DP1180 steel. A clear difference in the influence of hydrogen at different strain states was observed. When formed in a biaxial strain state via the Nakajima test, the material showed the highest degradation in formability. Moreover, the samples with biaxial pre-loading showed more degradation in bendability comparing to those pre-strained in plane strain and uni-axial paths. Fractography by scanning electron microscope gave evidence of hydrogen-induced cleavage fracture on pre-charged Nakajima samples. Thus this investigation improves the understanding of influences of hydrogen on forming processes and provides important evidence for further studies on HE susceptibility of AHSS for the application on car body constructions.

Materials and processes laboratory composite materials characterization task, part 1. Damage tolerance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nettles, A. T.; Tucker, D. S.; Patterson, W. J.; Franklin, S. W.; Gordon, G. H.; Hart, L.; Hodge, A. J.; Lance, D. G.; Russel, S. S.

1991-01-01

A test run was performed on IM6/3501-6 carbon-epoxy in which the material was processed, machined into specimens, and tested for damage tolerance capabilities. Nondestructive test data played a major role in this element of composite characterization. A time chart was produced showing the time the composite material spent within each Branch or Division in order to identify those areas which produce a long turnaround time. Instrumented drop weight testing was performed on the specimens with nondestructive evaluation being performed before and after the impacts. Destructive testing in the form of cross-sectional photomicrography and compression-after-impact testing were used. Results show that the processing and machining steps needed to be performed more rapidly if data on composite material is to be collected within a reasonable timeframe. The results of the damage tolerance testing showed that IM6/3501-6 is a brittle material that is very susceptible to impact damage.

Photonic and Opto-Electronic Applications of Polydiacetylene Films Photodeposited from Solution and Polydiacetylene Copolymer Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paley, Mark S.; Frazier, Donald O.; Smith, David D.; Witherow, William K.; Addeldeyem, Hossin A.; Wolfe, Daniel B.

1998-01-01

Polydiacetylenes (PDAS) are attractive materials for both electronic and photonic applications because of their highly conjugated electronic structures. They have been investigated for applications as both one-dimensional (linear chain) conductors and nonlinear optical (NLO) materials. One of the chief limitations to the use of PDAs has been the inability to readily process them into useful forms such as films and fibers. In our laboratory we have developed a novel process for obtaining amorphous films of a PDA derived from 2-methyl4-nitroaniline using photodeposition with Ultraviolet (UV) light from monomer solutions onto transparent substrates. Photodeposition from solution provides a simple technique for obtaining PDA films in any desired pattern with good optical quality. This technique has been used to produce PDA films that show potential for optical applications such as holographic memory storage and optical limiting, as well as third-order NLO applications such as all-optical refractive index modulation, phase modulation and switching. Additionally, copolymerization of diacetylenes with other monomers such as methacrylates provides a means to obtain materials with good processibility. Such copolymers can be spin cast to form films, or drawn by either melt or solution extrusion into fibers. These films or fibers can then be irradiated with UV to photopolymerize the diacetylene units to form a highly stable cross-linked PDA-copolymer network. If such films are electrically poled while being irradiated, they can achieve the asymmetry necessary for second-order NLO applications such as electro-optic switching. On Earth, formation of PDAs by the above mentioned techniques suffers from defects and inhomogeneities caused by convective flows that can arise during processing. By studying the formation of these materials in the reduced-convection, diffusion-controlled environment of space we hope to better understand the factors that affect their processing, and thereby, their nature and properties. Ultimately it may even be feasible to conduct space processing of PDAs for technological applications.

In vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of composite mixtures of natural rubber and leather residues used for textile applications.

PubMed

Cavalcante, Dalita Gsm; Gomes, Andressa S; Dos Reis, Elton Ap; Danna, Caroline S; Kerche-Silva, Leandra E; Yoshihara, Eidi; Job, Aldo E

2017-06-01

A novel composite material has been developed from natural rubber and leather waste, and a corresponding patent has been filed. This new material may be incorporated into textile and footwear products. However, as leather waste contains chromium, the biocompatibility of this new material and its safety for use in humans must be investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of chromium in this new material, determine the amount of each form of chromium present (trivalent or hexavalent), and evaluate the potential cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of the novel composite in two cell lines. The cellular viability was quantified using the MTT3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction method and neutral red uptake assay, and genotoxic damage was analyzed using the comet assay. Our findings indicated that the extracts obtained from the composite were severely cytotoxic to both cell lines tested, and additionally highly genotoxic to MRC-5 cells. These biological responses do not appear to be attributable to the presence of chromium, as the trivalent form was predominantly found to be present in the extracts, indicating that hexavalent chromium is not formed during the production of the novel composite. The incorporation of this new material in applications that do not involve direct contact with the human skin is thus indicated, and it is suggested that the chain of production of this material be studied in order to improve its biocompatibility so that it may safely be used in the textile and footwear industries.

Multiferroic fluoride BaCoF4 Thin Films Grown Via Molecular Beam Epitaxy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borisov, Pavel; Johnson, Trent; García-Castro, Camilo; Kc, Amit; Schrecongost, Dustin; Cen, Cheng; Romero, Aldo; Lederman, David

Multiferroic materials exhibit exciting physics related to the simultaneous presence of multiple long-range orders, in many cases consisting of antiferromagnetic (AF) and ferroelectric (FE) orderings. In order to provide a new, promising route for fluoride-based multiferroic material engineering, we grew multiferroic fluoride BaCoF4 in thin film form on Al2O3 (0001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The films grow with the orthorhombic b-axis out-of-plane and with three in-plane structural twin domains along the polar c-axis directions. The FE ordering in thin films was verified by FE remanent hysteresis loops measurements at T = 14 K and by room temperature piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). An AF behavior was found below Neel temperature TN ~ 80 K, which is in agreement with the bulk properties. At lower temperatures two additional magnetic phase transitions at 19 K and 41 K were found. First-principles calculations demonstrated that the growth strain applied to the bulk BaCoF4 indeed favors two canted spin orders, along the b- and a-axes, respectively, in addition to the main AF spin order along the c-axis. Supported by FAME (Contract 2013-MA-2382), WV Research Challenge Grant (HEPC.dsr.12.29), and DMREF-NSF 1434897.

Finite strain anisotropic elasto-plastic model for the simulation of the forming and testing of metal/short fiber reinforced polymer clinch joints at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dean, A.; Rolfes, R.; Behrens, A.; Bouguecha, A.; Hübner, S.; Bonk, C.; Grbic, N.

2017-10-01

There is a strong trend in the automotive industry to reduce car body-, chassis- and power-train mass in order to lower carbon emissions. More wide spread use of lightweight short fiber reinforced polymer (SFRP) is a promising approach to attain this goal. This poses the challenge of how to integrate new SFRP components by joining them to traditional sheet metal structures. Recently (1), the clinching technique has been successfully applied as a suitable joining method for dissimilar material such as SFRP and Aluminum. The material pairing PA6GF30 and EN AW 5754 is chosen for this purpose due to their common application in industry. The current contribution presents a verification and validation of a finite strain anisotropic material model for SFRP developed in (2) for the FE simulation of the hybrid clinching process. The finite fiber rotation during forming and separation, and thus the change of the preferential material direction, is represented in this model. Plastic deformations in SFRP are considered in this model via an invariant based non-associated plasticity formulation following the multiplicative decomposition approach of the deformation gradient where the stress-free intermediate configuration is introduced. The model allows for six independent characterization curves. The aforementioned material model allows for a detailed simulation of the forming process as well as a simulative prediction of the shear test strength of the produced joint at room temperature.

Characterization of Damage Accumulation in a C/SiC Composite at Elevated Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Telesman, Jack; Verrilli, Mike; Ghosn, Louis; Kantzos, Pete

1997-01-01

This research is part of a program aimed to evaluate and demonstrate the ability of candidate CMC materials for a variety of applications in reusable launch vehicles. The life and durability of these materials in rocket and engine applications are of major concern and there is a need to develop and validate life prediction methodology. In this study, material characterization and mechanical testing was performed in order to identify the failure modes, degradation mechanisms, and progression of damage in a C/SiC composite at elevated temperatures. The motivation for this work is to provide the relevant damage information that will form the basis for the development of a physically based life prediction methodology.

Nonlocal transformation optics.

PubMed

Castaldi, Giuseppe; Galdi, Vincenzo; Alù, Andrea; Engheta, Nader

2012-02-10

We show that the powerful framework of transformation optics may be exploited for engineering the nonlocal response of artificial electromagnetic materials. Relying on the form-invariant properties of coordinate-transformed Maxwell's equations in the spectral domain, we derive the general constitutive "blueprints" of transformation media yielding prescribed nonlocal field-manipulation effects and provide a physically incisive and powerful geometrical interpretation in terms of deformation of the equifrequency contours. In order to illustrate the potentials of our approach, we present an example of application to a wave-splitting refraction scenario, which may be implemented via a simple class of artificial materials. Our results provide a systematic and versatile framework which may open intriguing venues in dispersion engineering of artificial materials.

Dark Materials on Olympus Mons

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-01-23

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows blocks of layered terrain within the Olympus Mons aureole. The aureole is a giant apron of chaotic material around the volcano, perhaps formed by enormous landslides off the flanks of the giant volcano. These blocks of layered material have been eroded by the wind into the scenic landscape we see here. The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 28.3 centimeters (11.1 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 85 centimeters (33.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22181

Effect of sub-Tg annealing on CuZr and AlSm glasses: A molecular dynamics study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yang; Zhang, Feng; Zhang, Yue; Ye, Zhuo; Mendelev, Mikhail; Wang, Cai-Zhuang; Ho, Kai-Ming

Cu65Zr35 and Al90Sm10 glasses, which represent strong and marginal binary metallic glass formers, respectively, were developed with a sub-Tg annealing method using Molecular Dynamics simulations. The short-range order (SRO) in both systems was characterized based on the concept of ``crystal gene'' that we established recently. Furthermore, we found that while the local clusters representing the dominant short-range order form an ever-more pronounced interpenetrating network with slower cooling rates in Cu65Zr35 glasses, the interpenetration of SRO in Al90Sm10 glasses only shows a weak dependence on the cooling rate. This clear difference in the connectivity of the SRO, which can characterize the medium-range order (MRO), could contribute to the different glass forming abilities of both systems. Work at Ames Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division, under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358.

George E. Valley, Jr. Prize Talk: Quantum Frustrated Magnetism and its Expression in the Ground State Selection of Pyrochlore Magnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, Kate

In the search for novel quantum states of matter, such as highly entangled Quantum Spin Liquids, ``geometrically frustrated'' magnetic lattices are essential for suppressing conventional magnetic order. In three dimensions, the pyrochlore lattice is the canonical frustrated geometry. Magnetic materials with pyrochlore structures have the potential to realize unusual phases such as ``quantum spin ice'', which is predicted to host emergent magnetic monopoles, electrons, and photons as its fundamental excitations. Even in pyrochlores that form long range ordered phases, this often occurs through unusual routes such as ``order by disorder'', in which the fluctuation spectrum dictates the preferred ordered state. The rare earth-based pyrochlore series R2Ti2O7 provides a fascinating variety of magnetic ground states. I will introduce the general anisotropic interaction Hamiltonian that has been successfully used to describe several materials in this series. Using inelastic neutron scattering, the relevant anisotropic interaction strengths can be extracted quantitatively. I will discuss this approach, and its application to two rare earth pyrochlore materials, Er2Ti2O7 and Yb2Ti<2O7, whose ground state properties have long been enigmatic. From these studies, ErTi2O7 and Yb2Ti2O7 have been suggested to be realizations of "quantum order by disorder" and "quantum spin ice", respectively. This research was supported by NSERC of Canada and the National Science Foundation.

Preservice Teachers' Conceptions about Computers: An Ongoing Search for Transformative Appropriations of Modern Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katic, Elvira K.

2008-01-01

Due to the variety of text forms that are being created as a result of improving information technologies, understandings of literacy must be broadened to include a variety of meaning-making modes in order to include different social, cultural, and material contexts. The following case study examined the conceptions of technology held by two…

Enzyme-mediated self-assembly of highly ordered structures from disordered proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Athamneh, Ahmad I.; Barone, Justin R.

2009-10-01

Wheat gluten is an amorphous storage protein. Trypsin hydrolysis of wheat gluten produced glutamine-rich peptides. Some peptides were able to self-assemble into fibrous structures extrinsic to native wheat gluten. The final material was an in situ formed peptide composite of highly ordered nanometer-sized fibrils and micron-sized fibers embedded in an unassembled peptide matrix. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic and x-ray diffraction data suggested that the new structures resembled that of cross- β fibrils found in some insect silk and implicated in prion diseases. The largest self-assembled fibers were about 10 µm in diameter with right-handed helicity and appeared to be bundles of smaller nanometer-sized fibrils. Results demonstrated the potential for utilizing natural mechanisms of protein self-assembly to design advanced materials that can provide a wide range of structural and chemical functionality.

Application of X-ray synchrotron microscopy instrumentation in biology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gasperini, F. M.; Pereira, G. R.; Granjeiro, J. M.

2011-07-01

X-ray micro-fluorescence imaging technique has been used as a significant tool in order to investigate minerals contents in some kinds of materials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the elemental distribution of calcium and zinc in bone substitute materials (nano-hydroxyapatite spheres) and cortical bones through X-Ray Micro-fluorescence analysis with the increment of Synchrotron Radiation in order to evaluate the characteristics of the newly formed bone and its interface, the preexisting bone and biomaterials by the arrangement of collagen fibers and its birefringence. The elemental mapping was carried out at Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory, Campinas - Sao Paulo, Brazilmore » working at D09-XRF beam line. Based on this study, the results suggest that hydroxyapatite-based biomaterials are biocompatible, promote osteo-conduction and favored bone repair. (authors)« less

Growth of single crystals of organic salts with large second-order optical nonlinearities by solution processes for devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leslie, Thomas M.

1995-01-01

Data obtained from the electric field induced second harmonic generation (EFISH) and Kurtz Powder Methods will be provided to MSFC for further refinement of their method. A theoretical model for predicting the second-order nonlinearities of organic salts is being worked on. Another task is the synthesis of a number of salts with various counterions. Several salts with promising SHG activities and new salts will be tested for the presence of two crystalline forms. The materials will be recrystallized from dry and wet solvents and compared for SHG efficiency. Salts that have a high SHG efficiency and no tendency to form hydrates will be documented. The synthesis of these materials are included in this report. A third task involves method to aid in the growth of large, high quality single crystals by solution processes. These crystals will be characterized for their applicability in the fabrication of devices that will be incorporated into optical computers in future programs. Single crystals of optimum quality may be obtained by crystal growth in low-gravity. The final task is the design of a temperature lowering single crystal growth apparatus for ground based work. At least one prototype will be built.

Dynamics and thermodynamics of polymer glasses.

PubMed

Cangialosi, D

2014-04-16

The fate of matter when decreasing the temperature at constant pressure is that of passing from gas to liquid and, subsequently, from liquid to crystal. However, a class of materials can exist in an amorphous phase below the melting temperature. On cooling such materials, a glass is formed; that is, a material with the rigidity of a solid but exhibiting no long-range order. The study of the thermodynamics and dynamics of glass-forming systems is the subject of continuous research. Within the wide variety of glass formers, an important sub-class is represented by glass forming polymers. The presence of chain connectivity and, in some cases, conformational disorder are unfavourable factors from the point of view of crystallization. Furthermore, many of them, such as amorphous thermoplastics, thermosets and rubbers, are widely employed in many applications. In this review, the peculiarities of the thermodynamics and dynamics of glass-forming polymers are discussed, with particular emphasis on those topics currently the subject of debate. In particular, the following aspects will be reviewed in the present work: (i) the connection between the pronounced slowing down of glassy dynamics on cooling towards the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the thermodynamics; and, (ii) the fate of the dynamics and thermodynamics below Tg. Both aspects are reviewed in light of the possible presence of a singularity at a finite temperature with diverging relaxation time and zero configurational entropy. In this context, the specificity of glass-forming polymers is emphasized.

Method for reducing NOx during combustion of coal in a burner

DOEpatents

Zhou, Bing [Cranbury, NJ; Parasher, Sukesh [Lawrenceville, NJ; Hare, Jeffrey J [Provo, UT; Harding, N Stanley [North Salt Lake, UT; Black, Stephanie E [Sandy, UT; Johnson, Kenneth R [Highland, UT

2008-04-15

An organically complexed nanocatalyst composition is applied to or mixed with coal prior to or upon introducing the coal into a coal burner in order to catalyze the removal of coal nitrogen from the coal and its conversion into nitrogen gas prior to combustion of the coal. This process leads to reduced NOx production during coal combustion. The nanocatalyst compositions include a nanoparticle catalyst that is made using a dispersing agent that can bond with the catalyst atoms. The dispersing agent forms stable, dispersed, nano-sized catalyst particles. The catalyst composition can be formed as a stable suspension to facilitate storage, transportation and application of the catalyst nanoparticles to a coal material. The catalyst composition can be applied before or after pulverizing the coal material or it may be injected directly into the coal burner together with pulverized coal.

Diffusion Bonding of Silicon Carbide Ceramics using Titanium Interlayers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halbig, Michael C.; Singh, Mrityunjay; Shpargel, Tarah P.; Kiser, James D.

2006-01-01

Robust joining approaches for silicon carbide ceramics are critically needed to fabricate leak free joints with high temperature mechanical capability. In this study, titanium foils and physical vapor deposited (PVD) titanium coatings were used to form diffusion bonds between SiC ceramics using hot pressing. Silicon carbide substrate materials used for bonding include sintered SiC and two types of CVD SiC. Microscopy results show the formation of well adhered diffusion bonds. The bond strengths as determined from pull tests are on the order of several ksi, which is much higher than required for a proposed application. Microprobe results show the distribution of silicon, carbon, titanium, and other minor elements across the diffusion bond. Compositions of several phases formed in the joint region were identified. Potential issues of material compatibility and optimal bond formation will also be discussed.

A comparative study of zirconium and titanium implants in rat: osseointegration and bone material quality.

PubMed

Hoerth, Rebecca M; Katunar, María R; Gomez Sanchez, Andrea; Orellano, Juan C; Ceré, Silvia M; Wagermaier, Wolfgang; Ballarre, Josefina

2014-02-01

Permanent metal implants are widely used in human medical treatments and orthopedics, for example as hip joint replacements. They are commonly made of titanium alloys and beyond the optimization of this established material, it is also essential to explore alternative implant materials in view of improved osseointegration. The aim of our study was to characterize the implant performance of zirconium in comparison to titanium implants. Zirconium implants have been characterized in a previous study concerning material properties and surface characteristics in vitro, such as oxide layer thickness and surface roughness. In the present study, we compare bone material quality around zirconium and titanium implants in terms of osseointegration and therefore characterized bone material properties in a rat model using a multi-method approach. We used light and electron microscopy, micro Raman spectroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence and X-ray scattering techniques to investigate the osseointegration in terms of compositional and structural properties of the newly formed bone. Regarding the mineralization level, the mineral composition, and the alignment and order of the mineral particles, our results show that the maturity of the newly formed bone after 8 weeks of implantation is already very high. In conclusion, the bone material quality obtained for zirconium implants is at least as good as for titanium. It seems that the zirconium implants can be a good candidate for using as permanent metal prosthesis for orthopedic treatments.

Enhanced charge density wave order in La2-xSrxCuO4 at high magnetic field.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wei; Wen, Jiajia; Jang, Hoyoung; Nojiri, Hiroyuki; Matsuzawa, Satoshi; Song, Sanghoon; Chollet, Matthieu; Zhu, Diling; Fujita, Masaki; Rotundu, Costel R.; Sheckelton, John P.; Jiang, Mingde; Kao, Chi-Chang; Lee, Jun-Sik; Lee, Young S.

There has been much recent interest in the charge density wave (CDW) order in the cuprate superconductors. An intriguing form of the density wave occurs in the La2CuO4-based family where both the charge and spin form ``stripes'' near 1/8 doping. Charge order has been reported in La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) in zero magnetic field near 1/8 doping that was enhanced in moderate DC fields (up to 10 T). In this talk, I will discuss our recent experiment which combines a pulsed magnet with the x-rays from a free electron laser to characterize the CDW in LSCO with x =0.115 in fields up to 24 Tesla. In contrast to the YBCO family, which shows field-induced 3D CDW order, the field-enhanced CDW order in LSCO remains two-dimensional up to 24 T. Further results regarding the field-dependence and zero-field behavior of the CDW will be discussed. Our study provides important information on the interplay between CDW order and high-Tc superconductivity. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515.

Nopal Cactus (Opuntia Ficus-Indica) as a Holographic Material

PubMed Central

Olivares-Pérez, Arturo; Toxqui-López, Santa; Padilla-Velasco, Ana L.

2012-01-01

The nopal cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) releases a substance through its mucilage, which comes from the degradation of pectic substances and chlorophyll. Combined in a polyvinyl alcohol matrix, this substance can be used as a recording medium. The resulting extract material has excellent photosensitizer properties, is easy to handle, has a low cost, and low toxicity. This material has the property of self-developing, and it can be used in holographic applications. The polyvinyl alcohol and extract from the nopal cactus was deposited by a gravity technique on a glass substrate, which dried to form a photosensitive emulsion. We show experimental results on a holographic grating using this material, written by a He-Cd laser (442 nm). We obtained diffraction gratings by transmission with a diffraction efficiency of approximately 32.3% to first order.

A novel liquid template corrosion approach for layered silica with various morphologies and different nanolayer thicknesses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wanliang; Li, Baoshan

2014-01-01

A novel liquid template corrosion (LTC) method has been developed for the synthesis of layered silica materials with a variety of morphologies, including hollow nanospheres, trilobite-like nanoparticles, spherical particles and a film resembling the van Gogh painting `Starry Night'. Lamellar micelles and microemulsion droplets are first formed in an oil-water (O/W) mixture of ethyl acetate (EA), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and water. After adding aqueous ammonia the EA becomes hydrolyzed, which results in corrosion of microemulsion droplets. These droplets subsequently act as templates for the synthesis of silica formed by hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate. The morphological evolution of silica can be tuned by varying the concentration of aqueous ammonia which controls the degree of corrosion of the microemulsion droplet templates. A possible mechanism is proposed to explain why the LTC approach affords layered silica nanostructured materials with various morphologies and nanolayer thickness (2.6-4.5 nm), rather than the usual ordered mesostructures formed in the absence of EA. Our method provides a simple way to fabricate a variety of building blocks for assembling nanomaterials with novel structures and functionality, which are not available using conventional template methods.A novel liquid template corrosion (LTC) method has been developed for the synthesis of layered silica materials with a variety of morphologies, including hollow nanospheres, trilobite-like nanoparticles, spherical particles and a film resembling the van Gogh painting `Starry Night'. Lamellar micelles and microemulsion droplets are first formed in an oil-water (O/W) mixture of ethyl acetate (EA), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and water. After adding aqueous ammonia the EA becomes hydrolyzed, which results in corrosion of microemulsion droplets. These droplets subsequently act as templates for the synthesis of silica formed by hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate. The morphological evolution of silica can be tuned by varying the concentration of aqueous ammonia which controls the degree of corrosion of the microemulsion droplet templates. A possible mechanism is proposed to explain why the LTC approach affords layered silica nanostructured materials with various morphologies and nanolayer thickness (2.6-4.5 nm), rather than the usual ordered mesostructures formed in the absence of EA. Our method provides a simple way to fabricate a variety of building blocks for assembling nanomaterials with novel structures and functionality, which are not available using conventional template methods. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr04733d

Influence of man-made aluminosilicate raw materials on physical and mechanical properties of building materials.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volodchenko, A. A.; Lesovik, V. S.; Stoletov, A. A.; Glagolev, E. S.; Volodchenko, A. N.; Magomedov, Z. G.

2018-03-01

It has been identified that man-made aluminosilicate raw materials represented by clay rock of varied genesis can be used as energy-efficient raw materials to obtain efficient highly-hollow non-autoclaved silicate materials. A technique of structure formation in the conditions of pressureless steam treatment has been offered. Cementing compounds of non- autoclaved silicate materials based on man-made aluminosilicate raw materials possess hydraulic properties that are conditioned by the process of further formation and recrystallization of calcium silicate hydrates, which optimizes the ratio between gellike and crystalline components and densifies the cementing compound structure, which leads to improvement of performance characteristics. Increasing the performance characteristics of the obtained products is possible by changing the molding conditions. For this reason, in order to create high-density material packaging and, as a result, to increase the strength properties of the products, it is reasonable to use higher pressure, under which raw brick is formed, which will facilitate the increase of quality of highly-hollow products.

Prototypical Organic–Oxide Interface: Intramolecular Resolution of Sexiphenyl on In 2O 3 (111)

DOE PAGES

Wagner, Margareta; Hofinger, Jakob; Setvin, Martin; ...

2018-03-28

The performance of an organic semiconductor device is critically determined by the geometric alignment, orientation, and ordering of the organic molecules. Although an organic multilayer eventually adopts the crystal structure of the organic material, the alignment and configuration at the interface with the substrate/electrode material are essential for charge injection into the organic layer. This work focuses on the prototypical organic semiconductor para-sexiphenyl (6P) adsorbed on In 2O 3(111), the thermodynamically most stable surface of the material that the most common transparent conducting oxide, indium tin oxide, is based on. The onset of nucleation and formation of the first monolayermore » are followed with atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM). Annealing to 200 °C provides sufficient thermal energy for the molecules to orient themselves along the high-symmetry directions of the surface, leading to a single adsorption site. The AFM data suggests an essentially planar adsorption geometry. With increasing coverage, the 6P molecules first form a loose network with a poor long-range order. Eventually, the molecules reorient into an ordered monolayer. In conclusion, this first monolayer has a densely packed, well-ordered (2 × 1) structure with one 6P per In 2O 3(111) substrate unit cell, that is, a molecular density of 5.64 × 10 13 cm –2.« less

Prototypical Organic–Oxide Interface: Intramolecular Resolution of Sexiphenyl on In 2O 3 (111)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wagner, Margareta; Hofinger, Jakob; Setvin, Martin

The performance of an organic semiconductor device is critically determined by the geometric alignment, orientation, and ordering of the organic molecules. Although an organic multilayer eventually adopts the crystal structure of the organic material, the alignment and configuration at the interface with the substrate/electrode material are essential for charge injection into the organic layer. This work focuses on the prototypical organic semiconductor para-sexiphenyl (6P) adsorbed on In 2O 3(111), the thermodynamically most stable surface of the material that the most common transparent conducting oxide, indium tin oxide, is based on. The onset of nucleation and formation of the first monolayermore » are followed with atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM). Annealing to 200 °C provides sufficient thermal energy for the molecules to orient themselves along the high-symmetry directions of the surface, leading to a single adsorption site. The AFM data suggests an essentially planar adsorption geometry. With increasing coverage, the 6P molecules first form a loose network with a poor long-range order. Eventually, the molecules reorient into an ordered monolayer. In conclusion, this first monolayer has a densely packed, well-ordered (2 × 1) structure with one 6P per In 2O 3(111) substrate unit cell, that is, a molecular density of 5.64 × 10 13 cm –2.« less

Rotational superstructure in van der Waals heterostructure of self-assembled C 60 monolayer on the WSe 2 surface

DOE PAGES

Santos, Elton J. G.; Scullion, Declan; Chu, Ximo S.; ...

2017-08-23

Hybrid van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures composed of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials and self-assembled organic molecules are promising systems for electronic and optoelectronic applications with enhanced properties and performance. Control of molecular assembly is therefore paramount to fundamentally understand the nucleation, ordering, alignment, and electronic interaction of organic molecules with 2D materials. Here, we report the formation and detailed study of highly ordered, crystalline monolayers of C 60 molecules self-assembled on the surface of WSe 2 in well-ordered arrays with large grain sizes (~5 μm). Using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we observe a periodic 2 × 2 superstructure inmore » the C 60 monolayer and identify four distinct molecular appearances. Using vdW-corrected ab initio density functional theory (DFT) simulations, we determine that the interplay between vdW and Coulomb interactions as well as adsorbate–adsorbate and adsorbate–substrate interactions results in specific rotational arrangements of the molecules forming the superstructure. The orbital ordering through the relative positions of bonds in adjacent molecules creates a charge redistribution that links the molecule units in a long-range network. Furthermore, this rotational superstructure extends throughout the self-assembled monolayer and opens a pathway towards engineering aligned hybrid organic/inorganic vdW heterostructures with 2D layered materials in a precise and controlled way.« less

Rotational superstructure in van der Waals heterostructure of self-assembled C 60 monolayer on the WSe 2 surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Santos, Elton J. G.; Scullion, Declan; Chu, Ximo S.

Hybrid van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures composed of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials and self-assembled organic molecules are promising systems for electronic and optoelectronic applications with enhanced properties and performance. Control of molecular assembly is therefore paramount to fundamentally understand the nucleation, ordering, alignment, and electronic interaction of organic molecules with 2D materials. Here, we report the formation and detailed study of highly ordered, crystalline monolayers of C 60 molecules self-assembled on the surface of WSe 2 in well-ordered arrays with large grain sizes (~5 μm). Using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we observe a periodic 2 × 2 superstructure inmore » the C 60 monolayer and identify four distinct molecular appearances. Using vdW-corrected ab initio density functional theory (DFT) simulations, we determine that the interplay between vdW and Coulomb interactions as well as adsorbate–adsorbate and adsorbate–substrate interactions results in specific rotational arrangements of the molecules forming the superstructure. The orbital ordering through the relative positions of bonds in adjacent molecules creates a charge redistribution that links the molecule units in a long-range network. Furthermore, this rotational superstructure extends throughout the self-assembled monolayer and opens a pathway towards engineering aligned hybrid organic/inorganic vdW heterostructures with 2D layered materials in a precise and controlled way.« less

Advancement of Systems Designs and Key Engineering Technologies for Materials Based Hydrogen Storage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

van Hassel, Bart A.

UTRC lead the development of the Simulink Framework model that enables a comparison of different hydrogen storage systems on a common basis. The Simulink Framework model was disseminated on the www.HSECoE.org website that is hosted by NREL. UTRC contributed to a better understanding of the safety aspects of the proposed hydrogen storage systems. UTRC also participated in the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis of both the chemical- and the adsorbent-based hydrogen storage system during Phase 2 of the Hydrogen Storage Engineering Center of Excellence. UTRC designed a hydrogen storage system with a reversible metal hydride material in a compacted formmore » for light-duty vehicles with a 5.6 kg H2 storage capacity, giving it a 300 miles range. It contains a heat exchanger that enables efficient cooling of the metal hydride material during hydrogen absorption in order to meet the 3.3 minute refueling time target. It has been shown through computation that the kinetics of hydrogen absorption of Ti-catalyzed NaAlH4 was ultimately limiting the rate of hydrogen absorption to 85% of the material capacity in 3.3 minutes. An inverse analysis was performed in order to determine the material property requirements in order for a metal hydride based hydrogen storage system to meet the DOE targets. Work on metal hydride storage systems was halted after the Phase 1 to Phase 2 review due to the lack of metal hydride materials with the required material properties. UTRC contributed to the design of a chemical hydrogen storage system by developing an adsorbent for removing the impurity ammonia from the hydrogen gas, by developing a system to meter the transport of Ammonia Borane (AB) powder to a thermolysis reactor, and by developing a gas-liquid-separator (GLS) for the separation of hydrogen gas from AB slurry in silicone oil. Stripping impurities from hydrogen gas is essential for a long life of the fuel cell system on board of a vehicle. Work on solid transport of AB was halted after the Phase 1 to Phase 2 review in favor of studying the slurry-form of AB as it appeared to be difficult to transport a solid form of AB through the thermolysis reactor. UTRC demonstrated the operation of a compact GLS in the laboratory at a scale that would be required for the actual automotive application. The GLS met the targets for weight and volume. UTRC also reported about the unresolved issue associated with the high vapor pressure of fluids that could be used for making a slurry-form of AB. Work on the GLS was halted after the Phase 2 to Phase 3 review as the off-board regeneration efficiency of the spent AB was below the DOE target of 60%. UTRC contributed to the design of an adsorbent-based hydrogen storage system through measurements of the thermal conductivity of a compacted form of Metal Organic Framework (MOF) number 5 and through the development and sizing of a particulate filter. Thermal conductivity is important for the design of the modular adsorbent tank insert (MATI), as developed by Oregon State University (OSU), in order to enable a rapid refueling process. Stringent hydrogen quality requirements can only be met with an efficient particulate filtration system. UTRC developed a method to size the particulate filter by taking into account the effect of the pressure drop on the hydrogen adsorption process in the tank. UTRC raised awareness about the potential use of materials-based H2 storage systems in applications outside the traditional light-duty vehicle market segment by presenting at several conferences about niche application opportunities in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), portable power and others.« less

Third-order optical conductivity of an electron fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhiyuan; Basov, D. N.; Fogler, M. M.

2018-02-01

We derive the nonlinear optical conductivity of an isotropic electron fluid at frequencies below the interparticle collision rate. In this regime, governed by hydrodynamics, the conductivity acquires a universal form at any temperature, chemical potential, and spatial dimension. We show that the nonlinear response of the fluid to a uniform field is dominated by the third-order conductivity tensor σ(3 ) whose magnitude and temperature dependence differ qualitatively from those in the conventional kinetic regime of higher frequencies. We obtain explicit formulas for σ(3 ) for Dirac materials such as graphene and Weyl semimetals. We make predictions for the third-harmonic generation, renormalization of the collective-mode spectrum, and the third-order circular magnetic birefringence experiments.

Microstructure and abrasive wear test of different composite layers formed by laser coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartos, J.

1994-09-01

Layers containing different particles of different sizes (TiC: 2,7 micrometers and 31 micrometers mid size; TaC: 15 micrometers mid size) were formed on the surface of 90 MnCrV8 tool steel. A CO2-gas laser equipment was used to form these layers. The grain contents of the layers were between 35% - 55%. Some of the ready TiC layers were hardened by laser in order to reduce the retained amount. We compared the wear resistance of the layers employing abrasive wheel test. For reference purposes we carried out the test of traditionally hardened, traded TICALLOY II and TICALLOY W materials as well.

Capabilities of Unconventional Processing of Multiphase AHSS Steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jirkova, H.; Masek, B.; Stadler, C.; Jenicek, S.

2016-03-01

Today, new types of materials and procedures are sought continuously in order to achieve lower manufacturing costs, reduced energy consumption, shorter production times and other savings. In terms of the materials, TRIP steels are an attractive choice, as they provide an excellent combination of strength and ductility. They also offer good energy absorption in crash scenarios. Their main use is in the production of automotive body parts. One can expect that well-chosen processing parameters and unconventional forming routes would enable a wider range of thin-walled products to be made of these steels. Those could include thin-walled hollow products with excellent mechanical properties imparted by effective manufacturing routes at relatively low costs. If these materials are to be employed in real-world forming processes, an appropriate forming route must be chosen, integrated into an appropriate production chain and then optimized in terms of its parameters. This article describes a study of a rotary spin extrusion process. In the first stage, the impact of strain magnitude on microstructural evolution was studied in CMnSi steel using physical modelling of thermomechanical treatment. Subsequently, trials of a real-life technology chain, which efficiently combined incremental forming and heat treatment, were carried out on low-alloy CMnSi and CMnSiNb steels. The resulting products were stepped hollow parts of various diameters. Their strength was close to 1000 MPa and their elongation level exceeded 20%.

Self-regulation in self-propelled nematic fluids.

PubMed

Baskaran, A; Marchetti, M C

2012-09-01

We consider the hydrodynamic theory of an active fluid of self-propelled particles with nematic aligning interactions. This class of materials has polar symmetry at the microscopic level, but forms macrostates of nematic symmetry. We highlight three key features of the dynamics. First, as in polar active fluids, the control parameter for the order-disorder transition, namely the density, is dynamically convected by the order parameter via active currents. The resulting dynamical self-regulation of the order parameter is a generic property of active fluids and destabilizes the uniform nematic state near the mean-field transition. Secondly, curvature-driven currents render the system unstable deep in the nematic state, as found previously. Finally, and unique to self-propelled nematics, nematic order induces local polar order that in turn leads to the growth of density fluctuations. We propose this as a possible mechanism for the smectic order of polar clusters seen in numerical simulations.

Nanowire Thermoelectric Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borshchevsky, Alexander; Fleurial, Jean-Pierre; Herman, Jennifer; Ryan, Margaret

2005-01-01

Nanowire thermoelectric devices, now under development, are intended to take miniaturization a step beyond the prior state of the art to exploit the potential advantages afforded by shrinking some device features to approximately molecular dimensions (of the order of 10 nm). The development of nanowire-based thermoelectric devices could lead to novel power-generating, cooling, and sensing devices that operate at relatively low currents and high voltages. Recent work on the theory of thermoelectric devices has led to the expectation that the performance of such a device could be enhanced if the diameter of the wires could be reduced to a point where quantum confinement effects increase charge-carrier mobility (thereby increasing the Seebeck coefficient) and reduce thermal conductivity. In addition, even in the absence of these effects, the large aspect ratios (length of the order of tens of microns diameter of the order of tens of nanometers) of nanowires would be conducive to the maintenance of large temperature differences at small heat fluxes. The predicted net effect of reducing diameters to the order of tens of nanometers would be to increase its efficiency by a factor of .3. Nanowires made of thermoelectric materials and devices that comprise arrays of such nanowires can be fabricated by electrochemical growth of the thermoelectric materials in templates that contain suitably dimensioned pores (10 to 100 nm in diameter and 1 to 100 microns long). The nanowires can then be contacted in bundles to form devices that look similar to conventional thermoelectric devices, except that a production version may contain nearly a billion elements (wires) per square centimeter, instead of fewer than a hundred as in a conventional bulk thermoelectric device or fewer than 100,000 as in a microdevice. It is not yet possible to form contacts with individual nanowires. Therefore, in fabricating a nanowire thermoelectric device, one forms contacts on nanowires in bundles of the order of 10-microns wide. The fill factor for the cross-section of a typical bundle is about 1/2. Nanowires have been grown in alumina templates with pore diameters of 100 and 40 nm.

Crossmodal association of auditory and visual material properties in infants.

PubMed

Ujiie, Yuta; Yamashita, Wakayo; Fujisaki, Waka; Kanazawa, So; Yamaguchi, Masami K

2018-06-18

The human perceptual system enables us to extract visual properties of an object's material from auditory information. In monkeys, the neural basis underlying such multisensory association develops through experience of exposure to a material; material information could be processed in the posterior inferior temporal cortex, progressively from the high-order visual areas. In humans, however, the development of this neural representation remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrated for the first time the presence of a mapping of the auditory material property with visual material ("Metal" and "Wood") in the right temporal region in preverbal 4- to 8-month-old infants, using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Furthermore, we found that infants acquired the audio-visual mapping for a property of the "Metal" material later than for the "Wood" material, since infants form the visual property of "Metal" material after approximately 6 months of age. These findings indicate that multisensory processing of material information induces the activation of brain areas related to sound symbolism. Our findings also indicate that the material's familiarity might facilitate the development of multisensory processing during the first year of life.

Chondritic Meteorites: Nebular and Parent-Body Formation Processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rubin, Alan E.; Lindstrom, David (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

It is important to identify features in chondrites that formed as a result of parent-body modification in order to disentangle nebular and asteroidal processes. However, this task is difficult because unmetamorphosed chondritic meteorites are mixtures of diverse components including various types of chondrules, chondrule fragments, refractory and mafic inclusions, metal-sulfide grains and fine-grained matrix material. Shocked chondrites can contain melt pockets, silicate-darkened material, metal veins, silicate melt veins, and impact-melt-rock clasts. This grant paid for several studies that went far in helping to distinguish primitive nebular features from those produced during asteroidal modification processes.

Heated Hydro-Mechanical Deep Drawing of Magnesium Sheet Metal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurz, Gerrit

In order to reduce fuel consumption efforts have been made to decrease the weight of automobile constructions by increasing the use of lightweight materials. In this field of application magnesium alloys are important because of their low density. A promising alternative to large surfaced and thin die casting parts has been found in construction parts that are manufactured by sheet metal forming of magnesium. Magnesium alloys show a limited formability at room temperature. A considerable improvement of formability can be achieved by heating the material. Formability increases above a temperature of approximately T = 225 °C.

Multilayer dielectric diffraction gratings

DOEpatents

Perry, Michael D.; Britten, Jerald A.; Nguyen, Hoang T.; Boyd, Robert; Shore, Bruce W.

1999-01-01

The design and fabrication of dielectric grating structures with high diffraction efficiency used in reflection or transmission is described. By forming a multilayer structure of alternating index dielectric materials and placing a grating structure on top of the multilayer, a diffraction grating of adjustable efficiency, and variable optical bandwidth can be obtained. Diffraction efficiency into the first order in reflection varying between 1 and 98 percent has been achieved by controlling the design of the multilayer and the depth, shape, and material comprising the grooves of the grating structure. Methods for fabricating these gratings without the use of ion etching techniques are described.

Multilayer dielectric diffraction gratings

DOEpatents

Perry, M.D.; Britten, J.A.; Nguyen, H.T.; Boyd, R.; Shore, B.W.

1999-05-25

The design and fabrication of dielectric grating structures with high diffraction efficiency used in reflection or transmission is described. By forming a multilayer structure of alternating index dielectric materials and placing a grating structure on top of the multilayer, a diffraction grating of adjustable efficiency, and variable optical bandwidth can be obtained. Diffraction efficiency into the first order in reflection varying between 1 and 98 percent has been achieved by controlling the design of the multilayer and the depth, shape, and material comprising the grooves of the grating structure. Methods for fabricating these gratings without the use of ion etching techniques are described. 7 figs.

Impact resistance of metal skin-carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminate structures for the production of lightweight vehicles body frame

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quagliato, Luca; Dongwook, Kim; Changsoon, Jang; Naksoo, Kim; Seokmoo, Hong

2017-05-01

The research presented in this paper deals, in the first part, with the material characterization of an innovative class of material, made of steel skin and sheet molding compound core, the last one realized with vinyl-ester resin and chopped carbon fibers. Utilizing the results of the material characterization, the case of an automotive B-pillar is taken into account in order to test and prove the reliability of the utilization of this innovative typology of material, instead of the standard steel. The steel skin - SMC hybrid laminate structures are realized by means of stamping process under warm forming condition, in order to favorite the curing of the SMC layers. The result presented along the paper will show that the steel skin - SMC material not only have better specific resistance that those of both standard and high strength steel but also better crashworthiness properties, in comparison to the considered steel. Based on the results of the numerical simulations, a useful way thought which to estimate the crash worthiness property is proposed in this paper and the results will show how the B-pillar realized with steel skin - SMC has a higher impact resistance, in comparison the steel one with the same weight and reduced thickness.

Single-resonator double-negative metamaterial

DOEpatents

Warne, Larry K.; Basilio, Lorena I.; Langston, William L.; Johnson, William A.; Ihlefeld, Jon; Ginn, III, James C.; Clem, Paul G.; Sinclair, Michael B.

2016-06-21

Resonances can be tuned in dielectric resonators in order to construct single-resonator, negative-index metamaterials. For example, high-contrast inclusions in the form of metallic dipoles can be used to shift the first electric resonance down (in frequency) to the first magnetic resonance, or alternatively, air splits can be used to shift the first magnetic resonance up (in frequency) near the first electric resonance. Degenerate dielectric designs become especially useful in infrared- or visible-frequency applications where the resonator sizes associated with the lack of high-permittivity materials can become of sufficient size to enable propagation of higher-order lattice modes in the resulting medium.

Safety analysis report for packaging, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, model DC-1 package with HEU oxide contents. Change pages for Rev.1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

This Safety Analysis Report for Packaging for the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant for the Model DC-1 package with highly enriched uranium (HEU) oxide contents has been prepared in accordance with governing regulations form the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Transportation and orders from the Department of energy. The fundamental safety requirements addressed by these regulations and orders pertain to the containment of radioactive material, radiation shielding, and nuclear subcriticality. This report demonstrates how these requirements are met.

Optical design of athermal, multispectral, radial GRIN lenses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyd, Andrew M.

2017-05-01

Military infrared systems generally must exhibit stable optical performance over a wide operating temperature range. We present a model for the first-order optical design of radial gradient-index systems, based on a form of the thermo-optic glass coefficient adapted to inhomogeneous material combinations. We find that GRIN components can significantly reduce the optical power balance of athermal, achromatic systems, which introduces the scope for a new class of broadband infrared imaging solutions. This novel first-order modelling technique is used to generate a starting point for optimisation of a SWIR/LWIR multispectral optical design.

The Effect of Small Molecule Additives on the Self-Assembly and Functionality of Protein-Polymer Diblock Copolymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Carla; Xu, Liza; Olsen, Bradley

2013-03-01

Self-assembly of globular protein-polymer block copolymers into well-defined nanostructures provides a route towards the manufacture of protein-based materials which maintains protein fold and function. The model material mCherry-b-poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) forms self-assembled nanostructures from aqueous solutions via solvent evaporation. To improve retention of protein functionality when dehydrated, small molecules such as trehalose and glycerol are added in solution prior to solvent removal. With as little as 10 wt% additive, improvements in retained functionality of 20-60% are observed in the solid-state as compared to samples in which no additive is present. Higher additive levels (up to 50%) continue to show improvement until approximately 100% of the protein function is retained. These large gains are hypothesized to originate from the ability of the additives to replace hydrogen bonds normally fulfilled by water. The addition of trehalose in the bulk material also improves the thermal stability of the protein by 15-20 °C, while glycerol decreases the thermal stability. Materials containing up to 50% additives remain microphase separated, and, upon incorporation of additives, nanostructure domain spacing tends to increase, accompanied by order-order transitions.

Systematic approaches to layered materials with strong electron correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, Chung-Hou

I present systematic large-N approaches to study the ground state magnetic orderings and charge transport of layered materials with strong electron correlations, including the organic material kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2X, and the antiferromagnetic insulators Cs2CuCl4 and SrCu2(BO3) 2. I model the electronic properties of the organic materials kappa-(BEDT-TTF) 2X with a fermionic SU(N) Hubbard-Heisenberg model on an anisotropic triangular lattice. The ground state phase diagram shows a metal-insulator transition and a depression of the density of states in the metallic phase which are consistent with the experiments. The magnetic properties of kappa-(BEDT-TTF) 2X are modeled by a bosonic Sp(N) quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the same lattice. The phase diagram consists of five different phases as a function of the size of the spin and the degree of frustration: the Neel ordered phase, a (pi, pi) short-range-order (SRO) phase, an incommensurate (q, q) long-range-order (LRO) phase, a (q, q) SRO phase, and a decoupled chain phase. I apply the same Sp(N) approach on the same triangular lattice to model the magnetic properties of Cs2CuCl 4 both with and without a magnetic field. At zero field, I find the ground state either exhibits incommensurate spin order, or is in a quantum disordered phase with deconfined spin-1/2 excitations and topological order. The Sp(N) calculation of spin excitation spectrum shows a large upward quantum renormalization consistent with that seen in experiments. For fields perpendicular to the plane of spin rotation, I find that the spins form an incommensurate "cone" of polarization up to a saturation field where all spins are fully polarized. There is a large quantum renormalization of the zero-field incommensuration. The results are in apparent agreement with neutron scattering experiments. Finally, the magnetic properties of the insulator SrCu2(BO 3)2 is modeled by the Sp(N) quantum antiferromagnet on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice. In addition to the familiar Neel and dimer phases, I find a confining phase with plaquette order, and a topologically ordered phase with deconfined S = 1/2 spinons and helical spin correlations. The deconfined phase is contiguous to the dimer phase, and in a regime of couplings close to those appropriate for the material.

NASA LaRC Hazardous Material Pharmacy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esquenet, Remy

1995-01-01

In 1993-1994 the Office of Environmental Engineering contracted SAIC to develop NASA Langley's Pollution Prevention (P2) Program. One of the priority projects identified in this contract was the development of a hazardous waste minimization (HAZMIN)/hazardous materials reutilization (HAZMART) program in the form of a Hazardous Materials Pharmacy. A hazardous materials pharmacy is designed to reduce hazardous material procurement costs and hazardous waste disposal costs. This is accomplished through the collection and reissue of excess hazardous material. Currently, a rarely used hazardous material may be stored in a shop area, unused, until it passes its expiration date. The material is then usually disposed of as a hazardous waste, often at a greater expense than the original cost of the material. While this material was on the shelf expiring, other shop areas may have ordered new supplies of the same material. The hazardous material pharmacy would act as a clearinghouse for such materials. Material that is not going to be used would be turned in to the pharmacy. Other users could then be issued this material free of charge, thereby reducing procurement costs. The use of this material by another shop prevents it from expiring, thereby reducing hazardous waste disposal costs.

Method for forming materials

DOEpatents

Tolle, Charles R [Idaho Falls, ID; Clark, Denis E [Idaho Falls, ID; Smartt, Herschel B [Idaho Falls, ID; Miller, Karen S [Idaho Falls, ID

2009-10-06

A material-forming tool and a method for forming a material are described including a shank portion; a shoulder portion that releasably engages the shank portion; a pin that releasably engages the shoulder portion, wherein the pin defines a passageway; and a source of a material coupled in material flowing relation relative to the pin and wherein the material-forming tool is utilized in methodology that includes providing a first material; providing a second material, and placing the second material into contact with the first material; and locally plastically deforming the first material with the material-forming tool so as mix the first material and second material together to form a resulting material having characteristics different from the respective first and second materials.

Glass formation and short-range order structures in the BaS + La 2S 3 + GeS 2 system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roth, Josh R.; Martin, Steve W.; Ballato, John

Here, infrared (IR) optical materials have enabled a broad range of optical sensing and measurement applications in the mid-wave and long-wave IR. Many IR transmitting glasses are based on covalently-bonded selenides and tellurides, such as As 2Se 3 and GeTe 2, which typically have relatively low glass transition temperatures ( T g) on the order of 200 to 350 °C. Many applications have working temperatures above the T g of these materials, which compels the development of new IR materials. This work studies the underlying short-range order (SRO) structure and glass formability of a new family of ionically-bonded sulfide glasses,more » xBaS + yLa 2S 3 + (1 – x – y)GeS 2, to develop high T g optical materials with a broad IR transmission range. These sulfide glasses were produced by melting sulfide materials inside evacuated and sealed carbon-coated silica ampoules at 1150 °C for 12 h and quenching to room temperature to form glass. Glass samples were then characterized by IR and Raman spectroscopies and differential thermal analysis (DTA). It was found that by increasing the modifier concentration, the predominantly Ge 4 SRO units, the superscript defines the number of bridging sulfur (BS) ions in the tetrahedral network found in GeS 2 glasses, are ultimately converted to Ge 0 units at >40 mol% network modifier content through the generation of non-bridging sulfur (NBS) ions. These molecular ionic units still form a glassy network, with some of the highest reported T g values to date for a pure sulfide glass. This suggests that this composition has strong ionic bonds between negatively-charged tetrahedral SRO units and the positively-charged modifier cations. While the glass network is depolymerized in the high modifier content glasses though the formation of a high concentration of molecular ionic Ge 0 SRO groups, they are, nevertheless, homogeneous glassy materials that exhibit the largest T g and Δ T (difference between crystallization temperature, T c, and T g) values of glasses in this system, making them the optimal glasses for high T g IR optical components, including, potentially, refractory IR optical fibers.« less

Glass formation and short-range order structures in the BaS + La 2S 3 + GeS 2 system

DOE PAGES

Roth, Josh R.; Martin, Steve W.; Ballato, John; ...

2018-06-01

Here, infrared (IR) optical materials have enabled a broad range of optical sensing and measurement applications in the mid-wave and long-wave IR. Many IR transmitting glasses are based on covalently-bonded selenides and tellurides, such as As 2Se 3 and GeTe 2, which typically have relatively low glass transition temperatures ( T g) on the order of 200 to 350 °C. Many applications have working temperatures above the T g of these materials, which compels the development of new IR materials. This work studies the underlying short-range order (SRO) structure and glass formability of a new family of ionically-bonded sulfide glasses,more » xBaS + yLa 2S 3 + (1 – x – y)GeS 2, to develop high T g optical materials with a broad IR transmission range. These sulfide glasses were produced by melting sulfide materials inside evacuated and sealed carbon-coated silica ampoules at 1150 °C for 12 h and quenching to room temperature to form glass. Glass samples were then characterized by IR and Raman spectroscopies and differential thermal analysis (DTA). It was found that by increasing the modifier concentration, the predominantly Ge 4 SRO units, the superscript defines the number of bridging sulfur (BS) ions in the tetrahedral network found in GeS 2 glasses, are ultimately converted to Ge 0 units at >40 mol% network modifier content through the generation of non-bridging sulfur (NBS) ions. These molecular ionic units still form a glassy network, with some of the highest reported T g values to date for a pure sulfide glass. This suggests that this composition has strong ionic bonds between negatively-charged tetrahedral SRO units and the positively-charged modifier cations. While the glass network is depolymerized in the high modifier content glasses though the formation of a high concentration of molecular ionic Ge 0 SRO groups, they are, nevertheless, homogeneous glassy materials that exhibit the largest T g and Δ T (difference between crystallization temperature, T c, and T g) values of glasses in this system, making them the optimal glasses for high T g IR optical components, including, potentially, refractory IR optical fibers.« less

Hetero-junction photovoltaic device and method of fabricating the device

DOEpatents

Aytug, Tolga; Christen, David K; Paranthaman, Mariappan Parans; Polat, Ozgur

2014-02-10

A hetero-junction device and fabrication method in which phase-separated n-type and p-type semiconductor pillars define vertically-oriented p-n junctions extending above a substrate. Semiconductor materials are selected for the p-type and n-type pillars that are thermodynamically stable and substantially insoluble in one another. An epitaxial deposition process is employed to form the pillars on a nucleation layer and the mutual insolubility drives phase separation of the materials. During the epitaxial deposition process, the orientation is such that the nucleation layer initiates propagation of vertical columns resulting in a substantially ordered, three-dimensional structure throughout the deposited material. An oxidation state of at least a portion of one of the p-type or the n-type semiconductor materials is altered relative to the other, such that the band-gap energy of the semiconductor materials differ with respect to stoichiometric compositions and the device preferentially absorbs particular selected bands of radiation.

Short-pulse laser interactions with disordered materials and liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Phinney, L.M.; Goldman, C.H.; Longtin, J.P.

High-power, short-pulse lasers in the picosecond and subpicosecond range are utilized in an increasing number of technologies, including materials processing and diagnostics, micro-electronics and devices, and medicine. In these applications, the short-pulse radiation interacts with a wide range of media encompassing disordered materials and liquids. Examples of disordered materials include porous media, polymers, organic tissues, and amorphous forms of silicon, silicon nitride, and silicon dioxide. In order to accurately model, efficiently control, and optimize short-pulse, laser-material interactions, a thorough understanding of the energy transport mechanisms is necessary. Thus, fractals and percolation theory are used to analyze the anomalous diffusion regimemore » in random media. In liquids, the thermal aspects of saturable and multiphoton absorption are examined. Finally, a novel application of short-pulse laser radiation to reduce surface adhesion forces in microstructures through short-pulse laser-induced water desorption is presented.« less

The finite element simulation analysis research of 38CrSi cylindrical power spinning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Wei; Lv, Qiongying; Zhao, Yujuan; Lv, Yunxia

2018-01-01

In order to grope for the influence of the main cylindrical spinning process parameters on the spinning process, this paper combines with real tube power spinning process and uses ABAQUS finite element analysis software to simulate the tube power spinning process of 38CrSi steel materials, through the analysis of the stress, strain of the part forming process, analyzes the influence of the thickness reduction and the feed rate to the forming process, and analyzes the variation of the spinning force, finally determines the reasonable main spinning process parameters combination.

Processing and Characterization of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Ceramic Composites for High Temperature Applications Using Polymer Precursors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Sarah; Lui, Donovan; Gou, Jihua

2014-01-01

The development of high temperature structural composite materials has been very limited due to the high cost of the materials and the processing needed. Ceramics can take much higher temperatures, but they are difficult to produce and form in bulk volumes. Polymer Derived Ceramics (PDCs) begin as a polymer matrix, allowing a shape to be formed, to be cured, and be pyrolized in order to obtain a ceramic with the associated thermal and mechanical properties. The two PDCs used in this development are polysiloxane and polycarbosilane. Polysiloxanes contain a silicon oxycarbide backbone when pyrolized up to 1000degC. Polycarbosilane, an organosilicon polymer, contain a silicon-carbon backbone; around 1200degC, -SiC begins to crystallize. The use of basalt in structural and high temperature applications has been under development for over 50 years, yet there has been little published research on the incorporation of basalt fibers as a reinforcement in composites. Basalt is a naturally occurring material found in volcanic rock. Continuous basalt fiber reinforced PDCs have been fabricated and tested for the applicability of this composite system as a high temperature structural composite material. Testing for this included thermal and mechanical testing per ASTM standard tests.

A Study of Crystalline Mechanism of Penetration Sealer Materials.

PubMed

Teng, Li-Wei; Huang, Ran; Chen, Jie; Cheng, An; Hsu, Hui-Mi

2014-01-14

It is quite common to dispense a topping material like crystalline penetration sealer materials (CPSM) onto the surface of a plastic substance such as concrete to extend its service life span by surface protections from outside breakthrough. The CPSM can penetrate into the existing pores or possible cracks in such a way that it may form crystals to block the potential paths which provide breakthrough for any unknown materials. This study investigated the crystalline mechanism formed in the part of concrete penetrated by the CPSM. We analyzed the chemical composites, in order to identify the mechanism of CPSM and to evaluate the penetrated depth. As shown in the results, SEM observes the acicular-structured crystals filling capillary pores for mortar substrate of the internal microstructure beneath the concrete surface; meanwhile, XRD and FT-IR showed the main hydration products of CPSM to be C-S-H gel and CaCO₃. Besides, MIP also shows CPSM with the ability to clog capillary pores of mortar substrate; thus, it reduces porosity, and appears to benefit in sealing pores or cracks. The depth of CPSM penetration capability indicated by TGA shows 0-10 mm of sealer layer beneath the concrete surface.

Interfacial Engineering of Inorganic Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samiee, Mojtaba

Since the micrometer-sized bulk materials have reached their inherent limits, development of new materials with high performance is essential for low cost and environmentally friendly electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices. One approach is to take advantage of interfacial engineering in order to modify currently developed materials, thus improving their properties for specific applications. The advantage of interfacial engineering is that it can also be applied to newly developed materials to further improve their properties for the specific applications. In first part of this dissertation, a systematic study is performed to investigate the effect of annealing in reducing atmospheres with different oxygen partial pressures and presence of other species (Ar, H2, N2, vacuum or hydrocarbon) on visible-light photocatalytic activity of TiO2. In second part, a facile nitridation method is used to improve the rate capability of TiO 2 as anode material for Li ion batteries. The enhanced high-rate capacities are attributed to moderate surface nitridation with less-disordered nitridated regions, which may enhance the surface electronic conductivity without forming discrete, nanoscale, and surface amorphous films to block the lithium transport. In third part, pseudocapacitive properties of V2O5-based adsorbates supported on TiO2 nanoparticles is systematically measured. Surface amorphous films (SAFs), which form naturally at thermodynamic equilibria at 550-600 °C with self-regulating or "equilibrium" thicknesses on the order of 1 nm, exhibit superior electrochemical performance at moderate and high scan rates (20-500 mV/s) that are of prime importance for supercapacitor applications, as compared with submonolayer and monolayer adsorbates formed at lower equilibration temperatures. In fourth part, we perform a combined experimental and computational investigation into the effects of aliovalent doping in NASICON on both bulk and grain boundary ionic conductivity. Our results show that the dopants with low solid solubility limits in NASICON solid solution lead to the formation of a conducting secondary phase at grain boundaries, thereby improving effective grain boundary conductivity that is otherwise hindered by the poorly-conducting Na3PO4 and ZrO2 secondary phases in undoped NASICON. In fifth part, inline electron holography technique is used to directly observe and investigate the space charge layers at grain boundaries of Y-doped BaZrO3.

Self-organized formation of quantum dots of a material on a substrate

DOEpatents

Zhang, Zhenyu; Wendelken, John F.; Chang, Ming-Che; Pai, Woei Wu

2001-01-01

Systems and methods are described for fabricating arrays of quantum dots. A method for making a quantum dot device, includes: forming clusters of atoms on a substrate; and charging the clusters of atoms such that the clusters of atoms repel one another. The systems and methods provide advantages because the quantum dots can be ordered with regard to spacing and/or size.

Second-Order Active NLO Chromophores for DNA Based Electro-Optics Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-21

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour...per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources , gathering and maintaining the data needed, and...completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information

Modeling Behavior of Students in E-Learning Courses on the Basis of Use Interactive Animations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magdin, Martin; Turcáni, Milan

2016-01-01

Authors in their contribution deal with modeling the behavior of user in e-learning course based on the use of interactive animations. Nowadays, E-learning courses form a standard part of educational process. However, it is not so easy to determine the way students work with study material, whether they make use of it in order to increase didactic…

Comparison and characterization of different tunnel layers, suitable for passivated contact formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ling, Zhi Peng; Xin, Zheng; Ke, Cangming; Jammaal Buatis, Kitz; Duttagupta, Shubham; Lee, Jae Sung; Lai, Archon; Hsu, Adam; Rostan, Johannes; Stangl, Rolf

2017-08-01

Passivated contacts for solar cells can be realized using a variety of differently formed ultra-thin tunnel oxide layers. Assessing their interface properties is important for optimization purposes. In this work, we demonstrate the ability to measure the interface defect density distribution D it(E) and the fixed interface charge density Q f for ultra-thin passivation layers operating within the tunnel regime (<2 nm). Various promising tunnel layer candidates [i.e., wet chemically formed SiO x , UV photo-oxidized SiO x , and atomic layer deposited (ALD) AlO x ] are investigated for their potential application forming electron or hole selective tunnel layer passivated contacts. In particular, ALD AlO x is identified as a promising tunnel layer candidate for hole-extracting passivated contact formation, stemming from its high (negative) fixed interface charge density in the order of -6 × 1012 cm-2. This is an order of magnitude higher compared to wet chemically or UV photo-oxidized formed silicon oxide tunnel layers, while keeping the density of interface defect states D it at a similar level (in the order of ˜2 × 1012 cm-2 eV-1). This leads to additional field effect passivation and therefore to significantly higher measured effective carrier lifetimes (˜2 orders of magnitude). A surface recombination velocity of ˜40 cm/s has been achieved for a 1.5 nm thin ALD AlO x tunnel layer prior to capping by an additional hole transport material, like p-doped poly-Si or PEDOT:PSS.

Patchwork diagnoses: the production of coherence, uncertainty, and manageable bodies.

PubMed

Gardner, John; Dew, Kevin; Stubbe, Maria; Dowell, Tony; Macdonald, Lindsay

2011-09-01

Using a material semiotics methodology, this paper explores the link between diagnostic practices, patient awareness of the body, and biopolitical governance. We collected video and audio recordings of a patient with chest pain involved in three medical interactions (a general practitioner [GP] consultation, an electrocardiogram stress test and a consultation with a cardiologist) in Wellington, New Zealand. Following the work of Annemarie Mol, we argue that each of these diagnostics interactions bring together a range of material and non-material entities that enact the body and disease. Consequently, we note how the diagnostic practices associated with cardiovascular medicine enable and prompt an awareness of the body based on uncertainty, and thus promotes the self-management of cardiac health and risk. This paper illustrates that a material semiotics methodology makes important contributions to the sociology of diagnosis. Firstly, it draws attention to the relationship between humans and material entities in rendering the body intelligible. Secondly, it illustrates that different diagnostic procedures can produce multiple, potentially conflicting, forms of self-awareness. Alongside these practices generating multiplicity, however, are those that presuppose and produce singularity and coherence. We illustrate how the cardiologist "patches" two potentially conflicting diagnoses together in order to provide a sense of coherence to the interactions. Thirdly, material semiotics illustrates how various diagnostic practices can reify risk, and produce bodies that lend themselves to particular forms of governance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methods of studying aging and stabilization of spray-congealed solid dispersions with carnauba wax. 1. Microcalorimetric investigation.

PubMed

Emås, M; Nyqvist, H

2000-03-20

Rapidly cooled materials are often unstable as a result of changes in their physical properties due to imperfect crystallization. In the process of spray-congealing, melted material is atomized into droplets which very quickly solidify. This increases the possibility of the material crystallizing in different metastable forms. In this study it is shown that isothermal microcalorimetry can be used to observe the change in the thermodynamic state of spray-congealed carnauba wax during storage. In order to accelerate the thermodynamic change in the spray-congealed wax, three annealing procedures have been developed and compared using isothermal microcalorimetry. By means of annealing, a spray-congealed product closer to a thermodynamically stable state has been achieved.

Nano-Al Reaction with Nitrogen in the Burn Front of Oxygen-Free Energetic Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tappan, Bryce

2005-07-01

Nano-particulate aluminum metal was added to the high nitrogen energetic materials dihydrazinotetrazine (DHT) and triaminoguanidium azotetrazolate (TAGzT) in order to determine the effects on decomposition behavior. Standard safety testing (sensitivity to impact, spark and friction) are reported, show that the addition of nano-Al actually decreases the sensitivity of the pure DHT and TAGzT. Thermo-equilibrium calculations (Cheetah) indicate that the all of the Al reacts to form AlN in both materials at the levels of interest, and the calculated specific impulses are reported. Emission spectra were collected to determine AlN formation in combustion. Burning rates were also collected, and the effects of nano-Al on rates are discussed.

Materials Fabrication from Bombyx mori Silk Fibroin

PubMed Central

Rockwood, Danielle N.; Preda, Rucsanda C.; Yücel, Tuna; Wang, Xiaoqin; Lovett, Michael L.; Kaplan, David L.

2013-01-01

Silk fibroin, derived from Bombyx mori cocoons, is a widely used and studied protein polymer for biomaterial applications. Silk fibroin has remarkable mechanical properties when formed into different materials, demonstrates biocompatibility, has controllable degradation rates from hours to years, and it can be chemically modified to alter surface properties or to immobilize growth factors. A variety of aqueous or organic solvent processing methods can be used to generate silk biomaterials for a range of applications. In this protocol we include methods to extract silk from B. mori cocoons in order to fabricate hydrogels, tubes, sponges, composites, fibers, microspheres and thin films. These materials can be used directly as biomaterials for implants, as scaffolding in tissue engineering and in vitro disease models, and for drug delivery. PMID:21959241

Fragmentation of Structural Energetic Materials: Implications for Performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aydelotte, Brady; Braithwaite, Christopher; Thadhani, Naresh

2013-06-01

Fragmentation results for structural energetic materials based on intermetallic forming mixtures are reviewed and the implications of the fragment populations are discussed. Cold Sprayed Ni+Al and explosively compacted mixtures of Ni+Al+W and Ni+Al+W+Zr powders were fabricated into ring shaped samples and subjected to fragmentation tests. Ring velocity was monitored and fragments were soft captured in order to study the fragmentation process. It was determined that the fragments produced by these structural energetic materials are much smaller than those typically produced by ductile metals such as steel or aluminum. This has implications for combustion processes that may occur subsequent to the fragmentation process. ONR/MURI grant No. N00014-07-1-0740 Dr. Cliff Bedford PM.

Study on room temperature gas-sensing performance of CuO film-decorated ordered porous ZnO composite by In2O3 sensitization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Tian-tian; Bao, Na; Geng, Ai-fang; Yu, Hui; Yang, Ying; Dong, Xiang-ting

2018-02-01

For the first time, ordered mesoporous ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized by a template method. The electroplating after chemical plating method was creatively used to form copper film on the surface of the prepared ZnO, and then a CuO film-decorated ordered porous ZnO composite (CuO/ZnO) was obtained by a high-temperature oxidation method. In2O3 was loaded into the prepared CuO film-ZnO by an ultrasonic-assisted method to sensitize the room temperature gas-sensing performance of the prepared CuO/ZnO materials. The doped In2O3 could effectively improve the gas-sensing properties of the prepared materials to nitrogen oxides (NOx) at room temperature. The 1% In2O3 doped CuO/ZnO sample (1 wt% In2O3-CuO/ZnO) showed the best gas-sensing properties whose response to 100 ppm NOx reached 82%, and the detectable minimum concentration reached 1 ppm at room temperature. The prepared materials had a good selectivity, better response, very low detection limit, and high sensitivity to NOx gas at room temperature, which would have a great development space in the gas sensor field and a great research value.

A Dragonfly-Shaped Crater

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-10

The broader scene for this image is the fluidized ejecta from Bakhuysen Crater to the southwest, but there's something very interesting going on here on a much smaller scale. A small impact crater, about 25 meters in diameter, with a gouged-out trench extends to the south. The ejecta (rocky material ejected from the crater) mostly extends to the east and west of the crater. This "butterfly" ejecta is very common for craters formed at low impact angles. Taken together, these observations suggest that the crater-forming impactor came in at a low angle from the north, hit the ground and ejected material to the sides. The top of the impactor may have sheared off ("decapitating" the impactor) and continued downrange, forming the trench. We can't prove that's what happened, but this explanation is consistent with the observations. Regardless of how it formed, it's quite an interesting-looking "dragonfly" crater. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.69 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 55.7 centimeters (21.92 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 167 centimeters (65.7 inches) across are resolved.] North is up. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21454

Process Design of Aluminum Tailor Heat Treated Blanks.

PubMed

Kahrimanidis, Alexander; Lechner, Michael; Degner, Julia; Wortberg, Daniel; Merklein, Marion

2015-12-09

In many industrials field, especially in the automotive sector, there is a trend toward lightweight constructions in order to reduce the weight and thereby the CO₂ and NO x emissions of the products. An auspicious approach within this context is the substitution of conventional deep drawing steel by precipitation hardenable aluminum alloys. However, based on the low formability, the application for complex stamping parts is challenging. Therefore, at the Institute of Manufacturing Technology, an innovative technology to enhance the forming limit of these lightweight materials was invented. The key idea of the so-called Tailor Heat Treated Blanks (THTB) is optimization of the mechanical properties by local heat treatment before the forming operation. An accurate description of material properties is crucial to predict the forming behavior of tailor heat treated blanks by simulation. Therefore, within in this research project, a holistic approach for the design of the THTB process in dependency of the main influencing parameters is presented and discussed in detail. The capability of the approach for the process development of complex forming operations is demonstrated by a comparison of local blank thickness of a tailgate with the corresponding results from simulation.

Process Design of Aluminum Tailor Heat Treated Blanks

PubMed Central

Kahrimanidis, Alexander; Lechner, Michael; Degner, Julia; Wortberg, Daniel; Merklein, Marion

2015-01-01

In many industrials field, especially in the automotive sector, there is a trend toward lightweight constructions in order to reduce the weight and thereby the CO2 and NOx emissions of the products. An auspicious approach within this context is the substitution of conventional deep drawing steel by precipitation hardenable aluminum alloys. However, based on the low formability, the application for complex stamping parts is challenging. Therefore, at the Institute of Manufacturing Technology, an innovative technology to enhance the forming limit of these lightweight materials was invented. The key idea of the so-called Tailor Heat Treated Blanks (THTB) is optimization of the mechanical properties by local heat treatment before the forming operation. An accurate description of material properties is crucial to predict the forming behavior of tailor heat treated blanks by simulation. Therefore, within in this research project, a holistic approach for the design of the THTB process in dependency of the main influencing parameters is presented and discussed in detail. The capability of the approach for the process development of complex forming operations is demonstrated by a comparison of local blank thickness of a tailgate with the corresponding results from simulation. PMID:28793727

A Continuum Model for the Effect of Dynamic Recrystallization on the Stress–Strain Response

PubMed Central

Perdahcıoğlu, E. S.; van den Boogaard, A. H.

2018-01-01

Austenitic Stainless Steels and High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) steels show significant dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) during hot forming. In order to design optimal and safe hot-formed products, a good understanding and constitutive description of the material behavior is vital. A new continuum model is presented and validated on a wide range of deformation conditions including high strain rate deformation. The model is presented in rate form to allow for the prediction of material behavior in transient process conditions. The proposed model is capable of accurately describing the stress–strain behavior of AISI 316LN in hot forming conditions, also the high strain rate DRX-induced softening observed during hot torsion of HSLA is accurately predicted. It is shown that the increase in recrystallization rate at high strain rates observed in experiments can be captured by including the elastic energy due to the dynamic stress in the driving pressure for recrystallization. Furthermore, the predicted resulting grain sizes follow the power-law dependence with steady state stress that is often reported in literature and the evolution during hot deformation shows the expected trend. PMID:29789492

Emerging superconductivity hidden beneath charge-transfer insulators

PubMed Central

Krockenberger, Yoshiharu; Irie, Hiroshi; Matsumoto, Osamu; Yamagami, Keitaro; Mitsuhashi, Masaya; Tsukada, Akio; Naito, Michio; Yamamoto, Hideki

2013-01-01

In many of today's most interesting materials, strong interactions prevail upon the magnetic moments, the electrons, and the crystal lattice, forming strong links between these different aspects of the system. Particularly, in two-dimensional cuprates, where copper is either five- or six-fold coordinated, superconductivity is commonly induced by chemical doping which is deemed to be mandatory by destruction of long-range antiferromagnetic order of 3d9 Cu2+ moments. Here we show that superconductivity can be induced in Pr2CuO4, where copper is four-fold coordinated. We induced this novel quantum state of Pr2CuO4 by realizing pristine square-planar coordinated copper in the copper-oxygen planes, thus, resulting in critical superconducting temperatures even higher than by chemical doping. Our results demonstrate new degrees of freedom, i.e., coordination of copper, for the manipulation of magnetic and superconducting order parameters in quantum materials. PMID:23887134

Delamination failure of multilaminated adhesively bonded joints at low temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Chi-Seung; Chun, Min-Sung; Kim, Myung-Hyun; Lee, Jae-Myung

2011-08-01

A series of experimental investigations of multilaminated joints adhesively bonded by epoxy/polyurethane (PU) glue were conducted in order to examine the delamination failure characteristics under in-plane shear loading at low temperatures. In order to observe these phenomena, a series of lap-shear tests were carried out at various low temperatures (20 °C, -110 °C and -163 °C) and various adhesion areas (15 mm × 50 mm, 30 mm × 50 mm, 50 mm × 50 mm, 75 mm × 50 mm and 100 mm × 50 mm). The test results were used to investigate the delamination and material characteristics, as well as the material properties, e.g., ultimate shear stress and shear elongation. Furthermore, the dependencies of the characteristics of multilaminated adhesively bonded joints (MABJs) on temperature and adhesion area was analyzed using the stress-strain relationship, and closed form formulas that are functions of the dependent parameters are proposed.

Sculpting and fusing biomimetic vesicle networks using optical tweezers.

PubMed

Bolognesi, Guido; Friddin, Mark S; Salehi-Reyhani, Ali; Barlow, Nathan E; Brooks, Nicholas J; Ces, Oscar; Elani, Yuval

2018-05-14

Constructing higher-order vesicle assemblies has discipline-spanning potential from responsive soft-matter materials to artificial cell networks in synthetic biology. This potential is ultimately derived from the ability to compartmentalise and order chemical species in space. To unlock such applications, spatial organisation of vesicles in relation to one another must be controlled, and techniques to deliver cargo to compartments developed. Herein, we use optical tweezers to assemble, reconfigure and dismantle networks of cell-sized vesicles that, in different experimental scenarios, we engineer to exhibit several interesting properties. Vesicles are connected through double-bilayer junctions formed via electrostatically controlled adhesion. Chemically distinct vesicles are linked across length scales, from several nanometres to hundreds of micrometres, by axon-like tethers. In the former regime, patterning membranes with proteins and nanoparticles facilitates material exchange between compartments and enables laser-triggered vesicle merging. This allows us to mix and dilute content, and to initiate protein expression by delivering biomolecular reaction components.

Nanostructure characterisation of flow-formed Cr-Mo-V steel using transmission Kikuchi diffraction technique.

PubMed

Birosca, S; Ding, R; Ooi, S; Buckingham, R; Coleman, C; Dicks, K

2015-06-01

Nowadays flow-forming has become a desired near net shape manufacturing method as it provides excellent mechanical properties with improved surface finish and significant manufacturing cost reduction. However, the material is subjected to excessive plastic deformation during flow-forming process, generating a very fine and complex microstructure. In addition, the intense dislocation density and residual stress that is generated in the component during processing makes the microstructure characterisation using conventional micro-analytical tools challenging. Thus, the microstructure/property relationship study in such a material is rather difficult. In the present study a flow-formed Cr-Mo-V steel nanostructure and crystallographic texture were characterised by means of Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD). Here, TKD is shown to be a powerful technique in revealing very fine martensite laths within an austenite matrix. Moreover, fine precipitates in the order of 20-70 nm on the martensite lath boundaries were clearly imaged and characterised. This greatly assisted in understanding the preferable site formation of the carbides in such a complex microstructure. The results showed that the actual TKD spatial resolution was in the range of 5-10 nm using 25 kV for flow-formed Cr-Mo-V steel. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of a novel cold forging process to manufacture eccentric shafts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasler, Lukas; Liewald, Mathias

2018-05-01

Since the commercial usage of compact combustion engines, eccentric shafts have been used to transform translational into rotational motion. Over the years, several processes to manufacture these eccentric shafts or crankshafts have been developed. Especially for single-cylinder engines manufactured in small quantities, built crankshafts disclose advantages regarding tooling costs and performance. Those manufacturing processes do have one thing in common: They are all executed at elevated temperatures to enable the material to be formed to high forming degree. In this paper, a newly developed cold forging process is presented, which combines lateral extrusion and shifting for manufacturing a crank in one forming operation at room temperature. In comparison to the established upsetting and shifting methods to manufacture such components, the tool cavity or crank web thickness remains constant. Therefore, the developed new process presented in this paper consists of a combination of shifting and extrusion of the billet, which allows pushing material into the forming zone during shifting. In order to reduce the tensile stresses induced by the shifting process, compressive stresses are superimposed. It is expected that the process limits will be expanded regarding the horizontal displacement and form filling. In the following report, the simulation and design of the tooling concept are presented. Experiments were conducted and compared with corresponding simulation results afterwards.

Effect of material flexibility on the thermodynamics and kinetics of hydrophobically induced evaporation of water

PubMed Central

Altabet, Y. Elia; Haji-Akbari, Amir; Debenedetti, Pablo G.

2017-01-01

The evaporation of water induced by confinement between hydrophobic surfaces has received much attention due to its suggested functional role in numerous biophysical phenomena and its importance as a general mechanism of hydrophobic self-assembly. Although much progress has been made in understanding the basic physics of hydrophobically induced evaporation, a comprehensive understanding of the substrate material features (e.g., geometry, chemistry, and mechanical properties) that promote or inhibit such transitions remains lacking. In particular, comparatively little research has explored the relationship between water’s phase behavior in hydrophobic confinement and the mechanical properties of the confining material. Here, we report the results of extensive molecular simulations characterizing the rates, free energy barriers, and mechanism of water evaporation when confined between model hydrophobic materials with tunable flexibility. A single-order-of-magnitude reduction in the material’s modulus results in up to a nine-orders-of-magnitude increase in the evaporation rate, with the corresponding characteristic time decreasing from tens of seconds to tens of nanoseconds. Such a modulus reduction results in a 24-orders-of-magnitude decrease in the reverse rate of condensation, with time scales increasing from nanoseconds to tens of millions of years. Free energy calculations provide the barriers to evaporation and confirm our previous theoretical predictions that making the material more flexible stabilizes the confined vapor with respect to liquid. The mechanism of evaporation involves surface bubbles growing/coalescing to form a subcritical gap-spanning tube, which then must grow to cross the barrier. PMID:28289194

Confinement-induced liquid crystalline transitions in amyloid fibril cholesteric tactoids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyström, Gustav; Arcari, Mario; Mezzenga, Raffaele

2018-04-01

Chirality is ubiquitous in nature and plays crucial roles in biology, medicine, physics and materials science. Understanding and controlling chirality is therefore an important research challenge with broad implications. Unlike other chiral colloids, such as nanocellulose or filamentous viruses, amyloid fibrils form nematic phases but appear to miss their twisted form, the cholesteric or chiral nematic phases, despite a well-defined chirality at the single fibril level. Here we report the discovery of cholesteric phases in amyloids, using β-lactoglobulin fibrils shortened by shear stresses. The physical behaviour of these new cholesteric materials exhibits unprecedented structural complexity, with confinement-driven ordering transitions between at least three types of nematic and cholesteric tactoids. We use energy functional theory to rationalize these results and observe a chirality inversion from the left-handed amyloids to right-handed cholesteric droplets. These findings deepen our understanding of cholesteric phases, advancing their use in soft nanotechnology, nanomaterial templating and self-assembly.

Thermal transport and thermopower of bcc U-Mo splat-cooled alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falkowski, M.; Buturlim, V.; Paukov, M.; Havela, L.

2018-05-01

In order to characterize the electron and thermal transport properties in splat-cooled U-T alloys (T is transition metal), we measured the thermopower S and thermal conductivity κ of selected splat-cooled U-Mo alloys with 0, 11, 12.5, 15 and 17 at % Mo concentrations, as a function of temperature. Additionally, we compare our data with the results of S(T) and κ(T) for pure α-U bulk material. Moreover, what particularly motivated us for undertaking above mentioned investigation was the opportunity for prove the functionality of the TTO (Thermal Transport Option) insert of PPMS apparatus for such form of samples. Working with rapidly solidified materials in the form of splats, i.e. foils of typical thickness ∼ 0.2 mm, or even less, we need to test first whether the TTO output can be taken as reliable for the sample geometry, being far from typical bulk bar-shaped samples.

Electroformation of Janus and patchy capsules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozynek, Zbigniew; Mikkelsen, Alexander; Dommersnes, Paul; Fossum, Jon Otto

2014-05-01

Janus and patchy particles have designed heterogeneous surfaces that consist of two or several patches with different materials properties. These particles are emerging as building blocks for a new class of soft matter and functional materials. Here we introduce a route for forming heterogeneous capsules by producing highly ordered jammed colloidal shells of various shapes with domains of controlled size and composition. These structures combine the functionalities offered by Janus or patchy particles, and those given by permeable shells such as colloidosomes. The simple assembly route involves the synergetic action of electro-hydrodynamic flow and electro-coalescence. We demonstrate that the method is robust and straightforwardly extendable to production of multi-patchy capsules. This forms a starting point for producing patchy colloidosomes with domains of anisotropic chemical surface properties, permeability or mixed liquid-solid phase domains, which could be exploited to produce functional emulsions, light and hollow supra-colloidosome structures, or scaffolds.

Joining of Silicon Carbide Through the Diffusion Bonding Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halbig, Michael .; Singh, Mrityunjay

2009-01-01

In order for ceramics to be fully utilized as components for high-temperature and structural applications, joining and integration methods are needed. Such methods will allow for the fabrication the complex shapes and also allow for insertion of the ceramic component into a system that may have different adjacent materials. Monolithic silicon carbide (SiC) is a ceramic material of focus due to its high temperature strength and stability. Titanium foils were used as an interlayer to form diffusion bonds between chemical vapor deposited (CVD) SiC ceramics with the aid of hot pressing. The influence of such variables as interlayer thickness and processing time were investigated to see which conditions contributed to bonds that were well adhered and crack free. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electron microprobe analysis were used to characterize the bonds and to identify the reaction formed phases.

Raw materials: U.S. grows more vulnerable to third world cartels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wade, N.

1974-01-18

The success of the Arab oil embargo may be encouraging producers of other scarce raw materials to form a cartel against the United States. Pessimistic and optimistic opinions abound. Most third world countries need to sell as much as they can. The political hues of most potential members of a cartel make an arrangement unlikely, such as in the case where Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, Turkey, and the USSR corner the exportable market of chromium, but a coalition is unlikely. The U. S. government has a powerful weapon against cartels in the form of a massive, billion stockpile of strategicmore » minerals. The nonenergy mineral position of the USA seems certain to weaken in the long haul. Technological advances, recycling, substitution, and changing lifestyles to pay for deferred social costs of past consumption and inequities in distribution seem to be in order. (MCW)« less

Study of the properties and the choice of alloys for bladed disks (blisks) and a method for their joining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Povarova, K. B.; Valitov, V. A.; Obsepyan, S. V.; Drozdov, A. A.; Bazyleva, O. A.; Valitova, E. V.

2014-09-01

The choice of materials for the bladed disks (blisks) that are intended for next-generation aviation gas turbine engines is grounded. As blade materials, single crystals of light heterophase γ' + γ VKNA-type alloys based on the γ'(Ni3Al) intermetallic compound with an ordered structure are proposed. The choice of novel deformable EP975-type nickel superalloys, which are intended for operation at 800-850°C, as the disk material is grounded. It is shown that the most effective method for forming one-piece joints of an Ni3Al-based alloy and a high-alloy EP975-type nickel superalloy is the new process of solid-phase pressure welding under conditions of high-temperature superplasticity. Solid-phase joints are formed for heterophase Ni3Al-based alloy single crystals and deformable EK61 and EP975 nickel alloys. The gradient structures in the zone of the solid-phase joints that form under the conditions of low- and high-temperature superplasticity at homologous temperatures of ˜0.6 T m and 0.9 T m are studied. The character and direction of the diffusion processes at the joint of an intermetallic alloy single crystal and a deformable polycrystalline alloy are determined.

Laboratory Experiments on the Low-temperature Formation of Carbonaceous Grains in the ISM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fulvio, Daniele; Góbi, Sándor; Jäger, Cornelia; Kereszturi, Ákos; Henning, Thomas

2017-11-01

The life cycle of cosmic dust grains is far from being understood and the origin and evolution of interstellar medium (ISM) grains is still under debate. In the ISM, the cosmic dust destruction rate is faster than the production rate by stellar sources. However, observations of ISM refractory matter suggest that to maintain a steady amount of cosmic grains, some supplementary production mechanism takes place. In this context, we aimed to study possible reformation mechanisms of cosmic grains taking place at low temperature directly in the ISM. The low-temperature condensation of carbonaceous materials has been investigated in experiments mimicking the ISM conditions. Gas-phase carbonaceous precursors created by laser ablation of graphite were forced to accrete on cold substrates (T ≈ 10 K) representing surviving dust grains. The growing and evolution of the condensing carbonaceous precursors have been monitored by MIR and UV spectroscopy under a number of experimental scenarios. For the first time, the possibility to form ISM carbonaceous grains in situ is demonstrated. The condensation process is governed by carbon chains that first condense into small carbon clusters and finally into more stable carbonaceous materials, of which structural characteristics are comparable to the material formed in gas-phase condensation experiments at very high temperature. We also show that the so-formed fullerene-like carbonaceous material is transformed into a more ordered material under VUV processing. The cold condensation mechanisms discussed here can give fundamental clues to fully understand the balance between the timescale for dust injection, destruction, and reformation in the ISM.

Physical and chemical analysis of a Ni/H2 cell

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vaidyanathan, H.; Earl, M. W.; Kirkendall, T. D.

1991-01-01

A cycled aerospace nickel hydrogen (Ni/H2) cell was subjected to destructive physical analysis to determine the reason for a capacity loss after 5,967 cycles at 60 percent depth of discharge. The positive plates in the cell were analyzed in terms of chemical composition, active material utilization, charge efficiency, and thickness increase. The microstructure of a cross section of the positive plate was determined by backscattered electron image analysis. The results suggest that the capacity loss in the cell is caused by low charge acceptance and low active material utilization at the positive plate. The oxidized nickel species content of the positive plate increased due to corrosion of the nickel sintered skeleton. This appears to circumvent the orderly reaction of the active material. Microstructural analysis has indicated that a new phase of active material is formed with cycling.

A non-invasive experimental approach for surface temperature measurements on semi-crystalline thermoplastics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boztepe, Sinan; Gilblas, Remi; de Almeida, Olivier; Le Maoult, Yannick; Schmidt, Fabrice

2017-10-01

Most of the thermoforming processes of thermoplastic polymers and their composites are performed adopting a combined heating and forming stages at which a precursor is heated prior to the forming. This step is done in order to improve formability by softening the thermoplastic polymer. Due to low thermal conductivity and semi-transparency of polymers, infrared (IR) heating is widely used for thermoforming of such materials. Predictive radiation heat transfer models for temperature distributions are therefore critical for optimizations of thermoforming process. One of the key challenges is to build a predictive model including the physical background of radiation heat transfer phenomenon in semi-crystalline thermoplastics as their microcrystalline structure introduces an optically heterogeneous medium. In addition, the accuracy of a predictive model is required to be validated experimentally where IR thermography is one of the suitable methods for such a validation as it provides a non-invasive, full-field surface temperature measurement. Although IR cameras provide a non-invasive measurement, a key issue for obtaining a reliable measurement depends on the optical characteristics of a heated material and the operating spectral band of IR camera. It is desired that the surface of a material to be measured has a spectral band where the material behaves opaque and an employed IR camera operates in the corresponding band. In this study, the optical characteristics of the PO-based polymer are discussed and, an experimental approach is proposed in order to measure the surface temperature of the PO-based polymer via IR thermography. The preliminary analyses showed that IR thermographic measurements may not be simply performed on PO-based polymers and require a correction method as their semi-transparent medium introduce a challenge to obtain reliable surface temperature measurements.

Mental imagery and learning: a qualitative study in orthopaedic trauma surgery.

PubMed

Ibrahim, Edward F; Richardson, Martin D; Nestel, Debra

2015-09-01

Good preparation for surgical procedures has been linked to better performance and enhanced learning in the operating theatre. Mental imagery is increasingly used to enhance performance in competitive sport and there has been recent interest in applying this in surgery. This study aims to identify the mental imagery components of preoperative preparation in orthopaedic trauma surgery and to locate these practices in existing socio-material theory in order to produce a model useful for surgical skills training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine orthopaedic surgeons. Participants were identified by personal recommendation as regularly performing complex trauma operations to a high standard, and by affiliation to an international instruction course in trauma surgery. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcripts were independently analysed using thematic analysis. Analysis revealed that surgeons interact intensively with multiple colleagues and materials during their preparatory activities. Such interactions stimulate mental imagery in order to build strategy and rehearse procedures, which, in turn, stimulate preparatory interactions. Participants identified the discussion of a preoperative 'plan' as a key engagement tool for training junior surgeons and as a form of currency by which a trainee may increase his or her participation in a procedure. Preoperative preparation can be thought of as a socio-material ontology requiring a surgeon to negotiate imaginal, verbal and physical interactions with people, materials and his or her own mental imagery. Actor-network theory is useful for making sense of these interactions and for allowing surgeons to interrogate their own preparative processes. We recommend supervisors to use a form of preoperative plan as a teaching tool and to encourage trainees to develop their own preparatory skills. The ability of a trainee to demonstrate sound preparation is an indicator of readiness to perform a procedure. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Multifunctional three-dimensional macroporous nanoelectronic networks for smart materials.

PubMed

Liu, Jia; Xie, Chong; Dai, Xiaochuan; Jin, Lihua; Zhou, Wei; Lieber, Charles M

2013-04-23

Seamless and minimally invasive integration of 3D electronic circuitry within host materials could enable the development of materials systems that are self-monitoring and allow for communication with external environments. Here, we report a general strategy for preparing ordered 3D interconnected and addressable macroporous nanoelectronic networks from ordered 2D nanowire nanoelectronic precursors, which are fabricated by conventional lithography. The 3D networks have porosities larger than 99%, contain approximately hundreds of addressable nanowire devices, and have feature sizes from the 10-μm scale (for electrical and structural interconnections) to the 10-nm scale (for device elements). The macroporous nanoelectronic networks were merged with organic gels and polymers to form hybrid materials in which the basic physical and chemical properties of the host were not substantially altered, and electrical measurements further showed a >90% yield of active devices in the hybrid materials. The positions of the nanowire devices were located within 3D hybrid materials with ∼14-nm resolution through simultaneous nanowire device photocurrent/confocal microscopy imaging measurements. In addition, we explored functional properties of these hybrid materials, including (i) mapping time-dependent pH changes throughout a nanowire network/agarose gel sample during external solution pH changes, and (ii) characterizing the strain field in a hybrid nanoelectronic elastomer structures subject to uniaxial and bending forces. The seamless incorporation of active nanoelectronic networks within 3D materials reveals a powerful approach to smart materials in which the capabilities of multifunctional nanoelectronics allow for active monitoring and control of host systems.

Variation in Orthologous Shell-Forming Proteins Contribute to Molluscan Shell Diversity

PubMed Central

Jackson, Daniel J.; Reim, Laurin; Randow, Clemens; Cerveau, Nicolas; Degnan, Bernard M.; Fleck, Claudia

2017-01-01

Abstract Despite the evolutionary success and ancient heritage of the molluscan shell, little is known about the molecular details of its formation, evolutionary origins, or the interactions between the material properties of the shell and its organic constituents. In contrast to this dearth of information, a growing collection of molluscan shell-forming proteomes and transcriptomes suggest they are comprised of both deeply conserved, and lineage specific elements. Analyses of these sequence data sets have suggested that mechanisms such as exon shuffling, gene co-option, and gene family expansion facilitated the rapid evolution of shell-forming proteomes and supported the diversification of this phylum specific structure. In order to further investigate and test these ideas we have examined the molecular features and spatial expression patterns of two shell-forming genes (Lustrin and ML1A2) and coupled these observations with materials properties measurements of shells from a group of closely related gastropods (abalone). We find that the prominent “GS” domain of Lustrin, a domain believed to confer elastomeric properties to the shell, varies significantly in length between the species we investigated. Furthermore, the spatial expression patterns of Lustrin and ML1A2 also vary significantly between species, suggesting that both protein architecture, and the regulation of spatial gene expression patterns, are important drivers of molluscan shell evolution. Variation in these molecular features might relate to certain materials properties of the shells of these species. These insights reveal an important and underappreciated source of variation within shell-forming proteomes that must contribute to the diversity of molluscan shell phenotypes. PMID:28961798

Reductionist Approach in Peptide-Based Nanotechnology.

PubMed

Gazit, Ehud

2018-06-20

The formation of ordered nanostructures by molecular self-assembly of proteins and peptides represents one of the principal directions in nanotechnology. Indeed, polyamides provide superior features as materials with diverse physical properties. A reductionist approach allowed the identification of extremely short peptide sequences, as short as dipeptides, which could form well-ordered amyloid-like β-sheet-rich assemblies comparable to supramolecular structures made of much larger proteins. Some of the peptide assemblies show remarkable mechanical, optical, and electrical characteristics. Another direction of reductionism utilized a natural noncoded amino acid, α-aminoisobutryic acid, to form short superhelical assemblies. The use of this exceptional helix inducer motif allowed the fabrication of single heptad repeats used in various biointerfaces, including their use as surfactants and DNA-binding agents. Two additional directions of the reductionist approach include the use of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) and coassembly techniques. The diversified accomplishments of the reductionist approach, as well as the exciting future advances it bears, are discussed.

Preparing highly ordered glasses of discotic liquid crystalline systems by vapor deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gujral, Ankit; Gomez, Jaritza; Bishop, Camille E.; Toney, Michael F.; Ediger, M. D.

Anisotropic molecular packing, particularly in highly ordered liquid-crystalline arrangements, has the potential for optimizing performance in organic electronic and optoelectronic applications. Here we show that physical vapor deposition can be used to prepare highly organized out-of-equilibrium (glassy) solids of discotic liquid-crystalline (LC) systems. Using grazing incidence x-ray scattering, we compare 3 systems: a rectangular columnar LC, a hexagonal columnar LC and a non-liquid crystal former. The packing motifs accessible by vapor deposition are highly organized and vary from face-on to edge-on columnar arrangements depending upon substrate temperature. A subset of these structures cannot be accessed under equilibrium conditions. The structures formed at a given substrate temperature can be understood as the result of the system partially equilibrating toward the structure of the free surface of the equilibrium liquid crystal. Consistent with this view, the structures formed are independent of the substrate material.

Self-Ordered Nanoporous Alumina Templates Formed by Anodization of Aluminum in Oxalic Acid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vida-Simiti, Ioan; Nemes, Dorel; Jumate, Nicolaie; Thalmaier, Gyorgy; Sechel, Niculina

2012-10-01

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes with highly ordered nanopores serve as ideal templates for the formation of various nanostructured materials. The procedure of the template preparation is based on a two-step self-organized anodization of aluminum. In the current study, AAO templates were fabricated in 0.3 M oxalic acid under the anodizing potential range of 30-60 V at an electrolyte temperature of ~5°C. The AAO templates were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis. The as obtained layers are amorphous; the mean pore size is between 40 nm and 75 nm and increases with the increase of the anodization potential. Well-defined pores across the whole aluminum template, a pore density of ~1010 pores/cm2, and a tendency to form a porous structure with hexagonal symmetry were observed.

A Higher-Order Bending Theory for Laminated Composite and Sandwich Beams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, Geoffrey M.

1997-01-01

A higher-order bending theory is derived for laminated composite and sandwich beams. This is accomplished by assuming a special form for the axial and transverse displacement expansions. An independent expansion is also assumed for the transverse normal stress. Appropriate shear correction factors based on energy considerations are used to adjust the shear stiffness. A set of transverse normal correction factors is introduced, leading to significant improvements in the transverse normal strain and stress for laminated composite and sandwich beams. A closed-form solution to the cylindrical elasticity solutions for a wide range of beam aspect ratios and commonly used material systems. Accurate shear stresses for a wide range of laminates, including the challenging unsymmetric composite and sandwich laminates, are obtained using an original corrected integration scheme. For application of the theory to a wider range of problems, guidelines for finite element approximations are presented.

Potential of ordered mesoporous silica for oral delivery of poorly soluble drugs.

PubMed

Vialpando, Monica; Martens, Johan A; Van den Mooter, Guy

2011-08-01

The use of ordered mesoporous silica is one of the more recent and rapidly developing formulation techniques for enhancing the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs. Their large surface area and pore volume make ordered mesoporous silica materials excellent candidates for efficient drug loading and rapid release. While this new approach offers many promising advantages, further research is still necessary to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and to improve our scientific insight into the behavior of this system. In this review, the significant developments to date are presented and research challenges highlighted. Aspects of downstream processability are discussed in view of their special bulk powder properties and unique pore architecture. Lastly, perspectives for successful oral dosage form development are presented.

Well-Ordered In Adatoms at the In 2 O 3 ( 111 ) Surface Created by Fe Deposition

DOE PAGES

Wagner, Margareta; Lackner, Peter; Seiler, Steffen; ...

2016-11-11

Metal deposition on oxide surfaces usually results in adatoms, clusters, or islands of the deposited material, where defects in the surface often act as nucleation centers. An alternate configuration is reported. Afterwards the vapor deposition of Fe on the In 2O 3(111) surface at room temperature, ordered adatoms are observed with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). These are identical to the In adatoms that form when the sample is reduced by heating in ultrahigh vacuum. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that Fe interchanges with In in the topmost layer, pushing the excess In atoms to the surface where theymore » arrange as a well-ordered adatom array.« less

Effect of Processing on Silk-Based Biomaterials: Reproducibility and Biocompatibility

PubMed Central

Wray, Lindsay S.; Hu, Xiao; Gallego, Jabier; Georgakoudi, Irene; Omenetto, Fiorenzo G.; Schmidt, Daniel; Kaplan, David L.

2012-01-01

Silk fibroin has been successfully used as a biomaterial for tissue regeneration. In order to prepare silk fibroin biomaterials for human implantation a series of processing steps are required to purify the protein. Degumming to remove inflammatory sericin is a crucial step related to biocompatibility and variability in the material. Detailed characterization of silk fibroin degumming is reported. The degumming conditions significantly affected cell viability on the silk fibroin material and the ability to form three-dimensional porous scaffolds from the silk fibroin, but did not affect macrophage activation or β-sheet content in the materials formed. Methods are also provided to determine the content of residual sericin in silk fibroin solutions and to assess changes in silk fibroin molecular weight. Amino acid composition analysis was used to detect sericin residuals in silk solutions with a detection limit between 1.0% and 10% wt/wt, while fluorescence spectroscopy was used to reproducibly distinguish between silk samples with different molecular weights. Both methods are simple and require minimal sample volume, providing useful quality control tools for silk fibroin preparation processes. PMID:21695778

Growth Mechanism of Nanowires: Binary and Ternary Chalcogenides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, N. B.; Coriell, S. R.; Su, Ching-Hua; Hopkins, R. H.; Arnold, B.; Choa, Fow-Sen; Cullum, Brian

2016-01-01

Semiconductor nanowires exhibit very exciting optical and electrical properties including high transparency and a several order of magnitude better photocurrent than thin film and bulk materials. We present here the mechanism of nanowire growth from the melt-liquid-vapor medium. We describe preliminary results of binary and ternary selenide materials in light of recent theories. Experiments were performed with lead selenide and thallium arsenic selenide systems which are multifunctional material and have been used for detectors, acousto-optical, nonlinear and radiation detection applications. We observed that small units of nanocubes and elongated nanoparticles arrange and rearrange at moderate melt undercooling to form the building block of a nanowire. Since we avoided the catalyst, we observed self-nucleation and uncontrolled growth of wires from different places. Growth of lead selenide nanowires was performed by physical vapor transport method and thallium arsenic selenide nanowire by vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. In some cases very long wires (>mm) are formed. To achieve this goal experiments were performed to create situation where nanowires grew on the surface of solid thallium arsenic selenide itself.

Spectro-Electrochemical Examination of the Formation of Dimethyl Carbonate from CO and Methanol at Different Electrode Materials

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

In this work, we report a fundamental mechanistic study of the electrochemical oxidative carbonylation of methanol with CO for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate on metallic electrodes at low overpotentials. For the first time, the reaction was shown to take place on the metallic catalysts without need of oxidized metals or additives. Moreover, in-situ spectroelectrochemical techniques were applied to this electrosynthesis reaction in order to reveal the reaction intermediates and to shed light into the reaction mechanism. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy was used with different electrode materials (Au, Pd, Pt, and Ag) to assess the effect of the electrode material on the reaction and the dependence of products and intermediates on the applied potentials. It was observed that the dimethyl carbonate is only formed when the electrode is able to decompose/oxidize MeOH to form (adsorbed) methoxy groups that can further react with CO to dimethyl carbonate. Furthermore, the electrode needs to adsorb CO not too strongly; otherwise, further reaction will be inhibited because of surface poisoning by CO. PMID:28929754

Interaction among minerals, organics and water in comets: insights from Antarctic micrometeorites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagahara, Hiroko; Noguchi, Takaaki; Yabuta, Hikaru; Itoh, Shoichi; Sakamoto, Naoya; Mitsunari, Takuya; Okubo, Aya; Okazaki, Ryuji; Nakamura, Tomoki; Tachibana, Shogo; Terada, Kentaro; Ebihara, Mitsuru; Imae, Naoya; Kimura, Makoto

2016-04-01

The evolution and interaction of inorganic materials and organic materials are one of the crucial issues of space science, which is also a main topic of current planetary missions. In order to clarify the early stage of evo-lution of primitive materials in the solar system, we have carried out a comprehensive study on micrometeorites collected from the Antarctica virgin snow with SEM, TEM, Carbon-, N-, and O-XANES, and SIMS. On the basis of observation, we estimate the primary materials and the sequence of aqueous reaction in the inorganic and organic materials. The most primitive materials are GEMS (amorphous silicate with Fe-metal and sulfide), small olivine and low-Ca pyroxene, and pyrrhotite, which are embedded in organic materials. The or-ganic materials are macromolecules being rich in C=O groups with subordinate amount of C≡N and/or C=N-C groups, and they accompany D and 15N enrichments. Due to the heavy hydrogen and nitrogen isotopic composi-tions, the organics are estimated to be originated at very low temperature in the molecular cloud or a prestellar environment, which also generated various organic molecules. The aqueous alteration reaction started at first in organic materials, where N-heterocycle, δD, and δ15N are lost and the organics become aromatic-rich. GEMS altered next, where metallic Fe dissolved into water to form Fe-rich saponite remaining Mg-rich amorphous silicate (Stage I). The aromaticity of the organics increases, and the chemical nature of organics becomes close to insoluble organic materials in primitive chondrites. Then, sulfide in GEMS, small olivine and low-Ca pyroxene grains, and Fe-rich saponite react with water to form Mg-rich saponite and Fe-hydroxide (Stage II). Sulfur may have been incorporated into phyllosilicate and/or organics or flew away. Finally, heterogeneous phyllosilicates at Stage II were homogenized to be Mg-rich saponite with formation of carbonate and loss of organics (Stage III). Carbon to form carbonate were supplied from organics or carbon dioxide and/or methane ice. Finally, the assemblage of micrometeorites becomes Mg-saponite, magnetite, and carbonates, of which mineral assemblage and chemical compositions are very similar to those of primitive carbonaceous chondrites. Stages I and II should have taken place at ~0 °C and almost instantaneously, probably in hours to days, in order to prevent total aqueous alteration of silicates. Therefore, most plausible process would be transient heat-ing by an impact. On the other hand, Stage III was at a little higher temperature in order to homogenize Mg and Fe in heterogeneous phyllosilicates and/or lasted for a little longer duration. A possible process may be either by a shock or approaching of cometary bodies to the Sun. However, we should evaluate the temperature and dura-tion very carefully, because the Rosetta mission showed us extremely porous nature of comets. It should be noted that the final products of aqueous reactions shown in the present study are the same as those of primitive carbonaceous chondrites. More compact nature of chondrites and probably higher temperature by short-lived radio-isotopes resulted in pervasive water flow in the bodies and through alteration of silicates into phyllosilicates.

Processing and Material Characterization of Continuous Basalt Fiber Reinforced Ceramic Matrix Composites Using Polymer Derived Ceramics.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Sarah B.

2014-01-01

The need for high performance vehicles in the aerospace industry requires materials which can withstand high loads and high temperatures. New developments in launch pads and infrastructure must also be made to handle this intense environment with lightweight, reusable, structural materials. By using more functional materials, better performance can be seen in the launch environment, and launch vehicle designs which have not been previously used can be considered. The development of high temperature structural composite materials has been very limited due to the high cost of the materials and the processing needed. Polymer matrix composites can be used for temperatures up to 260C. Ceramics can take much higher temperatures, but they are difficult to produce and form in bulk volumes. Polymer Derived Ceramics (PDCs) begin as a polymer matrix, allowing a shape to be formed and cured and then to be pyrolized in order to obtain a ceramic with the associated thermal and mechanical properties. The use of basalt in structural and high temperature applications has been under development for over 50 years, yet there has been little published research on the incorporation of basalt fibers as a reinforcement in the composites. In this study, continuous basalt fiber reinforced PDCs have been fabricated and tested for the applicability of this composite system as a high temperature structural composite material. The oxyacetylene torch testing and three point bend testing have been performed on test panels and the test results are presented.

Scanning transmission x-ray microscope for materials science spectromicroscopy at the ALS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Warwick, T.; Seal, S.; Shin, H.

1997-04-01

The brightness of the Advanced Light Source will be exploited by several new instruments for materials science spectromicroscopy over the next year or so. The first of these to become operational is a scanning transmission x-ray microscope with which near edge x-ray absorption spectra (NEXAFS) can be measured on spatial features of sub-micron size. Here the authors describe the instrument as it is presently implemented, its capabilities, some studies made to date and the developments to come. The Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscope makes use of a zone plate lens to produce a small x-ray spot with which to perform absorptionmore » spectroscopy through thin samples. The x-ray beam from ALS undulator beamline 7.0 emerges into the microscope vessel through a silicon nitride vacuum window 160nm thick and 300{mu}m square. The vessel is filled with helium at atmospheric pressure. The zone plate lens is illuminated 1mm downstream from the vacuum window and forms an image in first order of a pinhole which is 3m upstream in the beamline. An order sorting aperture passes the first order converging light and blocks the unfocused zero order. The sample is at the focus a few mm downstream of the zone plate and mounted from a scanning piezo stage which rasters in x and y so that an image is formed, pixel by pixel, by an intensity detector behind the sample. Absorption spectra are measured point-by-point as the photon energy is scanned by rotating the diffraction grating in the monochromator and changing the undulator gap.« less

Sterilization Efficiency of Spore forming Bacteria in Powdery Food by Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas Sterilizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagata, Masayoshi; Tanaka, Masashi; Kikuchi, Yusuke

2015-09-01

To provide food sterilization method capable of killing highly heat resistant spore forming bacteria, we have studied effects of plasma treatment method at atmospheric pressure in order to develop a new high speed plasma sterilization apparatus with a low cost and a high efficiency. It is also difficult even for the plasma treatment to sterilize powdery food including spices such as soybean, basil and turmeric. This paper describes that an introduction of mechanical rotation of a treatment space increases the efficiency so that perfect inactivation of spore forming bacteria in these materials by a short treatment time has been demonstrated in our experiments. We also will discuss the sterilization mechanism by dielectric barrier discharge.

Densified waste form and method for forming

DOEpatents

Garino, Terry J.; Nenoff, Tina M.; Sava Gallis, Dorina Florentina

2015-08-25

Materials and methods of making densified waste forms for temperature sensitive waste material, such as nuclear waste, formed with low temperature processing using metallic powder that forms the matrix that encapsulates the temperature sensitive waste material. The densified waste form includes a temperature sensitive waste material in a physically densified matrix, the matrix is a compacted metallic powder. The method for forming the densified waste form includes mixing a metallic powder and a temperature sensitive waste material to form a waste form precursor. The waste form precursor is compacted with sufficient pressure to densify the waste precursor and encapsulate the temperature sensitive waste material in a physically densified matrix.

Ultrathin thermoresponsive self-folding 3D graphene

PubMed Central

Xu, Weinan; Qin, Zhao; Chen, Chun-Teh; Kwag, Hye Rin; Ma, Qinli; Sarkar, Anjishnu; Buehler, Markus J.; Gracias, David H.

2017-01-01

Graphene and other two-dimensional materials have unique physical and chemical properties of broad relevance. It has been suggested that the transformation of these atomically planar materials to three-dimensional (3D) geometries by bending, wrinkling, or folding could significantly alter their properties and lead to novel structures and devices with compact form factors, but strategies to enable this shape change remain limited. We report a benign thermally responsive method to fold and unfold monolayer graphene into predesigned, ordered 3D structures. The methodology involves the surface functionalization of monolayer graphene using ultrathin noncovalently bonded mussel-inspired polydopamine and thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) brushes. The functionalized graphene is micropatterned and self-folds into ordered 3D structures with reversible deformation under a full control by temperature. The structures are characterized using spectroscopy and microscopy, and self-folding is rationalized using a multiscale molecular dynamics model. Our work demonstrates the potential to design and fabricate ordered 3D graphene structures with predictable shape and dynamics. We highlight applicability by encapsulating live cells and creating nonlinear resistor and creased transistor devices. PMID:28989963

Metrics, The Measure of Your Future: Materials Evaluation Forms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troy, Joan B.

Three evaluation forms are contained in this publication by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth Metric Education Project to be used in conjunction with their materials. They are: (1) Field-Test Materials Evaluation Form; (2) Student Materials Evaluation Form; and (3) Composite Materials Evaluation Form. The questions in these forms are phrased so they can…

General scaling relations for locomotion in granular media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slonaker, James; Motley, D. Carrington; Zhang, Qiong; Townsend, Stephen; Senatore, Carmine; Iagnemma, Karl; Kamrin, Ken

2017-05-01

Inspired by dynamic similarity in fluid systems, we have derived a general dimensionless form for locomotion in granular materials, which is validated in experiments and discrete element method (DEM) simulations. The form instructs how to scale size, mass, and driving parameters in order to relate dynamic behaviors of different locomotors in the same granular media. The scaling can be derived by assuming intrusion forces arise from resistive force theory or equivalently by assuming the granular material behaves as a continuum obeying a frictional yield criterion. The scalings are experimentally confirmed using pairs of wheels of various shapes and sizes under many driving conditions in a common sand bed. We discuss why the two models provide such a robust set of scaling laws even though they neglect a number of the complexities of granular rheology. Motivated by potential extraplanetary applications, the dimensionless form also implies a way to predict wheel performance in one ambient gravity based on tests in a different ambient gravity. We confirm this using DEM simulations, which show that scaling relations are satisfied over an array of driving modes even when gravity differs between scaled tests.

Fracture in Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Agrawal, Parul; Chavez-Garcia, Jose F.

2011-01-01

The thermal protection materials used for spacecraft heat shields are subjected to various thermal-mechanical loads during an atmospheric reentry which can threaten the structural integrity of the system. This paper discusses the development of a novel technique to understand the failure mechanisms inside the thermal protection material, Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA). PICA has successfully flown on the Stardust spacecraft and was the TPS material chosen for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), that will fly in 2011. Although PICA has good thermal properties, structurally, it is a weak material. To thoroughly understand failure in PICA, experiments were performed using FiberForm(Registered TradeMark) (precursor of PICA), virgin and furnace-charred PICA. Several small samples were tested inside an electron microscope to investigate the failure mechanisms. Micrographs were obtained before and after the failure in order to study crack initiation and growth. Videos were obtained to capture failure mechanisms in real time. Stress-strain data was obtained simultaneously for all the samples with the help of a data acquisition system, integrated to the mechanical stages. It was found that cracks initiated and grew in the FiberForm when a critical stress limit was reached such that the carbon fibers separated from the binder. However, both for virgin and charred PICA, crack initiation and growth occurred in the matrix (phenolic) phase. Both virgin and charred PICA showed greater strength values compared to FiberForm coupons, confirming that the presence of the porous matrix helps in absorbing the fracture energy.

Effects of different production technologies on mechanical and metallurgical properties of precious metal denture alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferro, Paolo; Battaglia, Eleonora; Capuzzi, Stefano; Berto, Filippo

2017-12-01

Precious metal alloys can be supplied in traditional plate form or innovative drop form with high degree of purity. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the influence of precious metal alloy form on metallurgical and mechanical properties of the final dental products with particular reference to metal-ceramic bond strength and casting defects. A widely used alloy for denture was selected; its nominal composition was close to 55 wt% Pd - 34 wt% Ag - 6 wt% In - 3 wt% Sn. Specimens were produced starting from the alloy in both plate and drop forms. A specific test method was developed to obtain results that could be representative of the real conditions of use. In order to achieve further information about the adhesion behaviour and resistance, the fracture surfaces of the samples were observed using `Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)'. Moreover, material defects caused by the moulding process were studied. The form of the alloy before casting does not significantly influence the shear bond strength between the metal and the ceramic material (p-value=0,976); however, according to SEM images, products from drop form alloy show less solidification defects compared to products obtained with plate form alloy. This was attributed to the absence of polluting additives used in the production of drop form alloy. This study shows that the use of precious metal denture alloys supplied in drop form does not affect the metal-ceramic bond strength compared to alloys supplied in the traditional plate form. However, compared to the plate form, the drop form is found free of solidification defects, less expensive to produce and characterized by minor environmental impacts.

Fabrication and Characterization of Thin Film Ion Implanted Composite Materials for Integrated Nonlinear Optical Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarkisov, S.; Curley, M.; Williams, E. K.; Wilkosz, A.; Ila, D.; Poker, D. B.; Hensley, D. K.; Smith, C.; Banks, C.; Penn, B.;

Study of mould design and forming process on advanced polymer-matrix composite complex structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, S. J.; Zhan, L. H.; Bai, H. M.; Chen, X. P.; Zhou, Y. Q.

2015-07-01

Advanced carbon fibre-reinforced polymer-matrix composites are widely applied to aviation manufacturing field due to their outstanding performance. In this paper, the mould design and forming process of the complex composite structure were discussed in detail using the hat stiffened structure as an example. The key issues of the moulddesign were analyzed, and the corresponding solutions were also presented. The crucial control points of the forming process such as the determination of materials and stacking sequence, the temperature and pressure route of the co-curing process were introduced. In order to guarantee the forming quality of the composite hat stiffened structure, a mathematical model about the aperture of rubber mandrel was introduced. The study presented in this paper may provide some actual references for the design and manufacture of the important complex composite structures.

Design and Development of Novel Hierarchically Ordered Block Copolymer-Magnetoelectric Particle Nanocomposites

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-08

microscopy (JEOL 1200EX STEM). The volume fraction of BaTiO3 nanoparticles in the PS-BTO nanocomposites was determined by thermogravimetric analysis ...encapsulated in the 9.8±0.4-nm NP was approximately only 13.8% based on the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurement (Supporting Material Section...the properties of the constituents and their spatial arrangement. Nanocomposites of polymer/ nanoparticle , formed by incorporating nanoparticles into

Hg-Based Epitaxial Materials for Topological Insulators

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-01

Research Laboratory for investigation of properties. 15. SUBJECT TERMS EOARD, topological insulator , diluted magnetic ...topological superconductors and spintronics to quantum computation (e.g. see C.L.Kane and J.E.Moore "Topological Insulators " Physics World (2011) 24...tetradymite semiconductors Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, and Sb2Te3 which form magnetically ordered insulators when doped with transition metal elements Cr or Fe (Rui Yu et

On the Doppler Velocity of Emission Line Profiles Formed in the "Coronal Contraflow" that Is the Chromosphere-Corona Mass Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McIntosh, Scott W.; Tian, Hui; Sechler, Marybeth; De Pontieu, Bart

2012-04-01

This analysis begins to explore the complex chromosphere-corona mass cycle using a blend of imaging and spectroscopic diagnostics. Single Gaussian fits (SGFs) to hot emission line profiles (formed above 1 MK) at the base of coronal loop structures indicate material blueshifts of 5-10 km s-1, while cool emission line profiles (formed below 1 MK) yield redshifts of a similar magnitude—indicating, to zeroth order, that a temperature-dependent bifurcating flow exists on coronal structures. Image sequences of the same region reveal weakly emitting upward propagating disturbances in both hot and cool emission with apparent speeds of 50-150 km s-1. Spectroscopic observations indicate that these propagating disturbances produce a weak emission component in the blue wing at commensurate speed, but that they contribute only a few percent to the (ensemble) emission line profile in a single spatio-temporal resolution element. Subsequent analysis of imaging data shows material "draining" slowly (~10 km s-1) out of the corona, but only in the cooler passbands. We interpret the draining as the return flow of coronal material at the end of the complex chromosphere-corona mass cycle. Further, we suggest that the efficient radiative cooling of the draining material produces a significant contribution to the red wing of cool emission lines that is ultimately responsible for their systematic redshift as derived from an SGF when compared to those formed in hotter (conductively dominated) domains. The presence of counterstreaming flows complicates the line profiles, their interpretation, and asymmetry diagnoses, but allows a different physical picture of the lower corona to develop.

Using Reactive Transport Modeling to Understand Formation of the Stimson Sedimentary Unit and Altered Fracture Zones at Gale Crater, Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hausrath, E. M.; Ming, D. W.; Peretyazhko, T.; Rampe, E. B.

2017-01-01

Water flowing through sediments at Gale Crater, Mars created environments that were likely habitable, and sampled basin-wide hydrological systems. However, many questions remain about these environments and the fluids that generated them. Measurements taken by the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity of multiple fracture zones can help constrain the environments that formed them because they can be compared to nearby associated parent material (Figure 1). For example, measurements of altered fracture zones from the target Greenhorn in the Stimson sandstone can be compared to parent material measured in the nearby Big Sky target, allowing constraints to be placed on the alteration conditions that formed the Greenhorn target from the Big Sky target. Similarly, CheMin measurements of the powdered < 150 micron fraction from the drillhole at Big Sky and sample from the Rocknest eolian deposit indicate that the mineralogies are strikingly similar. The main differences are the presence of olivine in the Rocknest eolian deposit, which is absent in the Big Sky target, and the presence of far more abundant Fe oxides in the Big Sky target. Quantifying the changes between the Big Sky target and the Rocknest eolian deposit can therefore help us understand the diagenetic changes that occurred forming the Stimson sedimentary unit. In order to interpret these aqueous changes, we performed reactive transport modeling of 1) the formation of the Big Sky target from a Rocknest eolian deposit-like parent material, and 2) the formation of the Greenhorn target from the Big Sky target. This work allows us to test the relationships between the targets and the characteristics of the aqueous conditions that formed the Greenhorn target from the Big Sky target, and the Big Sky target from a Rocknest eolian deposit-like parent material.

Metal-polysiloxane shields for radiation therapy of maxillo-facial tumors.

PubMed

Farahani, M; Eichmiller, F C; McLaughlin, W L

1991-01-01

In the treatment of some head and neck lesions with high-intensity radiation (teletherapy), an essential procedure is the application of an individually customized shielding appliance, which is designed, modeled, and formed into a working extra- or intraoral stent for the purpose of sparing healthy tissues. The present state of the art is slow and technique intensive, which can add to patient discomfort and inconvenience during molding and fabrication. A new formulation is described, which offers speed and ease of forming a moldable composite stent especially for intraoral use. Interleaved stacks of calibrated thin radiochromic film strips and soft-tissue-simulating plastic (polystyrene) layers gave a means of mapping one- or two-dimensional profiles of dose distributions adjacent to the high-density shielding materials using a spectrophotometer equipped with a gel scanner or a scanning laser-beam microdensitometer. Tests using collimated gamma-ray beams from a 60Co teletherapy unit were made in order to measure the dose distribution near interfaces of tissue-simulating polymer and the composite stent material with and without mixtures of metals (Ag-Cu and Sn-Sb). These results show that quickly formed composites made of a flexible resin with high concentrations of powdered spherical metal alloys provide effective custom-designed shielding, and, with a thin overlayer of the resin without metal, a diminished back-scattered radiation dose to normal tissues. An example of a successful formulation is a mixture of 90% by weight Ag-Cu alloy powder in a vinyl polysiloxane resin. This material is a moldable putty which, upon polymerization, forms a rigid elastomeric material, providing a half-value layer of approximately 2.5 to 2.8 cm for a gamma-ray beam from a 60Co source.

Challenges in Materials Transformation Modeling for Polyolefins Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Shih-Yaw; Swogger, Kurt W.

2004-06-01

Unlike most published polymer processing and/or forming research, the transformation of polyolefins to fabricated articles often involves non-confined flow or so-called free surface flow (e.g. fiber spinning, blown films, and cast films) in which elongational flow takes place during a fabrication process. Obviously, the characterization and validation of extensional rheological parameters and their use to develop rheological constitutive models are the focus of polyolefins materials transformation research. Unfortunately, there are challenges that remain with limited validation for non-linear, non-isothermal constitutive models for polyolefins. Further complexity arises in the transformation of polyolefins in the elongational flow system as it involves stress-induced crystallization process. The complicated nature of elongational, non-linear rheology and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics make the development of numerical methods very challenging for the polyolefins materials forming modeling. From the product based company standpoint, the challenges of materials transformation research go beyond elongational rheology, crystallization kinetics and its numerical modeling. In order to make models useful for the polyolefin industry, it is critical to develop links between molecular parameters to both equipment and materials forming parameters. The recent advances in the constrained geometry catalysis and materials sciences understanding (INSITE technology and molecular design capability) has made industrial polyolefinic materials forming modeling more viable due to the fact that the molecular structure of the polymer can be well predicted and controlled during the polymerization. In this paper, we will discuss inter-relationship (models) among molecular parameters such as polymer molecular weight (Mw), molecular weight distribution (MWD), long chain branching (LCB), short chain branching (SCB or comonomer types and distribution) and their affects on shear and elongational rheologies, on tie-molecules probabilities, on non-isothermal stress-induced crystallization, on crystalline/amorphous orientation vs. mechanical property relationship, etc. All of the above mentioned inter-relationships (models) are critical to the successful development of a knowledge based industrial model. Dow Polyolefins and Elastomers business is one of the world largest polyolefins resin producers with the most advanced INSITE technology and a "6-Day model" molecular design capability. Dow also offers one of the broadest polyolefinic product ranges and applications to the market.

Densified waste form and method for forming

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garino, Terry J.; Nenoff, Tina M.; Sava Gallis, Dorina Florentina

Materials and methods of making densified waste forms for temperature sensitive waste material, such as nuclear waste, formed with low temperature processing using metallic powder that forms the matrix that encapsulates the temperature sensitive waste material. The densified waste form includes a temperature sensitive waste material in a physically densified matrix, the matrix is a compacted metallic powder. The method for forming the densified waste form includes mixing a metallic powder and a temperature sensitive waste material to form a waste form precursor. The waste form precursor is compacted with sufficient pressure to densify the waste precursor and encapsulate themore » temperature sensitive waste material in a physically densified matrix.« less

Inversion of Supramolecular Chirality by Sonication-Induced Organogelation

PubMed Central

Maity, Sibaprasad; Das, Priyadip; Reches, Meital

2015-01-01

Natural helical structures have inspired the formation of well-ordered peptide-based chiral nanostructures in vitro. These structures have drawn much attention owing to their diverse applications in the area of asymmetric catalysts, chiral photonic materials, and nanoplasmonics. The self-assembly of two enantiomeric fluorinated aromatic dipeptides into ordered chiral fibrillar nanostructures upon sonication is described. These fibrils form organogels. Our results clearly indicate that fluorine-fluorine interactions play an important role in self-assembly. Circular dichroism analysis revealed that both peptides (peptides 1 and 2), containing two fluorines, depicted opposite cotton effects in their monomeric form compared with their aggregated form. This shows that supramolecular chirality inversion took place during the stimuli-responsive self-aggregation process. Conversely, peptide 3, containing one fluorine, did not exhibit chirality inversion in sonication-induced organogelation. Therefore, our results clearly indicate that fluorination plays an important role in the organogelation process of these aromatic dipeptides. Our findings may have broad implications regarding the design of chiral nanostructures for possible applications such as chiroptical switches, asymmetric catalysis, and chiral recognitions. PMID:26553508

Centrifugal forming and mechanical properties of silicone-based elastomers for soft robotic actuators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulkarni, Parth

This thesis describes the centrifugal forming and resulting mechanical properties of silicone-based elastomers for the manufacture of soft robotic actuators. This process is effective at removing bubbles that get entrapped within 3D-printed, enclosed molds. Conventional methods for rapid prototyping of soft robotic actuators to remove entrapped bubbles typically involve degassing under vacuum, with open-faced molds that limit the layout of formed parts to raised 2D geometries. As the functionality and complexity of soft robots increase, there is a need to mold complete 3D structures with controlled thicknesses or curvatures on multiples surfaces. In addition, characterization of the mechanical properties of common elastomers for these soft robots has lagged the development of new designs. As such, relationships between resulting material properties and processing parameters are virtually non-existent. One of the goals of this thesis is to provide guidelines and physical insights to relate the design, processing conditions, and resulting properties of soft robotic components to each other. Centrifugal forming with accelerations on the order of 100 g's is capable of forming bubble-free, true 3D components for soft robotic actuators, and resulting demonstrations in this work include an aquatic locomotor, soft gripper, and an actuator that straightens when pressurized. Finally, this work shows that the measured mechanical properties of 3D geometries fabricated within enclosed molds through centrifugal forming possess comparable mechanical properties to vacuumed materials formed from open-faced molds with raised 2D features.

Improved silicon carbide for advanced heat engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whalen, Thomas J.; Mangels, J. A.

1986-01-01

The development of silicon carbide materials of high strength was initiated and components of complex shape and high reliability were formed. The approach was to adapt a beta-SiC powder and binder system to the injection molding process and to develop procedures and process parameters capable of providing a sintered silicon carbide material with improved properties. The initial effort was to characterize the baseline precursor materials, develop mixing and injection molding procedures for fabricating test bars, and characterize the properties of the sintered materials. Parallel studies of various mixing, dewaxing, and sintering procedures were performed in order to distinguish process routes for improving material properties. A total of 276 modulus-of-rupture (MOR) bars of the baseline material was molded, and 122 bars were fully processed to a sinter density of approximately 95 percent. Fluid mixing techniques were developed which significantly reduced flaw size and improved the strength of the material. Initial MOR tests indicated that strength of the fluid-mixed material exceeds the baseline property by more than 33 percent. the baseline property by more than 33 percent.

Relaxation dynamics of nanosecond laser superheated material in dielectrics

DOE PAGES

Demos, Stavros G.; Negres, Raluca A.; Raman, Rajesh N.; ...

2015-08-20

Intense laser pulses can cause superheating of the near-surface volume of materials. This mechanism is widely used in applications such as laser micromachining, laser ablation, or laser assisted thin film deposition. The relaxation of the near solid density superheated material is not well understood, however. In this work, we investigate the relaxation dynamics of the superheated material formed in several dielectrics with widely differing physical properties. The results suggest that the relaxation process involves a number of distinct phases, which include the delayed explosive ejection of microscale particles starting after the pressure of the superheated material is reduced to aboutmore » 4 GPa and for a time duration on the order of 1 μs. The appearance of a subset of collected ejected particles in fused silica is similar to that of micro-tektites and provides information about the state of the superheated material at the time of ejection. Lastly, these results advance our understanding of a key aspect of the laser–material interaction pathway and can lead to optimization of associated applications ranging from material processing to laser surgery.« less

Advanced Nanoporous Materials for Micro-Gravimetric Sensing to Trace-Level Bio/Chemical Molecules

PubMed Central

Xu, Pengcheng; Li, Xinxin; Yu, Haitao; Xu, Tiegang

2014-01-01

Functionalized nanoporous materials have been developed recently as bio/chemical sensing materials. Due to the huge specific surface of the nano-materials for molecular adsorption, high hopes have been placed on gravimetric detection with micro/nano resonant cantilevers for ultra-sensitive sensing of low-concentration bio/chemical substances. In order to enhance selectivity of the gravimetric resonant sensors to the target molecules, it is crucial to modify specific groups onto the pore-surface of the nano-materials. By loading the nanoporous sensing material onto the desired region of the mass-type transducers like resonant cantilevers, the micro-gravimetric bio/chemical sensors can be formed. Recently, such micro-gravimetric bio/chemical sensors have been successfully applied for rapid or on-the-spot detection of various bio/chemical molecules at the trace-concentration level. The applicable nanoporous sensing materials include mesoporous silica, zeolite, nanoporous graphene oxide (GO) and so on. This review article focuses on the recent achievements in design, preparation, functionalization and characterization of advanced nanoporous sensing materials for micro-gravimetric bio/chemical sensing. PMID:25313499

Characterizing the Atomic Structure in Low Concentrations of Weakly Ordered, Weakly Scattering Materials Using the Pair Distribution Function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terban, Maxwell W.

Nanoscale structural characterization is critical to understanding the physical underpinnings of properties and behavior in materials with technological applications. The work herein shows how the pair distribution function technique can be applied to x-ray total scattering data for material systems which weakly scatter x-rays, a typically difficult task due to the poor signal-to-noise obtained from the structures of interest. Characterization and structural modeling are demonstrated for a variety of molecular and porous systems, along with the detection and characterization of disordered, minority phases and components. In particular, reliable detection and quantitative analysis are demonstrated for nanocrystals of an active pharmaceutical ingredient suspended in dilute solution down to a concentration of 0.25 wt. %, giving a practical limit of detection for ordered nanoscale phases within a disordered matrix. Further work shows that minority nanocrystalline phases can be detected, fingerprinted, and modeled for mixed crystalline and amorphous systems of small molecules and polymers. The crystallization of amorphous lactose is followed under accelerated aging conditions. Melt quenching is shown to produce a different local structure than spray drying or freeze drying, along with increased resistance to crystallization. The initial phases which form in the spray dried formulation are identified as a mixture of polymorphs different from the final alpha-lactose monohydrate form. Hard domain formation in thermoplastic polyurethanes is also characterized as a function of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate and butanediol component ratio, showing that distinct and different hard phase structures can form and are solved by indexing with structures derived from molecular dynamics relaxation. In both cases, phase fractions can be quantified in the mixed crystalline and amorphous systems by fitting with both standards or structure models. Later chapters, demonstrate pair distribution characterization of particle incorporation, structure, and synthesis of nanoporous materials. Nanoparticle size distributions are extracted from platinum nanoparticles nucleating within a zeolite matrix through structural modeling, and validated by transmission electron microscope studies. The structure of zirconium phosphonate-phosphate unconventional metal organic framework is determined to consist of turbostratically disordered nanocrystalline layers of Zr-phenylphosphonate, and the local environment of terbium intercalated between the layers is found to resemble the local environment in scheelite-type terbium phosphate. Finally, the early stages of reaction between aqueous zinc dinitrate hexahydrate and methanolic 2-methylimidazole are characterized using in situ total scattering measurements, showing that secondary building units of tetrahedrally coordinated by 2-methylimidazole initially form upon reaction. Overall, the methodologies are developed and applied toward phase detection, identification, solution, and behavior in pharmaceuticals, polymers, and nanoporous materials along with advice for carrying out experiments and analysis on such materials such that they can be extended to other similar systems.

Novel organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous materials and nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Qiuwei

Organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous materials have been prepared successfully via the nonsurfactant templated sol-gel pathway using dibenzoyl-L-tartaric acid (DBTA) as the templating compound. Styrene and methyl methacrylate polymers have been incorporated into the mesoporous silica matrix on the molecular level. The synthetic conditions have been systematically studied and optimized. Titania based mesoporous materials have also been made using nonionic polyethylene glycol surfactant as the pore forming or structure-directing agent. In all of the above mesoporous materials, pore structures have been studied in detail by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) characterizations. The relationship between the template concentration and the pore parameters has been established. This nonsurfactant templated pathway possesses many advantages over the known surfactant approaches such as low cost, environment friendly and biocompatability. To overcome the drawback of nonsurfactant templated mesoporous materials that lack a well ordered pore structure, a flow induced synthesis has been attempted to orientate the sol-gel solution in order to obtain aligned pore structures. The versatility of this nonsurfactant templated pathway can even be extended to the making of organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite materials. On the basis of this approach, polymer-silica nanocomposite materials have been prepared using a polymerizable template. It is shown that the organic monomer such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate can act as a template in making nanoporous silica materials and then be further polymerized through a post synthesis technique. The properties and morphology of this new material have been studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy (FTIR). Electroactive organic-inorganic hybrid materials have also been synthesized via the sol-gel process. A coupling agent was used to covalently bond the organic and inorganic species. The morphology and conductivity of the products have been investigated.

Ultra low friction carbon/carbon composites for extreme temperature applications

DOEpatents

Erdemir, Ali; Busch, Donald E.; Fenske, George R.; Lee, Sam; Shepherd, Gary; Pruett, Gary J.

2001-01-01

A carbon/carbon composite in which a carbon matrix containing a controlled amount of boron or a boron compound is reinforced with carbon fiber exhibits a low coefficient of friction, i.e., on the order of 0.04 to 0.1 at temperatures up to 600.degree. C., which is one of the lowest frictional coefficients for any type of carbonaceous material, including graphite, glassy carbon, diamond, diamond-like carbon and other forms of carbon material. The high degree of slipperiness of the carbon composite renders it particularly adapted for limiting friction and wear at elevated temperatures such as in seals, bearings, shafts, and flexible joints

Development of solution techniques for nonlinear structural analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vos, R. G.; Andrews, J. S.

1974-01-01

Nonlinear structural solution methods in the current research literature are classified according to order of the solution scheme, and it is shown that the analytical tools for these methods are uniformly derivable by perturbation techniques. A new perturbation formulation is developed for treating an arbitrary nonlinear material, in terms of a finite-difference generated stress-strain expansion. Nonlinear geometric effects are included in an explicit manner by appropriate definition of an applicable strain tensor. A new finite-element pilot computer program PANES (Program for Analysis of Nonlinear Equilibrium and Stability) is presented for treatment of problems involving material and geometric nonlinearities, as well as certain forms on nonconservative loading.

Interactions between graphene oxide and wide band gap semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawa, M.; Podborska, A.; Szaciłowski, K.

2016-09-01

The graphene oxide (GO) and GO@TiO2 nanocomposite have been synthesised by using modified Hummers method and ultrasonics respectively. The materials were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. It was found that the interaction between GO and TiO2 affects the average interlayer spacing in carbonaceous material. The formation of bonds between various oxygen-containing functional groups and surface of titanium dioxide was investigated. One of them formed between the quinone structures (occur in graphene oxide) and titanium atoms exhibited 1.5 bond order. Furthermore the charge-transfer processes in GO@TiO2 composite were observed.

Designing new lithium-excess cathode materials from percolation theory: Nanohighways in Li xNi 2–4x/3Sb x/3O 2

DOE PAGES

Twu, Nancy; Li, Xin; Urban, Alexander; ...

2014-12-17

Increasing lithium content is shown to be a successful strategy for designing new cathode materials. In layered Li xNi 2–4x/3Sb x/3O 2 (x = 1.00–1.15), lithium excess improves both discharge capacity and capacity retention at 1C. Structural studies disclose a complex nanostructure pattern of Li–Sb and Ni–Sb ordering where the interface between these domains forms the correct local configuration for good lithium mobility. The <1 nm Li–Sb stripe domains and their interfaces thereby effectively act as nanohighways for lithium diffusion.

Laser Powder Welding of a Ti52Al46.8Cr1Si0.2Titanium Aluminide Alloy at Elevated Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smal, C. A.; Meacock, C. G.; Rossouw, H. J.

2011-04-01

A method for the joining of a Ti52Al46.8Cr1Si0.2Titanium Aluminide alloy by laser powder welding is presented. The technique acts to join materials by consolidating powder with focused laser beam to form weld beads that fill a V joint. In order to avoid the occurrence of residual thermal stresses and hence cracking of the brittle material, the weld plates were heated to a temperature of 1173 K (= 900 °C) by an ohmic heating device, welded and then slowly cooled to produce pore and crack free welds.

Designing new lithium-excess cathode materials from percolation theory: nanohighways in Li(x)Ni(2-4x/3)Sb(x/3)O2.

PubMed

Twu, Nancy; Li, Xin; Urban, Alexander; Balasubramanian, Mahalingam; Lee, Jinhyuk; Liu, Lei; Ceder, Gerbrand

2015-01-14

Increasing lithium content is shown to be a successful strategy for designing new cathode materials. In layered Li(x)Ni(2-4x/3)Sb(x/3)O2 (x = 1.00-1.15), lithium excess improves both discharge capacity and capacity retention at 1C. Structural studies reveal a complex nanostructure pattern of Li-Sb and Ni-Sb ordering where the interface between these domains forms the correct local configuration for good lithium mobility. The <1 nm Li-Sb stripe domains and their interfaces thereby effectively act as nanohighways for lithium diffusion.

Formation of Novel Polydiacetylenes: Synthesis of Poly(iodoethynyliododiacetylene) and Towards the Formation of Conjugated Ladder Polydiacetylenes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freitag, Matthew

Polydiacetylenes (PDAs) are 1-dimensional polymers with a carbon-rich ene-yne backbone. Materials scientists are interested in PDAs because they are semiconductors, they have large multiphoton absorptions, and they can be prepared as ordered assemblies in the solid-state. Polydiacetylenes are formed from the topochemical 1,4-polymerization of a monomer unit made up of at least two sequential alkynes. This work describes attempts to form novel polydiacetylenes from several higher order polyyne monomers, as well as efforts to alter the morphology of known polydiacetylenes into thin films. The first project described here examined the formation of cocrystals of diiodohexatriyne with a bis(alkylnitrile) oxalamide host. Diiodohexatriyne undergoes 1,4-topochemical polymerization, with mild heating, to form poly(iodoethynyliododiacetylene), PIEDA. Polymerization was followed by extensive characterization through Raman spectroscopy, solid-state 13C MAS-NMR, and X-ray crystallography. This work represents the first ordered single-crystal to single-crystal 1,4-topochemical polymerization of a triyne, demonstrated through X-ray diffraction. The second project described efforts towards post-polymerization modification on PIEDA. Despite some success in model studies, isolated PIEDA was found to be too unstable to undergo controlled post-polymerization modification. The third project of this work described the demonstration of the formation of thin films of another PDA, polydiiododiacetylene (PIDA). Thin films of PIDA cocrystals could serve as components in solar cells or photovoltaic devices. Using lower concentration and allowing evaporation to occur in a fume hood, nanometer thick films were formed. However, thin films of PIDA cocrystals were too heterogeneous to be used within devices. The fourth project described here examined the preparation of cocrystals of bis(iodobutadiynyl)benzene monomer with several oxalamide hosts. The goal of this project is formation of conjugated ladder polydiacetylenes which have been theorized to have a lower band-gap than analogous linear polydiacetylenes. Cocrystals of monomer bis(iodobutadiynyl)benzene were formed with a variety of oxalamide hosts. Monomer cocrystals were heated at high temperatures and gave Raman signal consistent with polydiacetylene formation. Attempts to analyze heated cocrystals through single crystal X-ray diffraction have failed due to increased mosaicity. Other methods of inducing polymerization have been investigated but no ordered polymerization could be demonstrated. Halogen bonding has been demonstrated to be a reliable interaction for aligning these monomers. However, the polymerization and characterization of resultant polymer remains challenging due to the multiple reaction pathways of these materials.

Preformulation considerations for controlled release dosage forms. Part I. Selecting candidates.

PubMed

Chrzanowski, Frank

2008-01-01

The physical-chemical properties of interest for controlled release (CR) dosage form development presented are based on the author's experience. Part I addresses selection of the final form based on a logical progression of physical-chemical properties evaluation of candidate forms and elimination of forms with undesirable properties from further evaluation in order to simplify final form selection. Several candidate forms which could include salt, free base or acid, polymorphic and amorphic forms of a new chemical entity (NCE) or existing drug substance (DS) are prepared and evaluated for critical properties in a scheme relevant to manufacturing processes, predictive of problems, requiring small amounts of test materials and simple analytical tools. A stability indicating assay is not needed to initiate the evaluation. This process is applicable to CR and immediate release (IR) dosage form development. The critical properties evaluated are melting, crystallinity, solubilities in water, 0.1 N HCl, and SIF, hygrodymamics, i.e., moisture sorption and loss at extremes of RH, and LOD at typical wet granulation drying conditions, and processability, i.e., corrosivity, and filming and/or sticking upon compression.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wagner, Margareta; Lackner, Peter; Seiler, Steffen

Metal deposition on oxide surfaces usually results in adatoms, clusters, or islands of the deposited material, where defects in the surface often act as nucleation centers. An alternate configuration is reported. Afterwards the vapor deposition of Fe on the In 2O 3(111) surface at room temperature, ordered adatoms are observed with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). These are identical to the In adatoms that form when the sample is reduced by heating in ultrahigh vacuum. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that Fe interchanges with In in the topmost layer, pushing the excess In atoms to the surface where theymore » arrange as a well-ordered adatom array.« less

Multilayer Ferritin Array for Bionanobattery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chu, Sang-Hyon (Inventor); Choi, Sang H. (Inventor); Kim, Jae-Woo (Inventor); Lillehei, Peter T. (Inventor); Park, Yeonjoon (Inventor); King, Glen C. (Inventor); Elliott, James R., Jr. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A thin-film electrode for a bio-nanobattery is produced by consecutively depositing arrays of a ferritin protein on a substrate, employing a spin self-assembly procedure. By this procedure, a first ferritin layer is first formed on the substrate, followed by building a second, oppositely-charged ferritin layer on the top of the first ferritin layer to form a bilayer structure. Oppositely-charged ferritin layers are subsequently deposited on top of each other until a desired number of bilayer structures is produced. An ordered, uniform, stable and robust, thin-film electrode material of enhanced packing density is presented, which provides optimal charge density for the bio-nanobattery.

Metal hydrides as electrode/catalyst materials for oxygen evolution/reduction in electrochemical devices

DOEpatents

Bugga, Ratnakumar V.; Halpert, Gerald; Fultz, Brent; Witham, Charles K.; Bowman, Robert C.; Hightower, Adrian

1997-01-01

An at least ternary metal alloy of the formula, AB.sub.(5-Y)X(.sub.y), is claimed. In this formula, A is selected from the rare earth elements, B is selected from the elements of groups 8, 9, and 10 of the periodic table of the elements, and X includes at least one of the following: antimony, arsenic, and bismuth. Ternary or higher-order substitutions, to the base AB.sub.5 alloys, that form strong kinetic interactions with the predominant metals in the base metal hydride are used to form metal alloys with high structural integrity after multiple cycles of hydrogen sorption.

Terahertz computed tomography of NASA thermal protection system materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roth, D. J.; Reyes-Rodriguez, S.; Zimdars, D. A.; Rauser, R. W.; Ussery, W. W.

2012-05-01

A terahertz (THz) axial computed tomography system has been developed that uses time domain measurements in order to form cross-sectional image slices and three dimensional volume renderings of terahertz-transparent materials. The system can inspect samples as large as 0.0283 m3 (1 ft3) with no safety concerns as for x-ray computed tomography. In this study, the THz-CT system was evaluated for its ability to detect and characterize 1) an embedded void in Space Shuttle external fuel tank thermal protection system (TPS) foam material and 2) impact damage in a TPS configuration under consideration for use in NASA's multi-purpose Orion crew module (CM). Micro-focus X-ray CT is utilized to characterize the flaws and provide a baseline for which to compare the THz CT results.

The use of microtomography in bone tissue and biomaterial three-dimensional analysis.

PubMed

Bedini, Rossella; Meleo, Deborah; Pecci, Raffaella; Pacifici, Luciano

2009-01-01

X-ray computed microtomography (micro-CT, microComputerised Tomography) is a miniaturized form of conventional computerized axial tomography (CAT ). This sophisticated technology enables 3D riconstruction of the internal structure of small X-ray opaque objects without sample destruction or preparation. The aim of this study is to show the possible applications of micro-CT in the analysis of bone graft materials of different origins (i.e. homologous, heterologous, alloplastic) in order to define their morphometric properties by means of SkyScan 1072 3D microtomography system. Since there is a close relationship between the properties of the materials and their microstructure, it is necessary to examine them using the highest levels of resolution before being able to improve existing materials or create new products.

Manufacture of ceramic tiles from fly ash

DOEpatents

Hnat, James G.; Mathur, Akshay; Simpson, James C.

1999-01-01

The present invention relates to a process for forming glass-ceramic tiles. Fly ash containing organic material, metal contaminants, and glass forming materials is oxidized under conditions effective to combust the organic material and partially oxidize the metallic contaminants and the glass forming materials. The oxidized glass forming materials are vitrified to form a glass melt. This glass melt is then formed into tiles containing metallic contaminants.

Engineering multiple topological phases in nanoscale Van der Waals heterostructures: realisation of α-antimonene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Märkl, T.; Kowalczyk, P. J.; Le Ster, M.; Mahajan, I. V.; Pirie, H.; Ahmed, Z.; Bian, G.; Wang, X.; Chiang, T.-C.; Brown, S. A.

2018-01-01

Van der Waals heterostructures have recently been identified as providing many opportunities to create new two-dimensional materials, and in particular to produce materials with topologically-interesting states. Here we show that it is possible to create such heterostructures with multiple topological phases in a single nanoscale island. We discuss their growth within the framework of diffusion-limited aggregation, the formation of moiré patterns due to the differing crystallographies of the materials comprising the heterostructure, and the potential to engineer both the electronic structure as well as local variations of topological order. In particular we show that it is possible to build islands which include both the hexagonal β- and rectangular α-forms of antimonene, on top of the topological insulator α-bismuthene. This is the first experimental realisation of α-antimonene, and we show that it is a topologically non-trivial material in the quantum spin Hall class.

Porous Biodegradable Metals for Hard Tissue Scaffolds: A Review

PubMed Central

Yusop, A. H.; Bakir, A. A.; Shaharom, N. A.; Abdul Kadir, M. R.; Hermawan, H.

2012-01-01

Scaffolds have been utilized in tissue regeneration to facilitate the formation and maturation of new tissues or organs where a balance between temporary mechanical support and mass transport (degradation and cell growth) is ideally achieved. Polymers have been widely chosen as tissue scaffolding material having a good combination of biodegradability, biocompatibility, and porous structure. Metals that can degrade in physiological environment, namely, biodegradable metals, are proposed as potential materials for hard tissue scaffolding where biodegradable polymers are often considered as having poor mechanical properties. Biodegradable metal scaffolds have showed interesting mechanical property that was close to that of human bone with tailored degradation behaviour. The current promising fabrication technique for making scaffolds, such as computation-aided solid free-form method, can be easily applied to metals. With further optimization in topologically ordered porosity design exploiting material property and fabrication technique, porous biodegradable metals could be the potential materials for making hard tissue scaffolds. PMID:22919393

Determination of parameters used to prevent ignition of stored materials and to protect against explosions in food industries.

PubMed

Ramírez, Alvaro; García-Torrent, Javier; Aguado, Pedro J

2009-08-30

There are always risks associated with silos when the stored material has been characterized as prone to self-ignition or explosion. Further research focused on the characterization of agricultural materials stored in silos is needed due to the lack of data found in the literature. The aim of this study was to determine the ignitability and explosive parameters of several agricultural products commonly stored in silos in order to assess the risk of ignition and dust explosion. Minimum Ignition Temperature, with dust forming a cloud and deposited in a layer, Lower Explosive Limit, Minimum Ignition Energy, Maximum Explosion Pressure and Maximum Explosion Pressure Rise were determined for seven agricultural materials: icing sugar, maize, wheat and barley grain dust, alfalfa, bread-making wheat and soybean dust. Following characterization, these were found to be prone to producing self-ignition when stored in silos under certain conditions.

Advancement in Electrospun Nanofibrous Membranes Modification and Their Application in Water Treatment

PubMed Central

Nasreen, Shaik Anwar Ahamed Nabeela; Sundarrajan, Subramanian; Nizar, Syed Abdulrahim Syed; Balamurugan, Ramalingam; Ramakrishna, Seeram

2013-01-01

Water, among the most valuable natural resources available on earth, is under serious threat as a result of undesirable human activities: for example, marine dumping, atmospheric deposition, domestic, industrial and agricultural practices. Optimizing current methodologies and developing new and effective techniques to remove contaminants from water is the current focus of interest, in order to renew the available water resources. Materials like nanoparticles, polymers, and simple organic compounds, inorganic clay materials in the form of thin film, membrane or powder have been employed for water treatment. Among these materials, membrane technology plays a vital role in removal of contaminants due to its easy handling and high efficiency. Though many materials are under investigation, nanofibers driven membrane are more valuable and reliable. Synthetic methodologies applied over the modification of membrane and its applications in water treatment have been reviewed in this article. PMID:24957057

Synthesis of nanostructured bio-related materials by hybridization of synthetic polymers with polysaccharides or saccharide residues.

PubMed

Kaneko, Yoshiro; Kadokawa, Jun-Ichi

2006-01-01

In the first part of this review, we describe the synthesis of nanostructured hybrid materials composed of polysaccharides and synthetic polymers. Amylose-synthetic polymer inclusion complexes were synthesized by amylose-forming polymerization using phosphorylase enzyme in the presence of synthetic polymers such as polyethers and polyesters. Alginate-polymethacrylate hybrid materials were prepared by free-radical polymerization of cationic methacrylate in the presence of sodium alginate. These methods allow the simultaneous control of the nanostructure with polymerization, giving well-defined hybrid materials. In the second part of this review, we describe the synthesis of novel glycopolymers with rigid structures. Polyaniline-based glycopolymers were synthesized by means of oxidative polymerization of N-glycosylaniline. Polysiloxane-based glycopolymers were prepared by means of introduction of sugar-lactone to the rodlike polysiloxane. These glycopolymers had regular higher-ordered structures due to their rigid polymer backbones, resulting in control of the three-dimensional array of sugar-residues.

Inorganic fullerenes and nanotubes: Wealth of materials and morphologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bar-Sadan, M.; Kaplan-Ashiri, I.; Tenne, R.

2007-10-01

It is already well established today that numerous materials form closed-cage structures, of which carbon fullerenes and nanotubes are a special case [1]. Inorganic fullerene-like nanoparticles (designated IF) and inorganic nanotubes (INT) have been produced by different routes and experimental techniques, achieving persistent growth of a variety of materials and structural wealth within them. The research in this area has focused on synthesizing new IF and INT materials and understanding their different properties as well as scaling up the synthetic process in order to make it suitable for industrial applications. In this review, the main synthetic procedures to obtain inorganic fullerene-like nanoparticles and nanotubes will be discussed alongside with the different mechanisms that affect the morphology of the final product. The main differences between the morphologies will be presented. Some general considerations relating the properties of the parent compound with the morphology of the product will be mentioned.

Nanomodified heat-accumulating materials controlled by a magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shchegolkov, Alexander; Shchegolkov, Alexey; Dyachkova, Tatyana; Bodin, Nikolay; Semenov, Alexander

2017-11-01

The paper presents studies of nanomodified heat-accumulating materials controlled by a magnetic field. In order to obtain controlled heat-accumulating materials, synthetic motor oil CASTROL 0W30, ferromagnetic particles, CNTs and paraffin were used. Mechanically activated carbon nanotubes with ferromagnetic particles were used for the nanomodification of paraffin. Mechanoactivation ensured the production of ferromagnetic particles with an average particle size of 5 µm. Using an extrusion plant, a mixture of CNTs and ferromagnetic particles was introduced into the paraffin. Further, the nanomodified paraffin in a granular form was introduced into synthetic oil. To conduct experimental studies, a contactless method for measuring temperature was used. The thermal contact control with the help of the obtained nanomodified material is possible with a magnetic induction of 1250 mT, and a heat flux of about 74 kW/m2 is provided at the same time.

Large Spun Formed Friction-Stir Welded Tank Domes for Liquid Propellant Tanks Made from AA2195: A Technology Demonstration for the Next Generation of Heavy Lift Launchers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stachulla, M.; Pernpeinter, R.; Brewster J.; Curreri, P.; Hoffman, E.

2010-01-01

Improving structural efficiency while reducing manufacturing costs are key objectives when making future heavy-lift launchers more performing and cost efficient. The main enabling technologies are the application of advanced high performance materials as well as cost effective manufacture processes. This paper presents the status and main results of a joint industrial research & development effort to demonstrate TRL 6 of a novel manufacturing process for large liquid propellant tanks for launcher applications. Using high strength aluminium-lithium alloy combined with the spin forming manufacturing technique, this development aims at thinner wall thickness and weight savings up to 25% as well as a significant reduction in manufacturing effort. In this program, the concave spin forming process is used to manufacture tank domes from a single flat plate. Applied to aluminium alloy, this process allows reaching the highest possible material strength status T8, eliminating numerous welding steps which are typically necessary to assemble tank domes from 3D-curved panels. To minimize raw material costs for large diameter tank domes for launchers, the dome blank has been composed from standard plates welded together prior to spin forming by friction stir welding. After welding, the dome blank is contoured in order to meet the required wall thickness distribution. For achieving a material state of T8, also in the welding seams, the applied spin forming process allows the required cold stretching of the 3D-curved dome, with a subsequent ageing in a furnace. This combined manufacturing process has been demonstrated up to TRL 6 for tank domes with a 5.4 m diameter. In this paper, the manufacturing process as well as test results are presented. Plans are shown how this process could be applied to future heavy-lift launch vehicles developments, also for larger dome diameters.

Influence of Drawbeads in Deep-Drawing of Plane-Strain Channel Sections: Experimental and FE Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, M. C.; Baptista, A. J.; Alves, J. L.; Menezes, L. F.; Green, D. E.; Ghaei, A.

2007-05-01

The main purpose of the "Numisheet'05 Benchmark♯3: Channel Draw/Cylindrical Cup" was to evaluate the forming characteristics of materials in multi-stage processes. The concept was to verify the strain fields achieved during the two stage forming process and also to test the ability of numerical models to predict both strain and stress fields. The first stage consisted of forming channel sections in an industrial-scale channel draw die. The material that flows through the drawbead and over the die radii into the channel sidewalls is prestrained by cyclic bending and unbending. The prestrained channel sidewalls are subsequently cut and subjected to near plane-strain Marciniak-style cup test. This study emphasizes the analysis of the first stage process, the Channel Draw, since accurate numerical results for the first stage forming and springback are essential to guarantee proper initial state variables for the subsequent stage simulation. Four different sheet materials were selected: mild steel AKDQ-HDG, high strength steel HSLA-HDG, dual phase steel DP600-HDG and an aluminium alloy AA6022-T43. The four sheet materials were formed in the same channel draw die, but with drawbead penetrations of 25%, 50% and 100%. This paper describes the testing and measurement procedures for the numerical simulation of these conditions with DD3IMP FE code. A comparison between experimental and numerical simulation results for the first stage is presented. The experimental results indicate that an increase in drawbead penetration is accompanied by a general decrease in springback, with both sidewall radius of curvature and the sidewall angle increasing with increasing drawbead penetration. An exception to this trend occurs at the shallowest bead penetration: the radius of curvature in the sidewall is larger than expected. The sequence of cyclic tension and compression is numerically studied for each drawbead penetration in order to investigate this phenomenon.

Growth Assisted by Glancing Angle Deposition: A New Technique to Fabricate Highly Porous Anisotropic Thin Films.

PubMed

Sanchez-Valencia, Juan Ramon; Longtin, Remi; Rossell, Marta D; Gröning, Pierangelo

2016-04-06

We report a new methodology based on glancing angle deposition (GLAD) of an organic molecule in combination with perpendicular growth of a second inorganic material. The resulting thin films retain a very well-defined tilted columnar microstructure characteristic of GLAD with the inorganic material embedded inside the columns. We refer to this new methodology as growth assisted by glancing angle deposition or GAGLAD, since the material of interest (here, the inorganic) grows in the form of tilted columns, though it is deposited under a nonglancing configuration. As a "proof of concept", we have used silver and zinc oxide as the perpendicularly deposited material since they usually form ill-defined columnar microstructures at room temperature by GLAD. By means of our GAGLAD methodology, the typical tilted columnar microstructure can be developed for materials that otherwise do not form ordered structures under conventional GLAD. This simple methodology broadens significantly the range of materials where control of the microstructure can be achieved by tuning the geometrical deposition parameters. The two examples presented here, Ag/Alq3 and ZnO/Alq3, have been deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), respectively: two different vacuum techniques that illustrate the generality of the proposed technique. The two type of hybrid samples present very interesting properties that demonstrate the potentiality of GAGLAD. On one hand, the Ag/Alq3 samples present highly optical anisotropic properties when they are analyzed with linearly polarized light. To our knowledge, these Ag/Alq3 samples present the highest angular selectivity reported in the visible range. On the other hand, ZnO/Alq3 samples are used to develop highly porous ZnO thin films by using Alq3 as sacrificial material. In this way, antireflective ZnO samples with very low refractive index and extinction coefficient have been obtained.

Surface characteristics of spacecraft components affect the aggregation of microorganisms and may lead to different survival rates of bacteria on Mars landers.

PubMed

Schuerger, Andrew C; Richards, Jeffrey T; Hintze, Paul E; Kern, Roger G

2005-08-01

Layers of dormant endospores of Bacillus subtilis HA101 were applied to eight different spacecraft materials and exposed to martian conditions of low pressure (8.5 mbar), low temperature (-10 degrees C), and high CO(2) gas composition and irradiated with a Mars-normal ultraviolet (UV-visible- near-infrared spectrum. Bacterial layers were exposed to either 1 min or 1 h of Mars-normal UV irradiation, which simulated clear-sky conditions on equatorial Mars (0.1 tau). When exposed to 1 min of Mars UV irradiation, the numbers of viable endospores of B. subtilis were reduced three to four orders of magnitude for two brands of aluminum (Al), stainless steel, chemfilm-treated Al, clear-anodized Al, and black-anodized Al coupons. In contrast, bacterial survival was reduced only one to two orders of magnitude for endospores on the non-metal materials astroquartz and graphite composite when bacterial endospores were exposed to 1 min of Mars UV irradiation. When bacterial monolayers were exposed to 1 h of Mars UV irradiation, no viable bacteria were recovered from the six metal coupons listed above. In contrast, bacterial survival was reduced only two to three orders of magnitude for spore layers on astroquartz and graphite composite exposed to 1 h of Mars UV irradiation. Scanning electron microscopy images of the bacterial monolayers on all eight spacecraft materials revealed that endospores of B. subtilis formed large aggregates of multilayered spores on astroquartz and graphite composite, but not on the other six spacecraft materials. It is likely that the formation of multilayered aggregates of endospores on astroquartz and graphite composite is responsible for the enhanced survival of bacterial cells on these materials.

Surface characteristics of spacecraft components affect the aggregation of microorganisms and may lead to different survival rates of bacteria on Mars landers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schuerger, Andrew C.; Richards, Jeffrey T.; Hintze, Paul E.; Kern, Roger G.

2005-01-01

Layers of dormant endospores of Bacillus subtilis HA101 were applied to eight different spacecraft materials and exposed to martian conditions of low pressure (8.5 mbar), low temperature (-10 degrees C), and high CO(2) gas composition and irradiated with a Mars-normal ultraviolet (UV-visible- near-infrared spectrum. Bacterial layers were exposed to either 1 min or 1 h of Mars-normal UV irradiation, which simulated clear-sky conditions on equatorial Mars (0.1 tau). When exposed to 1 min of Mars UV irradiation, the numbers of viable endospores of B. subtilis were reduced three to four orders of magnitude for two brands of aluminum (Al), stainless steel, chemfilm-treated Al, clear-anodized Al, and black-anodized Al coupons. In contrast, bacterial survival was reduced only one to two orders of magnitude for endospores on the non-metal materials astroquartz and graphite composite when bacterial endospores were exposed to 1 min of Mars UV irradiation. When bacterial monolayers were exposed to 1 h of Mars UV irradiation, no viable bacteria were recovered from the six metal coupons listed above. In contrast, bacterial survival was reduced only two to three orders of magnitude for spore layers on astroquartz and graphite composite exposed to 1 h of Mars UV irradiation. Scanning electron microscopy images of the bacterial monolayers on all eight spacecraft materials revealed that endospores of B. subtilis formed large aggregates of multilayered spores on astroquartz and graphite composite, but not on the other six spacecraft materials. It is likely that the formation of multilayered aggregates of endospores on astroquartz and graphite composite is responsible for the enhanced survival of bacterial cells on these materials.

Composite materials formed with anchored nanostructures

DOEpatents

Seals, Roland D; Menchhofer, Paul A; Howe, Jane Y; Wang, Wei

2015-03-10

A method of forming nano-structure composite materials that have a binder material and a nanostructure fiber material is described. A precursor material may be formed using a mixture of at least one metal powder and anchored nanostructure materials. The metal powder mixture may be (a) Ni powder and (b) NiAl powder. The anchored nanostructure materials may comprise (i) NiAl powder as a support material and (ii) carbon nanotubes attached to nanoparticles adjacent to a surface of the support material. The process of forming nano-structure composite materials typically involves sintering the mixture under vacuum in a die. When Ni and NiAl are used in the metal powder mixture Ni.sub.3Al may form as the binder material after sintering. The mixture is sintered until it consolidates to form the nano-structure composite material.

Synthesis and characterization of BaGa2O4 and Ba3Co2O6(CO3)0.6 compounds in the search of alternative materials for Proton Ceramic Fuel Cell (PCFC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acuña, Wilder; Tellez, Jhoan F.; Macías, Mario A.; Roussel, Pascal; Ricote, Sandrine; Gauthier, Gilles H.

2017-09-01

BaGa2O4 and Ba3Co2O6(CO3)0.6 compounds were studied as electrolyte and cathode materials for Proton Ceramic Fuel Cells (PCFC), respectively. Not only BaGa2O4 rapidly reacts with atmospheric H2O and CO2 and leads to a progressive material decomposition, but it does not present real hydration properties in normal conditions of pressure. On the other hand, the basic cobalt oxocarbonate Ba3Co2O6(CO3)0.6 exhibits an interesting tendency for weight uptake and formation of hydrogencarbonate groups in moist heating/cooling conditions. This material was therefore considered for complementary studies in order to confirm its potential use as mixed proton-electron conductor, taking into account the ordered intergrowth of carbonates and face sharing Co-octahedra columns forming a pseudo-one-dimensional structure. Some preliminary results concerning electrochemical properties of the barium cobalt oxocarbonate as a PCFC cathode are also described and show at the moment modest performance, possibly related to a hydrated/carbonated surface layer contribution and/or the lack of electron percolation within the electrode layer.

Ductile sliding between mineral crystals followed by rupture of collagen crosslinks: experimentally supported micromechanical explanation of bone strength.

PubMed

Fritsch, Andreas; Hellmich, Christian; Dormieux, Luc

2009-09-21

There is an ongoing discussion on how bone strength could be explained from its internal structure and composition. Reviewing recent experimental and molecular dynamics studies, we here propose a new vision on bone material failure: mutual ductile sliding of hydroxyapatite mineral crystals along layered water films is followed by rupture of collagen crosslinks. In order to cast this vision into a mathematical form, a multiscale continuum micromechanics theory for upscaling of elastoplastic properties is developed, based on the concept of concentration and influence tensors for eigenstressed microheterogeneous materials. The model reflects bone's hierarchical organization, in terms of representative volume elements for cortical bone, for extravascular and extracellular bone material, for mineralized fibrils and the extrafibrillar space, and for wet collagen. In order to get access to the stress states at the interfaces between crystals, the extrafibrillar mineral is resolved into an infinite amount of cylindrical material phases oriented in all directions in space. The multiscale micromechanics model is shown to be able to satisfactorily predict the strength characteristics of different bones from different species, on the basis of their mineral/collagen content, their intercrystalline, intermolecular, lacunar, and vascular porosities, and the elastic and strength properties of hydroxyapatite and (molecular) collagen.

Terbium Ion Doping in Ca3Co4O9: A Step towards High-Performance Thermoelectric Materials

PubMed Central

Saini, Shrikant; Yaddanapudi, Haritha Sree; Tian, Kun; Yin, Yinong; Magginetti, David; Tiwari, Ashutosh

2017-01-01

The potential of thermoelectric materials to generate electricity from the waste heat can play a key role in achieving a global sustainable energy future. In order to proceed in this direction, it is essential to have thermoelectric materials that are environmentally friendly and exhibit high figure of merit, ZT. Oxide thermoelectric materials are considered ideal for such applications. High thermoelectric performance has been reported in single crystals of Ca3Co4O9. However, for large scale applications single crystals are not suitable and it is essential to develop high-performance polycrystalline thermoelectric materials. In polycrystalline form, Ca3Co4O9 is known to exhibit much weaker thermoelectric response than in single crystal form. Here, we report the observation of enhanced thermoelectric response in polycrystalline Ca3Co4O9 on doping Tb ions in the material. Polycrystalline Ca3−xTbxCo4O9 (x = 0.0–0.7) samples were prepared by a solid-state reaction technique. Samples were thoroughly characterized using several state of the art techniques including XRD, TEM, SEM and XPS. Temperature dependent Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity measurements were performed. A record ZT of 0.74 at 800 K was observed for Tb doped Ca3Co4O9 which is the highest value observed till date in any polycrystalline sample of this system. PMID:28317853

Hidden in Plain View: The Material Invariance of Maxwell-Hertz-Lorentz Electrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christov, C. I.

2006-04-01

Maxwell accounted for the apparent elastic behavior of the electromagnetic field through augmenting Ampere's law by the so-called displacement current much in the same way that he treated the viscoelasticity of gases. Original Maxwell constitutive relations for both electrodynamics and fluid dynamics were not material invariant, while combin- ing Faraday's law and the Lorentz force makes the first of Maxwell's equation material invariant. Later on, Oldroyd showed how to make a viscoelastic constitutive law mate- rial invariant. The main assumption was that the proper description of a constitutive law must be material invariant. Assuming that the electromagnetic field is a material field, we show here that if the upper convected Oldroyd derivative (related to Lie derivative) is used, the displacement current becomes material invariant. The new formulation ensures that the equation for conser- vation of charge is also material invariant which vindicates the choice of Oldroyd derivative over the standard convec- tive derivative. A material invariant field model is by ne- cessity Galilean invariant. We call the material field (the manifestation of which are the equations of electrodynam- ics the metacontinuum), in order to distinguish it form the standard material continua.

Edge crack sensitivity of lightweight materials under different load conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsoupis, I.; Merklein, M.

2016-11-01

This study addresses the analysis of edge crack sensitivity of DP800 steel and AA5182 aluminum alloy in dependency of punching and machining operation as well as load case of subsequent forming. The inserting of a round hole by punching with defined punch-to- die-clearance, milling and drilling is compared. Subsequent forming is performed by standardized hole expansion test and by Nakajima-tests with three different specimen geometries. Local strain distribution at the surface for Nakajima-tests is measured by optical strain measurement technique and investigated in order to evaluate local deformation before failure. Additionally, resulting hole expansion ratio λ is determined. Significant higher X as well as local strain values ε max are achieved by machined holes. This is directly coupled to higher local formability and stretchability for both materials. Furthermore, the load condition has a strong impact on the edge crack sensitivity of the material. Prior failure is observed with changing stress conditions using different specimen geometries also influencing the reachable maximum failure strain. Higher edge crack sensitivity is observed for DP800, which is in good accordance to the material properties in terms of ductility and strength. These data in dependency of the process parameter can be used for the design of automotive components.

Processing and Characterization of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Ceramic Composites for High Temperature Applications Using Polymer Precursors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Sarah B.; Lui, Donovan; Gou, Jihua

2014-01-01

The development of high temperature structural composite materials has been very limited due to the high cost of the materials and the processing needed. Ceramics can take much higher temperatures, but they are difficult to produce and form in bulk volumes. Polymer Derived Ceramics (PDCs) begin as a polymer matrix, allowing a shape to be formed and cured and then to be pyrolized in order to obtain a ceramic with the associated thermal and mechanical properties. The two PDCs used in this development are polysiloxane and polycarbosilane. Polysiloxanes contain a silicon oxycarbide backbone when pyrolized up to 1000C. Polycarbosilane, an organosilicon polymer, contain a silicon-carbon backbone; around 1200C, beta-SiC begins to crystallize. The use of basalt in structural and high temperature applications has been under development for over 50 years, yet there has been little published research on the incorporation of basalt fibers as a reinforcement in composites. Basalt is a naturally occurring material found in volcanic rock. Continuous basalt fiber reinforced PDCs have been fabricated and tested for the applicability of this composite system as a high temperature structural composite material. Thermal and mechanical testing includes oxyacetylene torch testing and three point bend testing.

Processing and Characterization of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Ceramic Composites for High Temperature Applications Using Polymer Precursors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Sarah B.; Lui, Donovan; Wang, Xin; Gou, Jihua

2014-01-01

The development of high temperature structural composite materials has been very limited due to the high cost of the materials and the processing needed. Ceramics can take much higher temperatures, but they are difficult to produce and form in bulk volumes. Polymer Derived Ceramics (PDCs) begin as a polymer matrix, allowing a shape to be formed and cured and then to be pyrolized in order to obtain a ceramic with the associated thermal and mechanical properties. The two PDCs used in this development are polysiloxane and polycarbosilane. Polysiloxanes contain a silicon oxycarbide backbone when pyrolized up to 1000 deg C. Polycarbosilane, an organosilicon polymer, contain a silicon-carbon backbone; around 1200 deg C, Beta-SiC begins to crystallize. The use of basalt in structural and high temperature applications has been under development for over 50 years, yet there has been little published research on the incorporation of basalt fibers as a reinforcement in composites. Basalt is a naturally occurring material found in volcanic rock. Continuous basalt fiber reinforced PDCs have been fabricated and tested for the applicability of this composite system as a high temperature structural composite material. Thermal and mechanical testing includes oxyacetylene torch testing and three point bend testing.

Coprecipitation of arsenate with metal oxides. 3. Nature, mineralogy, and reactivity of iron(III)-aluminum precipitates.

PubMed

Violante, Antonio; Pigna, Massimo; Del Gaudio, Stefania; Cozzolino, Vincenza; Banerjee, Dipanjan

2009-03-01

Coprecipitation involving arsenic with aluminum or iron has been studied because this technique is considered particularly efficient for removal of this toxic element from polluted waters. Coprecipitation of arsenic with mixed iron-aluminum solutions has received scant attention. In this work we studied (i)the mineralogy, surface properties, and chemical composition of mixed iron-aluminum oxides formed at initial Fe/Al molar ratio of 1.0 in the absence or presence of arsenate [As/ Fe+Al molar ratio (R) of 0, 0.01, or 0.1] and at pH 4.0, 7.0, and 10.0 and aged for 30 and 210 days at 50 degrees C and (ii) the removal of arsenate from the coprecipitates after addition of phosphate. The amounts of short-range ordered precipitates (ferrihydrite, aluminous ferrihydrite and/or poorly crystalline boehmite) were greater than those found in iron and aluminum systems (studied in previous works), due to the capacity of both aluminum and arsenate to retard or inhibitthe transformation of the initially formed precipitates into well-crystallized oxides (gibbsite, bayerite, and hematite). As a consequence, the surface areas of the iron-aluminum oxides formed in the absence or presence of arsenate were usually much larger than those of aluminum or iron oxides formed under the same conditions. Arsenate was found to be associated mainly into short-range ordered materials. Chemical composition of all samples was affected by pH, initial R, and aging. Phosphate sorption was facilitated by the presence of short-range ordered materials, mainly those richer in aluminum, but was inhibited by arsenate present in the samples. The quantities of arsenate replaced by phosphate, expressed as percentages of its total amount present in the samples, were particularly low, ranging from 10% to 26%. A comparison of the desorption of arsenate by phosphate from aluminum-arsenate and iron-arsenate (studied in previous works) and iron-aluminum-arsenate coprecipitates evidenced that phosphate has a greater capacity to desorb arsenate from aluminum than iron sites.

Manufacture of ceramic tiles from fly ash

DOEpatents

Hnat, J.G.; Mathur, A.; Simpson, J.C.

1999-08-10

The present invention relates to a process for forming glass-ceramic tiles. Fly ash containing organic material, metal contaminants, and glass forming materials is oxidized under conditions effective to combust the organic material and partially oxidize the metallic contaminants and the glass forming materials. The oxidized glass forming materials are vitrified to form a glass melt. This glass melt is then formed into tiles containing metallic contaminants. 6 figs.

Additive Manufacturing of Functional Elements on Sheet Metal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaub, Adam; Ahuja, Bhrigu; Butzhammer, Lorenz; Osterziel, Johannes; Schmidt, Michael; Merklein, Marion

Laser Beam Melting (LBM) process with its advantages of high design flexibility and free form manufacturing methodology is often applied limitedly due to its low productivity and unsuitability for mass production compared to conventional manufacturing processes. In order to overcome these limitations, a hybrid manufacturing methodology is developed combining the additive manufacturing process of laser beam melting with sheet forming processes. With an interest towards aerospace and medical industry, the material in focus is Ti-6Al-4V. Although Ti-6Al-4V is a commercially established material and its application for LBM process has been extensively investigated, the combination of LBM of Ti-6Al-4V with sheet metal still needs to be researched. Process dynamics such as high temperature gradients and thermally induced stresses lead to complex stress states at the interaction zone between the sheet and LBM structure. Within the presented paper mechanical characterization of hybrid parts will be performed by shear testing. The association of shear strength with process parameters is further investigated by analyzing the internal structure of the hybrid geometry at varying energy inputs during the LBM process. In order to compare the hybrid manufacturing methodology with conventional fabrication, the conventional methodologies subtractive machining and state of the art Laser Beam Melting is evaluated within this work. These processes will be analyzed for their mechanical characteristics and productivity by determining the build time and raw material consumption for each case. The paper is concluded by presenting the characteristics of the hybrid manufacturing methodology compared to alternative manufacturing technologies.

Systems and methods for forming defects on graphitic materials and curing radiation-damaged graphitic materials

DOEpatents

Ryu, Sunmin; Brus, Louis E.; Steigerwald, Michael L.; Liu, Haitao

2012-09-25

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for forming defects on graphitic materials. The methods for forming defects include applying a radiation reactive material on a graphitic material, irradiating the applied radiation reactive material to produce a reactive species, and permitting the reactive species to react with the graphitic material to form defects. Additionally, disclosed are methods for removing defects on graphitic materials.

Effect of Moisture Exchange on Interface Formation in the Repair System Studied by X-ray Absorption

PubMed Central

Lukovic, Mladena; Ye, Guang

2015-01-01

In concrete repair systems, material properties of the repair material and the interface are greatly influenced by the moisture exchange between the repair material and the substrate. If the substrate is dry, it can absorb water from the repair material and reduce its effective water-to-cement ratio (w/c). This further affects the hydration rate of cement based material. In addition to the change in hydration rate, void content at the interface between the two materials is also affected. In this research, the influence of moisture exchange on the void content in the repair system as a function of initial saturation level of the substrate is investigated. Repair systems with varying level of substrate saturation are made. Moisture exchange in these repair systems as a function of time is monitored by the X-ray absorption technique. After a specified curing age (3 d), the internal microstructure of the repair systems was captured by micro-computed X-ray tomography (CT-scanning). From reconstructed images, different phases in the repair system (repair material, substrate, voids) can be distinguished. In order to quantify the void content, voids were thresholded and their percentage was calculated. It was found that significantly more voids form when the substrate is dry prior to application of the repair material. Air, initially filling voids and pores of the dry substrate, is being released due to the moisture exchange. As a result, air voids remain entrapped in the repair material close to the interface. These voids are found to form as a continuation of pre-existing surface voids in the substrate. Knowledge about moisture exchange and its effects provides engineers with the basis for recommendations about substrate preconditioning in practice. PMID:28787801

[Valorization of biological resources in tumour libraries].

PubMed

Keelaghan, Thérèse

2006-01-01

The transfer and commercialization of biological materials, whether in the form of tumour samples, tissue samples or chemicals, and of the data base pertaining to such material have become a subject of considerable importance for both the private and public sectors involved in medical research. In order to fully appreciate and apprehend the process for the protection and the valuation of the transferred material, intellectual property law must be taken into account. As a result, a distinction is made between the tangible and intangible elements of the biological material and of the attached data base, thus providing the transferring entity the possibility to claim property rights to future intellectual property arising from the research regarding the transferred material. The transfer of biological material and attached data base without such contractual provisions can lead to the loss of this potential value as well as of physical and legal control over the material transferred by the providing entity. The intentions and the assumptions of the parties must be negotiated and written into terms of contract, at the risk of losing future value due to unexpressed assumptions concerning intangible property rights.

Ice sintering timescales at the surface of Europa and implications for surface properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, C. B.; Molaro, J.; Meirion-Griffith, G.

2017-12-01

The planned exploration of Europa by NASA's Europa Clipper Mission and the possibility of a future Europa lander have driven the need to characterize its surface strength, roughness, porosity, thermal conductivity, and regolith depth in order to accurately interpret remote sensing data and develop appropriate spacecraft landing systems. Many processes contribute to Europa's landscape evolution, such as sputtering, mass wasting, thermal segregation, and impact gardening, driving the creation and distribution of icy regolith across the surface. While the efficacy of these processes are not well constrained, any amount of regolith emplaced at the surface will undergo subsequent processing due to sintering. Ice sintering is a form of frost metamorphism whereby contacting ice grains experience the diffusion of material into their contact region, forming a "neck" between them and densifying over time. Over long enough timescales, ice aggregates will sinter into solid material, which may contribute to the incorporation of non-ice material into Europa's subsurface and help to drive subsurface chemistry. Sintering also interacts with other processes, adding to the complexity of icy surface evolution. For example, sputtering preferentially removes larger grains and may enhance sintering rates, and changes in ice porosity may affect the response of the surface to micrometeorite impacts. Quantifying the effects of ice sintering will allow us to predict the microstructural properties of Europa's surface at spacecraft scales. To this end, we have modeled pressure-less (no overburden) sintering of spherical water-ice grains and validated the results with a laboratory experiment. We also modeled ice at the surface of Europa to obtain a first-order approximation of the sintering timescale and surface properties. Preliminary results indicate that ice grains will experience neck growth but not significant densification over Europa's surface age, suggesting that loose surface ice forms a weak and porous crust. Furthermore, our results suggest that existing models do not accurately quantify all stages of the sintering process for ice, emphasizing the need for more laboratory studies on this topic.

Experimental determination of the speciation, partitioning, and release of perrhenate as a chemical surrogate for pertechnetate from a sodalite-bearing multiphase ceramic waste form

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pierce, Eric M.; Lukens, Wayne W.; Fitts, Jeff. P.

2013-12-01

A key component to closing the nuclear fuel cycle is the storage and disposition of nuclear waste in geologic systems. Multiphase ceramic waste forms have been studied extensively as a potential host matrix for nuclear waste. Understanding the speciation, partitioning, and release behavior of radionuclides immobilized in multiphase ceramic waste forms is a critical aspect of developing the scientific and technical basis for nuclear waste management. In this study, we evaluated a sodalite-bearing multiphase ceramic waste form (i.e., fluidized-bed steam reform sodium aluminosilicate [FBSR NAS] product) as a potential host matrix for long-lived radionuclides, such as technetium (99Tc). The FBSRmore » NAS material consists primarily of nepheline (ideally NaAlSiO4), anion-bearing sodalites (ideally M8[Al6Si6O24]X2, where M refers to alkali and alkaline earth cations and X refers to monovalent anions), and nosean (ideally Na8[AlSiO4]6SO4). Bulk X-ray absorption fine structure analysis of the multiphase ceramic waste form, suggest rhenium (Re) is in the Re(VII) oxidation state and has partitioned to a Re-bearing sodalite phase (most likely a perrhenate sodalite Na8[Al6Si6O24](ReO4)2). Rhenium was added as a chemical surrogate for 99Tc during the FBSR NAS synthesis process. The weathering behavior of the FBSR NAS material was evaluated under hydraulically unsaturated conditions with deionized water at 90 ?C. The steady-state Al, Na, and Si concentrations suggests the weathering mechanisms are consistent with what has been observed for other aluminosilicate minerals and include a combination of ion exchange, network hydrolysis, and the formation of an enriched-silica surface layer or phase. The steady-state S and Re concentrations are within an order of magnitude of the nosean and perrhenate sodalite solubility, respectively. The order of magnitude difference between the observed and predicted concentration for Re and S may be associated with the fact that the anion-bearing sodalites contained in the multiphase ceramic matrix are present as mixed-anion sodalite phases. These results suggest the multiphase FBSR NAS material may be a viable host matrix for long-lived, highly mobilie radionuclides which is a critical aspect in the management of nuclear waste.« less

Inducing Order from Disordered Copolymers: On Demand Generation of Triblock Morphologies Including Networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tureau, Maëva S.; Kuan, Wei-Fan; Rong, Lixia

Disordered block copolymers are generally impractical in nanopatterning applications due to their inability to self-assemble into well-defined nanostructures. However, inducing order in low molecular weight disordered systems permits the design of periodic structures with smaller characteristic sizes. Here, we have induced nanoscale phase separation from disordered triblock copolymer melts to form well-ordered lamellae, hexagonally packed cylinders, and a triply periodic gyroid network structure, using a copolymer/homopolymer blending approach, which incorporates constituent homopolymers into selective block domains. This versatile blending approach allows one to precisely target multiple nanostructures from a single disordered material and can be applied to a wide varietymore » of triblock copolymer systems for nanotemplating and nanoscale separation applications requiring nanoscale feature sizes and/or high areal feature densities.« less

Experimental and numerical studies on laser-based powder deposition of slurry erosion resistant materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balu, Prabu

Slurry erosion (the removal of material caused by the randomly moving high velocity liquid-solid particle mixture) is a serious issue in crude oil drilling, mining, turbines, rocket nozzles, pumps, and boiler tubes that causes excessive downtime and high operating costs as a result of premature part failure. The goal of this research is to enhance the service life of high-value components subjected to slurry erosion by utilizing the concept of functionally graded metal-ceramic composite material (FGMCCM) in which the favorable properties of metal (toughness, ductility, etc.) and ceramic (hardness) are tailored smoothly to improve erosion resistance. Among the potential manufacturing processes, such as the laser-based powder deposition (LBPD), the plasma transferred arc (PTA), and the thermal spray the LBPD process offers good composition and microstructure control with a high deposition rate in producing the FGMCCM. This research focuses on the development of nickel-tungsten carbide (Ni-WC) based FGMCCM using the LBPD process for applications the above mentioned. The LBPD of Ni-WC involves the introduction of Ni and WC powder particle by an inert gas into the laser-formed molten pool at the substrate via nozzles. The LBPD of Ni-WC includes complex multi-physical interactions between the laser beam, Ni-WC powder, substrate, and carrier and shielding gases that are governed by a number of process variables such as laser power, scanning speed, and powder flow rate. In order to develop the best Ni-WC based slurry erosion resistant material using the LBPD process, the following challenges associated with the fabrication and the performance evaluation need to be addressed: 1) flow behavior of the Ni-WC powder and its interaction with the laser, 2) the effect of the process variables, the material compositions, and the thermo-physical properties on thermal cycles, temperature gradient, cooling rate, and residual stress formation within the material and the subsequent cracking issue, and 3) the effect of composition and composition gradient of Ni and WC on the slurry erosion resistance over a wide range of erosion conditions. This thesis presents a set of numerical and experimental methods in order to address the challenges mentioned above. A three-dimensional (3-D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based powder flow model and three vision based techniques were developed in order to visualize the process of feeding the Ni-WC powder in the LBPD process. The results provide the guidelines for efficiently feeding the Ni-WC composite powder into the laser-formed molten pool. The finite element (FE) based experimentally verified 3-D thermal and thermo-mechanical models are developed in order to understand the thermal and stress evolutions in Ni-WC composite material during the LBPD process. The models address the effect of the process variables, preheating temperature, and different mass fractions of WC in Ni on thermal cycles and stress distributions within the deposited material. The slurry erosion behavior of the single and multilayered deposits of Ni-WC composite material produced by the LBPD process is investigated using an accelerated slurry erosion testing machine and a 3-D FE dynamic model. The verified model is used to identify the appropriate composition and composition gradient of Ni-WC composite material required to achieve erosion resistance over a wide range of erosion conditions.

The effect of functional forms of nitrogen on fuel-NOx emissions.

PubMed

Zhang, Linghui; Su, Dagen; Zhong, Mingfeng

2015-01-01

This work explores the effects of different nitrogen functional forms on fuel-NOx emissions at 900 °C. The majority of tests are performed with an excess air coefficient of 1.4. Fuel-NOx is detected by measuring N-(1-naphthyl) ethylenediamine dihydrochloride (C₁₂H₁₆Cl₂N₂) via spectrophotometry. The different functional forms of nitrogen in the raw materials are identified by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A reliable density functional theory (DFT) method at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level is employed to investigate the reaction pathways of all functional forms of nitrogen during combustion. The results indicate that the functional forms of nitrogen influence the formation of nitrogen oxides. While under the same experimental conditions, fuel-NOx emissions increase by using less activation energy and nitrogen-containing groups with poor thermal stability. It is determined that fuel-NOx emissions vary in the following order: glycine > pyrrole > pyridine > methylenedi-p-phenylene diisocyanate (MDI). Glycine is the chain structure of amino acids in waste-leather and has low activation energy and poor thermal stability. With these properties, it is noted that glycine produces the most fuel-NOx in all of the raw materials studied. More pyrrole than pyridine in coal lead to high yields of fuel-NOx. The lowest yields of fuel-NO x are obtained using polyurethanes in waste-PU.

Study on room temperature gas-sensing performance of CuO film-decorated ordered porous ZnO composite by In2O3 sensitization

PubMed Central

Li, Tian-tian; Bao, Na; Geng, Ai-fang; Yang, Ying; Dong, Xiang-ting

2018-01-01

For the first time, ordered mesoporous ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized by a template method. The electroplating after chemical plating method was creatively used to form copper film on the surface of the prepared ZnO, and then a CuO film-decorated ordered porous ZnO composite (CuO/ZnO) was obtained by a high-temperature oxidation method. In2O3 was loaded into the prepared CuO film–ZnO by an ultrasonic-assisted method to sensitize the room temperature gas-sensing performance of the prepared CuO/ZnO materials. The doped In2O3 could effectively improve the gas-sensing properties of the prepared materials to nitrogen oxides (NOx) at room temperature. The 1% In2O3 doped CuO/ZnO sample (1 wt% In2O3–CuO/ZnO) showed the best gas-sensing properties whose response to 100 ppm NOx reached 82%, and the detectable minimum concentration reached 1 ppm at room temperature. The prepared materials had a good selectivity, better response, very low detection limit, and high sensitivity to NOx gas at room temperature, which would have a great development space in the gas sensor field and a great research value. PMID:29515887

Atomistic model of the spider silk nanostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keten, Sinan; Buehler, Markus J.

2010-04-01

Spider silk is an ultrastrong and extensible self-assembling biopolymer that outperforms the mechanical characteristics of many synthetic materials including steel. Here we report atomic-level structures that represent aggregates of MaSp1 proteins from the N. Clavipes silk sequence based on a bottom-up computational approach using replica exchange molecular dynamics. We discover that poly-alanine regions predominantly form distinct and orderly beta-sheet crystal domains while disorderly structures are formed by poly-glycine repeats, resembling 31-helices. These could be the molecular source of the large semicrystalline fraction observed in silks, and also form the basis of the so-called "prestretched" molecular configuration. Our structures are validated against experimental data based on dihedral angle pair calculations presented in Ramachandran plots, alpha-carbon atomic distances, as well as secondary structure content.

Method of making a functionally graded material

DOEpatents

Lauf, Robert J.; Menchhofer, Paul A.; Walls, Claudia A.; Moorhead, Arthur J.

2002-01-01

A gelcasting method of making an internally graded article alternatively includes the steps of: preparing a slurry including a least two different phases suspended in a gelcasting solution, the phases characterized by having different settling characteristics; casting the slurry into a mold having a selected shape; allowing the slurry to stand for a sufficient period of time to permit desired gravitational fractionation in order to achieve a vertical compositional gradient in the molded slurry; gelling the slurry to form a solid gel while preserving the vertical compositional gradient in the molded slurry; drying the gel to form a dried green body; and sintering the dry green body to form a solid object, at least one property thereof varying along the vertical direction because of the compositional gradient in the molded slurry.

Encapsulation of valproic acid and sodic phenytoin in ordered mesoporous SiO 2 solids for the treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López, T.; Basaldella, E. I.; Ojeda, M. L.; Manjarrez, J.; Alexander-Katz, R.

2006-10-01

Temporal lobe epilepsy is one of the most frequent types of human neurological diseases, and a variety of surgical procedures have been developed for the treatment of intractable cases. An alternative is the use of drug-containing reservoirs based on nanostructured materials of controlled pore sizes in order to deliver the drug without causing secondary effects. Ordered SiO 2 nanostructures were developed as drug reservoirs. The latter were prepared by the sol-gel process using tetraethyl orthosilicate TEOS as precursor to form the "sol" and P123 surfactant as the organic structure-directing agent. In addition to the nontoxic nature of amorphous silica, uniform and tunable pore sizes between 2.5 and 30 nm can be obtained in this way. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of these materials for the storage and release of drugs in the brain. For that, we loaded valproic acid (VH) and sodic phenytoin (PH) molecules into an ordered mesoporous SiO 2 by impregnation and characterized the drug impregnated SiO 2 by standard physical and spectroscopic techniques to identify the parameters necessary to improve the capacity and quality of the reservoirs. Finally, a study of neurohistopathology of the effects of these reservoirs on brain tissue is presented.

Variation in Orthologous Shell-Forming Proteins Contribute to Molluscan Shell Diversity.

PubMed

Jackson, Daniel J; Reim, Laurin; Randow, Clemens; Cerveau, Nicolas; Degnan, Bernard M; Fleck, Claudia

2017-11-01

Despite the evolutionary success and ancient heritage of the molluscan shell, little is known about the molecular details of its formation, evolutionary origins, or the interactions between the material properties of the shell and its organic constituents. In contrast to this dearth of information, a growing collection of molluscan shell-forming proteomes and transcriptomes suggest they are comprised of both deeply conserved, and lineage specific elements. Analyses of these sequence data sets have suggested that mechanisms such as exon shuffling, gene co-option, and gene family expansion facilitated the rapid evolution of shell-forming proteomes and supported the diversification of this phylum specific structure. In order to further investigate and test these ideas we have examined the molecular features and spatial expression patterns of two shell-forming genes (Lustrin and ML1A2) and coupled these observations with materials properties measurements of shells from a group of closely related gastropods (abalone). We find that the prominent "GS" domain of Lustrin, a domain believed to confer elastomeric properties to the shell, varies significantly in length between the species we investigated. Furthermore, the spatial expression patterns of Lustrin and ML1A2 also vary significantly between species, suggesting that both protein architecture, and the regulation of spatial gene expression patterns, are important drivers of molluscan shell evolution. Variation in these molecular features might relate to certain materials properties of the shells of these species. These insights reveal an important and underappreciated source of variation within shell-forming proteomes that must contribute to the diversity of molluscan shell phenotypes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Hierachical assembly of collagen mimetic peptides into biofunctional materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gleaton, Jeremy W.

Collagen is a remarkably strong and prevalent protein distributed throughout nature and as such, collagen is an ideal material for a variety of medical applications. Research efforts for the development of synthetic collagen biomaterials is an area of rapid growth. Here we present two methods for the assembly of collagen mimetic peptides (CMPs). The initial approach prompts assembly of CMPs which contain modifications for metal ion-triggered assembly. Hierarchical assembly into triple helices, followed by formation of disks via hydrophobic interactions has been demonstrated. Metal-ion mediated assembly of these disks, using iron (II)-bipyrdine interactions, has been shown to form micron-sized cages. The nature of the final structures that form depends on the number of bipyridine moieties incorporated into the CMP. These hollow spheres encapsulate a range of molecular weight fluorescently labeled dextrans. Furthermore, they demonstrate a time dependent release of contents under a variety of thermal conditions. The second approach assembles CMPs via the copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) and the strain-promoted alkyne-azide cycloaddition (SPAAC) reactions. CMPs that incorporate the unnatural amino acids L-propargylglycine and L-azidolysine form triple helices and demonstrate higher order assembly when reacted via CuAAC. Reaction of the alkyne/azide modified CMPs under CuAAC conditions was found to produce an crosslinked 3-dimensional network. Moreover, we demonstrate that polymers, such as, PEG, can be reacted with alkyne and azide CMP triple helices via CuAAC and SPAAC. This designed covalent CMP chemistry allows for high flexibility in integrating various chemical cues, such as cell growth and differentiation within the higher order structures.

Rapid Prototyping of Patterned Multifunctional Nanostructures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

FAN,HONGYOU; LU,YUNFENG; LOPEZ,GABRIEL P.

2000-07-18

The ability to engineer ordered arrays of objects on multiple length scales has potential for applications such as microelectronics, sensors, wave guides, and photonic lattices with tunable band gaps. Since the invention of surfactant templated mesoporous sieves in 1992, great progress has been made in controlling different mesophases in the form of powders, particles, fibers, and films. To date, although there have been several reports of patterned mesostructures, materials prepared have been limited to metal oxides with no specific functionality. For many of the envisioned applications of hierarchical materials in micro-systems, sensors, waveguides, photonics, and electronics, it is necessary tomore » define both form and function on several length scales. In addition, the patterning strategies utilized so far require hours or even days for completion. Such slow processes are inherently difficult to implement in commercial environments. The authors present a series of new methods of producing patterns within seconds. Combining sol-gel chemistry, Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA), and rapid prototyping techniques like pen lithography, ink-jet printing, and dip-coating on micro-contact printed substrates, they form hierarchically organized silica structures that exhibit order and function on multiple scales: on the molecular scale, functional organic moieties are positioned on pore surfaces, on the mesoscale, mono-sized pores are organized into 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensional networks, providing size-selective accessibility from the gas or liquid phase, and on the macroscale, 2-dimensional arrays and fluidic or photonic systems may be defined. These rapid patterning techniques establish for the first time a link between computer-aided design and rapid processing of self-assembled nanostructures.« less

Method of forming aluminum oxynitride material and bodies formed by such methods

DOEpatents

Bakas, Michael P [Ammon, ID; Lillo, Thomas M [Idaho Falls, ID; Chu, Henry S [Idaho Falls, ID

2010-11-16

Methods of forming aluminum oxynitride (AlON) materials include sintering green bodies comprising aluminum orthophosphate or another sacrificial material therein. Such green bodies may comprise aluminum, oxygen, and nitrogen in addition to the aluminum orthophosphate. For example, the green bodies may include a mixture of aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, and aluminum orthophosphate or another sacrificial material. Additional methods of forming aluminum oxynitride (AlON) materials include sintering a green body including a sacrificial material therein, using the sacrificial material to form pores in the green body during sintering, and infiltrating the pores formed in the green body with a liquid infiltrant during sintering. Bodies are formed using such methods.

Formability prediction for AHSS materials using damage models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amaral, R.; Santos, Abel D.; José, César de Sá; Miranda, Sara

2017-05-01

Advanced high strength steels (AHSS) are seeing an increased use, mostly due to lightweight design in automobile industry and strict regulations on safety and greenhouse gases emissions. However, the use of these materials, characterized by a high strength to weight ratio, stiffness and high work hardening at early stages of plastic deformation, have imposed many challenges in sheet metal industry, mainly their low formability and different behaviour, when compared to traditional steels, which may represent a defying task, both to obtain a successful component and also when using numerical simulation to predict material behaviour and its fracture limits. Although numerical prediction of critical strains in sheet metal forming processes is still very often based on the classic forming limit diagrams, alternative approaches can use damage models, which are based on stress states to predict failure during the forming process and they can be classified as empirical, physics based and phenomenological models. In the present paper a comparative analysis of different ductile damage models is carried out, in order numerically evaluate two isotropic coupled damage models proposed by Johnson-Cook and Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN), each of them corresponding to the first two previous group classification. Finite element analysis is used considering these damage mechanics approaches and the obtained results are compared with experimental Nakajima tests, thus being possible to evaluate and validate the ability to predict damage and formability limits for previous defined approaches.

In situ TEM probing of crystallization form-dependent sodiation behavior in ZnO nanowires for sodium-ion batteries

DOE PAGES

Xu, Feng; Li, Zhengrui; Wu, Lijun; ...

2016-09-13

Development of sodium-ion battery (SIB) electrode materials currently lags behind electrodes in commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, in the long term, development of SIB components is a valuable goal. Their similar, but not identical, chemistries require careful identification of the underlying sodiation mechanism in SIBs. Here in this study, we utilize in situ transmission electron microscopy to explore quite different sodiation behaviors even in similar electrode materials through real-time visualization of microstructure and phase evolution. Upon electrochemical sodiation, single-crystalline ZnO nanowires (sc-ZNWs) are found to undergo a step-by-step electrochemical displacement reaction, forming crystalline NaZn 13 nanograins dispersed in a Namore » 2O matrix. This process is characterized by a slowly propagating reaction front and the formation of heterogeneous interfaces inside the ZNWs due to non-uniform sodiation amorphization. In contrast, poly-crystalline ZNWs (pc-ZNWs) exhibited an ultrafast sodiation process, which can partly be ascribed to the availability of unobstructed ionic transport pathways among ZnO nanograins. Thus the reaction front and heterogeneous interfaces disappear. The in situ TEM results, supported by calculation of the ion diffusion coefficient, provide breakthrough insights into the dependence of ion diffusion kinetics on crystallization form. This points toward a goal of optimizing the microstructure of electrode materials in order to develop high performance SIBs.« less

Biaxial ferromagnetic liquid crystal colloids

PubMed Central

Liu, Qingkun; Ackerman, Paul J.; Lubensky, Tom C.; Smalyukh, Ivan I.

2016-01-01

The design and practical realization of composite materials that combine fluidity and different forms of ordering at the mesoscopic scale are among the grand fundamental science challenges. These composites also hold a great potential for technological applications, ranging from information displays to metamaterials. Here we introduce a fluid with coexisting polar and biaxial ordering of organic molecular and magnetic colloidal building blocks exhibiting the lowest symmetry orientational order. Guided by interactions at different length scales, rod-like organic molecules of this fluid spontaneously orient along a direction dubbed “director,” whereas magnetic colloidal nanoplates order with their dipole moments parallel to each other but pointing at an angle to the director, yielding macroscopic magnetization at no external fields. Facile magnetic switching of such fluids is consistent with predictions of a model based on competing actions of elastic and magnetic torques, enabling previously inaccessible control of light. PMID:27601668

Synthesis and characterization of SBA-3, SBA-15, and SBA-1 nanostructured catalytic materials.

PubMed

Anunziata, Oscar A; Beltramone, Andrea R; Martínez, Maria L; Belon, Lizandra López

2007-11-01

A highly ordered large pore mesoporous silica molecular sieve SBA-3, SBA-15, Al-SBA-15, and SBA-1, were developed and characterized by XRD, BET, FTIR, SEM, and NMR-MAS. The catalytic materials were synthesized using different raw materials and operation conditions. These materials contain a regular arrangement of uniform channels with diameters between 1.8 and 10 nm, high specific surface area and high specific pore volume. The designed methods were effective for the synthesis, presenting each mesostructured materials, patterns of XRD and other characteristics corresponding to the reported ones in literature. The new route employed to synthesize Al-SBA-15, generates a catalyst with only aluminum in tetrahedral form, according to the data of (27)Al NMR-MAS. However, several reports indicated that the coordination of the Al atoms changes below the Si/Al ratio of 45, presenting peaks corresponding to penta and hexa-coordinated aluminum, which are absent in our samples (Si/Al = 50 and 33).

Predictive modeling of dynamic fracture growth in brittle materials with machine learning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, Bryan A.; Rougier, Esteban; O’Malley, Daniel

We use simulation data from a high delity Finite-Discrete Element Model to build an e cient Machine Learning (ML) approach to predict fracture growth and coalescence. Our goal is for the ML approach to be used as an emulator in place of the computationally intensive high delity models in an uncertainty quanti cation framework where thousands of forward runs are required. The failure of materials with various fracture con gurations (size, orientation and the number of initial cracks) are explored and used as data to train our ML model. This novel approach has shown promise in predicting spatial (path tomore » failure) and temporal (time to failure) aspects of brittle material failure. Predictions of where dominant fracture paths formed within a material were ~85% accurate and the time of material failure deviated from the actual failure time by an average of ~16%. Additionally, the ML model achieves a reduction in computational cost by multiple orders of magnitude.« less

Constitutional self-organization of adenine-uracil-derived hybrid materials.

PubMed

Arnal-Hérault, Carole; Barboiu, Mihai; Pasc, Andreea; Michau, Mathieu; Perriat, Pascal; van der Lee, Arie

2007-01-01

The alkoxysilane nucleobase adenine (A) and uracil (U) precursors described in this paper generate in solution a complex library of hydrogen-bonded aggregates, which can be expressed in the solid state as discrete higher oligomers. The different interconverting outputs that nucleobases may form by oligomerization define a dynamic polyfunctional diversity that may be "extracted selectively" in solid state by sol-gel transcription, under the intrinsic stability of the system. After the sol-gel process, unique constitutional preference for specific geometries in hybrid materials is consistent with a preferential arrangement of nucleobase systems, favoring the self-assembly by the Hoogsteen geometry. FTIR and NMR spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction experiments demonstrate the formation of self-organized hybrid supramolecular materials. Electron microscopy reveals the micrometric platelike morphology of the hybrid materials. The M(A-U) hybrid material is nanostructured in ordered circular domains of 5 nm in diameter of alternative light and dark rows with an one-dimensional periodicity of 3.5 A.

Predictive modeling of dynamic fracture growth in brittle materials with machine learning

DOE PAGES

Moore, Bryan A.; Rougier, Esteban; O’Malley, Daniel; ...

2018-02-22

We use simulation data from a high delity Finite-Discrete Element Model to build an e cient Machine Learning (ML) approach to predict fracture growth and coalescence. Our goal is for the ML approach to be used as an emulator in place of the computationally intensive high delity models in an uncertainty quanti cation framework where thousands of forward runs are required. The failure of materials with various fracture con gurations (size, orientation and the number of initial cracks) are explored and used as data to train our ML model. This novel approach has shown promise in predicting spatial (path tomore » failure) and temporal (time to failure) aspects of brittle material failure. Predictions of where dominant fracture paths formed within a material were ~85% accurate and the time of material failure deviated from the actual failure time by an average of ~16%. Additionally, the ML model achieves a reduction in computational cost by multiple orders of magnitude.« less

C4N3H monolayer: A two-dimensional organic Dirac material with high Fermi velocity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Hongzhe; Zhang, Hongyu; Sun, Yuanyuan; Li, Jianfu; Du, Youwei; Tang, Nujiang

2017-11-01

Searching for two-dimensional (2D) organic Dirac materials, which have more adaptable practical applications compared with inorganic ones, is of great significance and has been ongoing. However, only two such materials with low Fermi velocity have been discovered so far. Herein, we report the design of an organic monolayer with C4N3H stoichiometry that possesses fascinating structure and good stability in its free-standing state. More importantly, we demonstrate that this monolayer is a semimetal with anisotropic Dirac cones and very high Fermi velocity. This Fermi velocity is roughly one order of magnitude larger than the largest velocity ever reported in 2D organic Dirac materials, and it is comparable to that in graphene. The Dirac states in this monolayer arise from the extended π -electron conjugation system formed by the overlapping 2 pz orbitals of carbon and nitrogen atoms. Our finding paves the way to a search for more 2D organic Dirac materials with high Fermi velocity.

Direct exfoliation and dispersion of two-dimensional materials in pure water via temperature control.

PubMed

Kim, Jinseon; Kwon, Sanghyuk; Cho, Dae-Hyun; Kang, Byunggil; Kwon, Hyukjoon; Kim, Youngchan; Park, Sung O; Jung, Gwan Yeong; Shin, Eunhye; Kim, Wan-Gu; Lee, Hyungdong; Ryu, Gyeong Hee; Choi, Minseok; Kim, Tae Hyeong; Oh, Junghoon; Park, Sungjin; Kwak, Sang Kyu; Yoon, Suk Wang; Byun, Doyoung; Lee, Zonghoon; Lee, Changgu

2015-09-15

The high-volume synthesis of two-dimensional (2D) materials in the form of platelets is desirable for various applications. While water is considered an ideal dispersion medium, due to its abundance and low cost, the hydrophobicity of platelet surfaces has prohibited its widespread use. Here we exfoliate 2D materials directly in pure water without using any chemicals or surfactants. In order to exfoliate and disperse the materials in water, we elevate the temperature of the sonication bath, and introduce energy via the dissipation of sonic waves. Storage stability greater than one month is achieved through the maintenance of high temperatures, and through atomic and molecular level simulations, we further discover that good solubility in water is maintained due to the presence of platelet surface charges as a result of edge functionalization or intrinsic polarity. Finally, we demonstrate inkjet printing on hard and flexible substrates as a potential application of water-dispersed 2D materials.

Studying and controlling order within nanoparticle monolayers fabricated through electrophoretic deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krejci, Alexander J.

Just as ensembles of ordered atoms (a crystal) exhibit collective properties which give rise to phenomena that do not exist for a single atom, the same is true of NP ensembles; ordered arrays of NPs (supercrystals) exhibit properties that are not observed in individual NPs. These collective properties open the door for even more applications for nanomaterials. A few examples that demonstrate this fact will be discussed. In the first example, photoluminescent (PL) optical properties of three CdSe NP systems were studied: one ordered array of NPs, one unordered array, and one system of isolated NPs. In these three systems, the ordered array showed a significantly sharper PL peak compared to the unordered array and the individual NPs. In a second example, the electrical properties for three systems of Ag NPs were studied: one hexagonally packed 2D array of Ag NPs, one cubically packed 2D array, and one individual NP. I-V curves of each system were measured and produced dramatically different behaviors simply due to the change in arrangement of NPs. In a final example, arrays of Ag NPs were created and then sintered. By sintering ordered arrays, it was possible to create large monocrystals of silver; monocrystals could not be created using unordered arrays. These are just three examples that elucidate the control over a wide range of properties that can be achieved by tuning the order within NP ensembles. Given the potential of films composed of ordered NP arrays, many researchers have been investigating how to create and control such arrays using a variety of techniques. For example, ligand-mediated assembly is being studied using a variety of ligands. DNA ligands, in particular, offer a powerful way to control NP assemblies. Evaporative self-assembly has been used to create large supercrystals of one, two, and even more types/sizes of NPs. Assisted assembly incorporating electric and/or magnetic fields has shown promise in creating ordered NP arrays. Spin-casting and Langmuir Blodgett films can be used to create very thin NP films. Templated substrates in combination with spin coating have been used to order blockcopolymers; this could be adapted for NP arrays as well. Some of these techniques can be applied for forming ordered arrays of NPs in two-dimensions, creating nanoparticle monolayers (NPMs), the focus of this work. NPMs are attractive for many applications in devices such as magnetic storage, solar cells, and biosensors. One particularly attractive feature of NPMs is the high surface area to volume ratio of the films. For example, through collaboration, we are investigating PL properties of two monolayers, composed of two different types of NPs, stacked on top of one another. Although challenging, there now are a variety of techniques for the fabrication of NPMs. This dissertation introduces a new process by which one can fabricate monolayers, electrophoretic deposition (EPD). Literature exists on using EPD to fabricate NPMs, but this literature is very limited. One such study deposited films of Au NPs on carbon films and another Pt NPs on carbon films. To the best of our knowledge, only NPMs of metallic NPs on carbon have been fabricated. Of the EPD studies in which NPMs have been fabricated, the technique has not been investigated in depth or has not been generalized for deposition of many types of materials. If NPM formation via EPD could be generalized, the NPMs could be industrially attractive as EPD has many industrially advantageous properties. For instance, EPD is highly versatile in multiple ways: many types of particles can be deposited, the size of the electrodes can be varied over many orders of magnitude, and a large variety of solvents can be used to suspend NPs. For example, our group has deposited materials of different shapes including tubes, sheets, and spheres; different materials such as polymers, metals, semiconductors, and magnetic materials; and on a variety of substrates including steel, silicon, silicon dioxide, indium tin oxide, and gold. In addition, EPD is very simple to perform, forms smooth films, and forms films quite rapidly. By fabricating NPMs of many types of NPs, the technique used herein has proven to be generalizable and thus could be industrially attractive. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Titania-graphene anode electrode paper

DOEpatents

Liu, Jun; Choi, Daiwon; Bennett, Wendy D.; Graff, Gordon L.; Shin, Yongsoon

2015-05-26

A method for forming a nanocomposite material, the nanocomposite material formed thereby, and a battery made using the nanocomposite material. Metal oxide and graphene are placed in a solvent to form a suspension. The suspension is then applied to a current collector. The solvent is then evaporated to form a nanocomposite material. The nanocomposite material is then electrochemically cycled to form a nanocomposite material of at least one metal oxide in electrical communication with at least one graphene layer.

Titania-graphene anode electrode paper

DOEpatents

Liu, Jun; Choi, Daiwon; Bennett, Wendy D; Graff, Gordon L; Shin, Yongsoon

2013-10-15

A method for forming a nanocomposite material, the nanocomposite material formed thereby, and a battery made using the nanocomposite material. Metal oxide and graphene are placed in a solvent to form a suspension. The suspension is then applied to a current collector. The solvent is then evaporated to form a nanocomposite material. The nanocomposite material is then electrochemically cycled to form a nanocomposite material of at least one metal oxide in electrical communication with at least one graphene layer.

Thermal modelling of normal distributed nanoparticles through thickness in an inorganic material matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latré, S.; Desplentere, F.; De Pooter, S.; Seveno, D.

2017-10-01

Nanoscale materials showing superior thermal properties have raised the interest of the building industry. By adding these materials to conventional construction materials, it is possible to decrease the total thermal conductivity by almost one order of magnitude. This conductivity is mainly influenced by the dispersion quality within the matrix material. At the industrial scale, the main challenge is to control this dispersion to reduce or even eliminate thermal bridges. This allows to reach an industrially relevant process to balance out the high material cost and their superior thermal insulation properties. Therefore, a methodology is required to measure and describe these nanoscale distributions within the inorganic matrix material. These distributions are either random or normally distributed through thickness within the matrix material. We show that the influence of these distributions is meaningful and modifies the thermal conductivity of the building material. Hence, this strategy will generate a thermal model allowing to predict the thermal behavior of the nanoscale particles and their distributions. This thermal model will be validated by the hot wire technique. For the moment, a good correlation is found between the numerical results and experimental data for a randomly distributed form of nanoparticles in all directions.

Ordered nanoparticle arrays formed on engineered chaperonin protein templates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McMillan, R. Andrew; Paavola, Chad D.; Howard, Jeanie; Chan, Suzanne L.; Zaluzec, Nestor J.; Trent, Jonathan D.

2002-01-01

Traditional methods for fabricating nanoscale arrays are usually based on lithographic techniques. Alternative new approaches rely on the use of nanoscale templates made of synthetic or biological materials. Some proteins, for example, have been used to form ordered two-dimensional arrays. Here, we fabricated nanoscale ordered arrays of metal and semiconductor quantum dots by binding preformed nanoparticles onto crystalline protein templates made from genetically engineered hollow double-ring structures called chaperonins. Using structural information as a guide, a thermostable recombinant chaperonin subunit was modified to assemble into chaperonins with either 3 nm or 9 nm apical pores surrounded by chemically reactive thiols. These engineered chaperonins were crystallized into two-dimensional templates up to 20 microm in diameter. The periodic solvent-exposed thiols within these crystalline templates were used to size-selectively bind and organize either gold (1.4, 5 or 10nm) or CdSe-ZnS semiconductor (4.5 nm) quantum dots into arrays. The order within the arrays was defined by the lattice of the underlying protein crystal. By combining the self-assembling properties of chaperonins with mutations guided by structural modelling, we demonstrate that quantum dots can be manipulated using modified chaperonins and organized into arrays for use in next-generation electronic and photonic devices.

Electrically conducting ternary amorphous fully oxidized materials and their application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giauque, Pierre (Inventor); Nicolet, Marc (Inventor); Gasser, Stefan M. (Inventor); Kolawa, Elzbieta A. (Inventor); Cherry, Hillary (Inventor)

2004-01-01

Electrically active devices are formed using a special conducting material of the form Tm--Ox mixed with SiO2 where the materials are immiscible. The immiscible materials are forced together by using high energy process to form an amorphous phase of the two materials. The amorphous combination of the two materials is electrically conducting but forms an effective barrier.

Numerical Modeling of Tube Forming by HPTR Cold Pilgering Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sornin, D.; Pachón-Rodríguez, E. A.; Vanegas-Márquez, E.; Mocellin, K.; Logé, R.

2016-09-01

For new fast-neutron sodium-cooled Generation IV nuclear reactors, the candidate cladding materials for the very strong burn-up are ferritic and martensitic oxide dispersion strengthened grades. Classically, the cladding tube is cold formed by a sequence of cold pilger milling passes with intermediate heat treatments. This process acts upon the geometry and the microstructure of the tubes. Consequently, crystallographic texture, grain sizes and morphologies, and tube integrity are highly dependent on the pilgering parameters. In order to optimize the resulting mechanical properties of cold-rolled cladding tubes, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the pilgering process. Finite Element Method (FEM) models are used for the numerical predictions of this task; however, the accuracy of the numerical predictions depends not only on the type of constitutive laws but also on the quality of the material parameters identification. Therefore, a Chaboche-type law which parameters have been identified on experimental observation of the mechanical behavior of the material is used here. As a complete three-dimensional FEM mechanical analysis of the high-precision tube rolling (HPTR) cold pilgering of tubes could be very expensive, only the evolution of geometry and deformation is addressed in this work. The computed geometry is compared to the experimental one. It is shown that the evolution of the geometry and deformation is not homogeneous over the circumference. Moreover, it is exposed that the strain is nonhomogeneous in the radial, tangential, and axial directions. Finally, it is seen that the dominant deformation mode of a material point evolves during HPTR cold pilgering forming.

The Formation of Frost and Liquid Brines on Spacecraft Materials at Mars Environmental Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Erik; Martinez, German; Neamati, Daniel; Renno, Nilton O.

2017-10-01

There is evidence that frost formed on the camera calibration target of the Opportunity Rover [1], and that frozen brine splashed on the struts of the Phoenix lander during landing melted, producing droplets of liquid brine [2]. Moreover, there is evidence that tiny amounts of frost might have formed at the MSL landing site, early in the morning during the coldest winter sols [3].The Michigan Mars Environmental Chamber (MMEC) is capable of simulating temperatures ranging from ~90 to 500 K, atmospheric pressures ranging from ~10-3 to 105 Pa, and relative humidity ranging from less than 1% to 100%. The MMEC is also capable of simulating the diurnal and seasonal cycles of the Mars polar, mid-latitudes, and equatorial regions (including Mars Special Regions). Moreover, the MMEC is equipped with instruments to study the formation of frost and liquid brines [4,5].We use the MMEC to study the formation of frost and brine droplets on spacecraft materials. Our laboratory experiments indicate that frost forms on spacecraft materials at Mars environmental conditions. They also indicate that small amounts of liquid brine could form on spacecraft surfaces if salts are present (e.g., deposited with dust aerosols or splashed during landing) when frost forms. These results have important implications for planetary protection.Our main goal is to identify the spacecraft materials on which frost and liquid brines are most likely and least likely to form at the environmental conditions created by a Mars lander. This will improve our understanding of forward contamination so that standards for spacecraft fabrication and operations can be refined in order to minimize planetary contamination.References:[1] Landis, G. A. (2007). Lunar Planet. Sci. Conference 38, 2423.[2] Rennó, N. O., et al. (2009). J. Geophys. Res.: Planets (1991-2012), 114(E1).[3] Martínez, G. M., et al. (2016). Icarus, 280, 93-102.[4] Fischer, E., et al. (2014). Geophys. Res. Lett. 41(13), 4456-4462.[5] Fischer, E., et al. (2016). Astrobiology, 16(12), 937-948.

Light weight optics made by glass thermal forming for future x-ray telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winter, Anita; Vongehr, Monika; Friedrich, Peter

2010-07-01

Future X-ray observatory missions, such as IXO or Gen-X, require grazing incidence optics of large collecting area in combination with a very good angular resolution. Wolter type I X-ray telescopes made of slumped glass segments could be a possible alternative to silicon pore optics. To achieve these requirements we develop slumping methods for high accuracy segments by experimental means. In particular, we follow the approach of indirect slumping and aim to produce parabola and hyperbola in one piece. In order to avoid internal stress in the glass segments the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass should closely match the thermal expansion of the mould material. Currently we focus on a combination of the alloy KOVAR for the mould and D263 for the glass; additionally a platinum-coated silica as mould material is studied. We investigate the behaviour of both materials during slumping in order to obtain the ideal environment for the slumping process. Additionally we report on the design of different metrology methods to measure the figure and thickness variations of the glass segments in visual light, e.g. interference, and on bearings used for shape measurements and integration.

Predicting new multicomponent materials for hydrogen storage using first-principles calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aidhy, Dilpuneet; Wolverton, Chris

2010-03-01

Wide research has unraveled some very promising hydrogen storage materials such as metal borohydrides, amides and alanates. However, all of these materials are limited either thermodynamically or kinetically. The recent observation of mixing in these systems (e.g., borohydride-amide mixing in Li4(BH4)(NH2)3 [1] and metal mixing in NaZn2(BH4)3) [2] has demonstrated the possibility of forming new multicomponent ordered compounds that may have desirable hydrogen storage properties. However, these multicomponent systems are largely unexplored. Here, we use density functional theory (DFT) along with Monte Carlo-based crystal structure prediction methods to search for new multicomponent hydrides. We find evidence for stable compounds in the Mg(BH4)2/Mg(NH2)2 system, which have not yet been observed. In addition, we also study a wide range of mixed metal borohydride systems, and find evidence of ordered stable structures such as Li2Na(BH4)3. 1. F. E. Pinkerton, M. S. Meyer, G. P. Meisner and M. P. Balogh, J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 7967 (2006). 2. D. Ravnsbeak, Y. Filinchuk, Y. Cerenius, H. J. Jakobsen, F. Besenbacher, J. Skibsted and T. R. Jensen, Angew. Chem. 48, 6659 (2009).

Excitations in the field-induced quantum spin liquid state of α-RuCl3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Arnab; Lampen-Kelley, Paula; Knolle, Johannes; Balz, Christian; Aczel, Adam Anthony; Winn, Barry; Liu, Yaohua; Pajerowski, Daniel; Yan, Jiaqiang; Bridges, Craig A.; Savici, Andrei T.; Chakoumakos, Bryan C.; Lumsden, Mark D.; Tennant, David Alan; Moessner, Roderich; Mandrus, David G.; Nagler, Stephen E.

2018-03-01

The celebrated Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) is the paradigmatic example of a topological magnet with emergent excitations in the form of Majorana Fermions and gauge fluxes. Upon breaking of time-reversal symmetry, for example in an external magnetic field, these fractionalized quasiparticles acquire non-Abelian exchange statistics, an important ingredient for topologically protected quantum computing. Consequently, there has been enormous interest in exploring possible material realizations of Kitaev physics and several candidate materials have been put forward, recently including α-RuCl3. In the absence of a magnetic field this material orders at a finite temperature and exhibits low-energy spin wave excitations. However, at moderate energies, the spectrum is unconventional and the response shows evidence for fractional excitations. Here we use time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering to show that the application of a sufficiently large magnetic field in the honeycomb plane suppresses the magnetic order and the spin waves, leaving a gapped continuum spectrum of magnetic excitations. Our comparisons of the scattering to the available calculations for a Kitaev QSL show that they are consistent with the magnetic field induced QSL phase.

Excitations in the field-induced quantum spin liquid state of α-RuCl 3

DOE PAGES

Banerjee, Arnab; Kelley, Paula J.; Knolle, Johannes; ...

2018-02-20

The celebrated Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) is the paradigmatic example of a topological magnet with emergent excitations in the form of Majorana Fermions and gauge fluxes. Upon breaking of time-reversal symmetry, for example in an external magnetic field, these fractionalized quasiparticles acquire non-Abelian exchange statistics, an important ingredient for topologically protected quantum computing. Consequently, there has been enormous interest in exploring possible material realizations of Kitaev physics and several candidate materials have been put forward, recently including α-RuCl 3. In the absence of a magnetic field this material orders at a finite temperature and exhibits low-energy spin wave excitations.more » However, at moderate energies, the spectrum is unconventional and the response shows evidence for fractional excitations. Here in this paper, we use time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering to show that the application of a sufficiently large magnetic field in the honeycomb plane suppresses the magnetic order and the spin waves, leaving a gapped continuum spectrum of magnetic excitations. Our comparisons of the scattering to the available calculations for a Kitaev QSL show that they are consistent with the magnetic field induced QSL phase.« less

Excitations in the field-induced quantum spin liquid state of α-RuCl 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Banerjee, Arnab; Kelley, Paula J.; Knolle, Johannes

The celebrated Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) is the paradigmatic example of a topological magnet with emergent excitations in the form of Majorana Fermions and gauge fluxes. Upon breaking of time-reversal symmetry, for example in an external magnetic field, these fractionalized quasiparticles acquire non-Abelian exchange statistics, an important ingredient for topologically protected quantum computing. Consequently, there has been enormous interest in exploring possible material realizations of Kitaev physics and several candidate materials have been put forward, recently including α-RuCl 3. In the absence of a magnetic field this material orders at a finite temperature and exhibits low-energy spin wave excitations.more » However, at moderate energies, the spectrum is unconventional and the response shows evidence for fractional excitations. Here in this paper, we use time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering to show that the application of a sufficiently large magnetic field in the honeycomb plane suppresses the magnetic order and the spin waves, leaving a gapped continuum spectrum of magnetic excitations. Our comparisons of the scattering to the available calculations for a Kitaev QSL show that they are consistent with the magnetic field induced QSL phase.« less

Fatigue crack propagation behavior of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene.

PubMed

Connelly, G M; Rimnac, C M; Wright, T M; Hertzberg, R W; Manson, J A

1984-01-01

The relative fatigue crack propagation resistance of plain and carbon fiber-reinforced ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was determined from cyclic loading tests performed on compact tension specimens machined from the tibial components of total knee prostheses. Both materials were characterized by dynamic mechanical spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. The cyclic tests used loading in laboratory air at 5 Hz using a sinusoidal wave form. Dynamic mechanical spectroscopy showed that the reinforced UHMWPE had a higher elastic storage modulus than the plain UHMWPE, whereas X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry showed that the percent crystallinity and degree of order in the crystalline regions were similar for the two materials. Fatigue crack propagation in both materials proved to be very sensitive to small changes in the applied cyclic stress intensity range. A 10% increase in stress intensity resulted in approximately an order of magnitude increase in fatigue crack growth rate. The fatigue crack propagation resistance of the reinforced UHMWPE was found to be significantly worse than that of the plain UHMWPE. This result was attributed to poor bonding between the carbon fibers and the UHMWPE matrix and the ductile nature of the matrix itself.

Microstructure Design of Tempered Martensite by Atomistically Informed Full-Field Simulation: From Quenching to Fracture

PubMed Central

Borukhovich, Efim; Du, Guanxing; Stratmann, Matthias; Boeff, Martin; Shchyglo, Oleg; Hartmaier, Alexander; Steinbach, Ingo

2016-01-01

Martensitic steels form a material class with a versatile range of properties that can be selected by varying the processing chain. In order to study and design the desired processing with the minimal experimental effort, modeling tools are required. In this work, a full processing cycle from quenching over tempering to mechanical testing is simulated with a single modeling framework that combines the features of the phase-field method and a coupled chemo-mechanical approach. In order to perform the mechanical testing, the mechanical part is extended to the large deformations case and coupled to crystal plasticity and a linear damage model. The quenching process is governed by the austenite-martensite transformation. In the tempering step, carbon segregation to the grain boundaries and the resulting cementite formation occur. During mechanical testing, the obtained material sample undergoes a large deformation that leads to local failure. The initial formation of the damage zones is observed to happen next to the carbides, while the final damage morphology follows the martensite microstructure. This multi-scale approach can be applied to design optimal microstructures dependent on processing and materials composition. PMID:28773791

The Influence of Al2O3 Powder Morphology on the Properties of Cu-Al2O3 Composites Designed for Functionally Graded Materials (FGM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strojny-Nędza, Agata; Pietrzak, Katarzyna; Węglewski, Witold

2016-08-01

In order to meet the requirements of an increased efficiency applying to modern devices and in more general terms science and technology, it is necessary to develop new materials. Combining various types of materials (such as metals and ceramics) and developing composite materials seem to be suitable solutions. One of the most interesting materials includes Cu-Al2O3 composite and gradient materials (FGMs). Due to their potential properties, copper-alumina composites could be used in aerospace industry as rocket thrusters and components in aircraft engines. The main challenge posed by copper matrix composites reinforced by aluminum oxide particles is obtaining the uniform structure with no residual porosity (existing within the area of the ceramic phase). In the present paper, Cu-Al2O3 composites (also in a gradient form) with 1, 3, and 5 vol.% of aluminum oxide were fabricated by the hot pressing and spark plasma sintering methods. Two forms of aluminum oxide (αAl2O3 powder and electrocorundum) were used as a reinforcement. Microstructural investigations revealed that near fully dense materials with low porosity and a clear interface between the metal matrix and ceramics were obtained in the case of the SPS method. In this paper, the properties (mechanical, thermal, and tribological) of composite materials were also collected and compared. Technological tests were preceded by finite element method analyses of thermal stresses generated in the gradient structure, and additionally, the role of porosity in the formation process of composite properties was modeled. Based on the said modeling, technological conditions for obtaining FGMs were proposed.

Macroporous ceramics by colloidal templating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramaniam, G.; Pine, David J.

2000-04-01

We describe a novel method of fabricating macroporous ceramics employing colloidal dispersion of ultrafine ceramic particles with latex particles as the templates. The colloidal particles form a particulate gel on drying and fill the voids of the ordered latex templates. Subsequent removal of the template by calcination results in the formation of an ordered macroporous ceramic. The process has significant advantages over the traditional sol-gel process employing alkoxide precursors. Most importantly, the much lower shrinkage compared to the sol-gel process enabled us to produce larger pieces of the sample. The larger shrinkage involved in the sol-gel process often results in small and fragile pieces of the macroporous material which has to be subsequently heat treated to induce crystallization. The ability to choose crystalline colloidal particles in our method obviates the need for heat treatment to achieve crystallinity. We have synthesized a variety of materials such as macroporous silica, titania, alumina and recently have also extended the approach to macroporous silicon which is not amenable to the sol-gel process.

Is EDI dead? The future of the Internet in supply chain management.

PubMed

Peters, L R

2000-08-01

I have been involved in materials management for about 30 years (that is not something many of us really want to admit--it says we are getting old), and over that time I have seen many methods of communication come and go. In the 1960s, we used seven-part carbon forms to generate orders. We also used the keypunch card or IBM card to send our request for materials to our supplier. The supplier would acknowledge our order and provide us with a promise date. This could be done by mail using these cards or by forwarding the information to us electronically for conversion to cards. I could trace the history of communication in painful detail, but that is not important. What is important is that the only thing that has remained constant in those past 30 years has been change. We have all heard that before, but we seem to forget it. This presentation will look at the future of EDI and the Internet in supply chain management.

Molecular docking sites designed for the generation of highly crystalline covalent organic frameworks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ascherl, Laura; Sick, Torben; Margraf, Johannes

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) formed by connecting multidentate organic building blocks through covalent bonds provide a platform for designing multifunctional porous materials with atomic precision. As they are promising materials for applications in optoelectronics, they would benefit from a maximum degree of long-range order within the framework, which has remained a major challenge. We have developed a synthetic concept to allow consecutive COF sheets to lock in position during crystal growth, and thus minimize the occurrence of stacking faults and dislocations. Hereby, the three-dimensional conformation of propeller-shaped molecular building units was used to generate well-defined periodic docking sites, which guidedmore » the attachment of successive building blocks that, in turn, promoted long-range order during COF formation. This approach enables us to achieve a very high crystallinity for a series of COFs that comprise tri- and tetradentate central building blocks. We expect this strategy to be transferable to a broad range of customized COFs.« less

Molecular docking sites designed for the generation of highly crystalline covalent organic frameworks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ascherl, Laura; Sick, Torben; Margraf, Johannes T.; Lapidus, Saul H.; Calik, Mona; Hettstedt, Christina; Karaghiosoff, Konstantin; Döblinger, Markus; Clark, Timothy; Chapman, Karena W.; Auras, Florian; Bein, Thomas

2016-04-01

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) formed by connecting multidentate organic building blocks through covalent bonds provide a platform for designing multifunctional porous materials with atomic precision. As they are promising materials for applications in optoelectronics, they would benefit from a maximum degree of long-range order within the framework, which has remained a major challenge. We have developed a synthetic concept to allow consecutive COF sheets to lock in position during crystal growth, and thus minimize the occurrence of stacking faults and dislocations. Hereby, the three-dimensional conformation of propeller-shaped molecular building units was used to generate well-defined periodic docking sites, which guided the attachment of successive building blocks that, in turn, promoted long-range order during COF formation. This approach enables us to achieve a very high crystallinity for a series of COFs that comprise tri- and tetradentate central building blocks. We expect this strategy to be transferable to a broad range of customized COFs.

Magnetic switching of ferroelectric domains at room temperature in multiferroic PZTFT

PubMed Central

Evans, D.M.; Schilling, A.; Kumar, Ashok; Sanchez, D.; Ortega, N.; Arredondo, M.; Katiyar, R.S.; Gregg, J.M.; Scott, J.F.

2013-01-01

Single-phase magnetoelectric multiferroics are ferroelectric materials that display some form of magnetism. In addition, magnetic and ferroelectric order parameters are not independent of one another. Thus, the application of either an electric or magnetic field simultaneously alters both the electrical dipole configuration and the magnetic state of the material. The technological possibilities that could arise from magnetoelectric multiferroics are considerable and a range of functional devices has already been envisioned. Realising these devices, however, requires coupling effects to be significant and to occur at room temperature. Although such characteristics can be created in piezoelectric-magnetostrictive composites, to date they have only been weakly evident in single-phase multiferroics. Here in a newly discovered room temperature multiferroic, we demonstrate significant room temperature coupling by monitoring changes in ferroelectric domain patterns induced by magnetic fields. An order of magnitude estimate of the effective coupling coefficient suggests a value of ~1 × 10−7 sm−1. PMID:23443562

Electroactive polymers for gaining sea power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherber, Benedikt; Grauer, Matthias; Köllnberger, Andreas

2013-04-01

Target of this article will be the energy harvesting with dielectric elastomers for wave energy conversion. The main goal of this article is to introduce a new developed material profile enabling a specific amount of energy, making the harvesting process competitive against other existing offshore generation technologies. Electroactive polymers offer the chance to start with small wave energy converters to gain experiences and carry out a similar development as wind energy. Meanwhile there is a consortium being formed in Germany to develop such materials and processes for future products in this new business area. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the technological advancements, a scale demonstrator of a wave energy generator will be developed as well.

Function follows form: combining nanoimprint and inkjet printing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muehlberger, M.; Haslinger, M. J.; Kurzmann, J.; Ikeda, M.; Fuchsbauer, A.; Faury, T.; Koepplmayr, T.; Ausserhuber, H.; Kastner, J.; Woegerer, C.; Fechtig, D.

2017-06-01

We are investigating the possibilities and the technical requirements to do nanopatterning on arbitrary curved surfaces. This is done considering the opportunities and possibilities of additive manufacturing. One of the key elements is the necessity to deposit material in well-defined areas of various complex 3D objects. In order to achieve this we are developing a robot-based inkjet printing. We report on our progress with this respect and also on our efforts to perform nanoimprinting on curved, possibly 3D-printed objects using materials that can be deposited by inkjet printing. In the framework of this article, we provide an overview over our current status, the challenges and an outlook.