Three different low-temperature plasma-based methods for hydrophilicity improvement of polyethylene films at atmospheric pressure

Three different low-temperature plasma-based methods were used to improve the surface hydrophilicity of polyethy- lene （PE） films, and all the modification processes were carried out by employing an atmospheric pressure plasma jet （APPJ） system. （a） PE films were directly modified by APPJ using a gas mixture of He and 02. （b） Acrylic acid （AA） was introduced into the system and a polymer acrylic acid （PAA） coating was deposited onto the PE films. （c） AA was grafted onto the PE surface activated by plasma pre-treatment. It was found that the hydrophilicity of the PE films was significantly improved for all the three methods. However, the samples modified by Process （a） showed hydrophobicity recovery after a storage time of 20 days while no significant change was found in samples modified by Process （b） and Process （c）. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） results indicated that the most intensive C=O peak was detected on the PE surface modified by Process （c）. According to the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） analysis, the ratios of oxygen-containing polar groups for samples modified by Process （b） and Process （c） were higher than that modified by Process （a）.     

Interplay of superconductivity and d-f correlation in CeFeAs_(1-x)P_xO_(1-y)F_y

The recent discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based pnictides (chalcogenides) not only triggers tremendous enthusiasm in searching for new superconducting materials, but also opens a new avenue to the study of the Kondo physics. CeFeAsO is a parent compound of the 1111-type iron-based superconductors. It shows 3d-antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering below ～ 139 K and 4f-AFM ordering below ～ 4 K. On the other hand, the phosphide CeFePO is a ferromagnetically correlated heavy-fermion (HF) metal with Kondo scale T K ～ 10 K. These properties set up a new platform for research of the interplay among magnetism, Kondo effect, and superconductivity (SC). In this review, we present the recent progress in the study of chemical pressure effect in CeFeAsO 1-y F y (y = 0 and 0.05). This P/As-doping in CeFeAsO serves as an effective controlling parameter which leads to two magnetic critical points, x c1 0.4 and x c2 0.92, associated with suppression of 3d and 4f magnetism, respectively. We also observe a turning point of AFM-FM ordering of Ce 3+ moment at x c3 0.37. The SC is absent in the phase diagram, which is attributed to the destruction to Cooper pair by Ce-FM fluctuations in the vicinity of x c1 . We continue to investigate CeFeAs 1-x P x O 0.95 F 0.05 . With the separation of x c1 and x c3 , this chemical pressure results in a broad SC region 0≤ x ≤ 0.53, while the original HF behavior is driven away by 5% F doping. Different roles of P and F dopings are addressed, and the interplay between SC and Ce-4f magnetism is also discussed.     

Coulomb‐enhanced spin–orbit coupling and semiconductor to half‐metal transition under pressure in Sr2CrReO6

Ordered Sr₂CrReO₆ has been synthesized recently. It is measured to be ferrimagnetic semiconductor, in contrary to the previous reports of metallic properties. To solve the discrepancy, we have investigated the compound by using the density functional theory. The semiconducting behavior is reproduced by including the electron correlation and spin–orbit coupling simultaneously. The calculated band gap is 0.22 eV, close to the experimental value of 0.21 eV. A large orbital moment of 0.69µ_B is found for Re, which is caused by the Coulomb‐enhanced spin–orbit coupling. By applying pressure, a semiconductor to half‐metal transition is observed through 5% volume compression.

     

Pressure effects on structural,electronic, absorption,and thermodynamic properties of crystalline 2,4,6‐triamino‐3,5‐dinitropyridine‐1‐oxide: A DFT study

Density functional theory calculations have been performed to study the structural, electronic, absorption, and thermodynamic properties of crystalline 2,4,6‐triamino‐3,5‐dinitropyridine‐1‐oxide (TANPyo) in the pressure range of 0–50 GPa. The variation trends of the lattice constants, bond lengths, bond angles, intramolecular H‐bonds, and dihedral angles under compression show that there are two structural transformations at 17 and 38 GPa, respectively. The remarkable changes in the bond lengths indicate that there are two possible initiation decomposition mechanisms of TANPyo under compression. As the pressure increases, the intramolecular H‐bond strengthens. The obvious changes of the dihedral angles show that the planar structure of the TANPyo molecule is damaged under compression. Its absorption spectra show that as the pressure increases, the absorption coefficient of the N–H stretching decreases, while that of the O–H stretching increases. TANPyo has relatively high optical activity at high pressure. An analysis of thermodynamic properties indicates that both two structural transformations are endothermic and not spontaneous at room temperature. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the role of pressure in elasto-inertial turbulence

The dynamics of elasto-inertial turbulence is investigated numerically from the perspective of the coupling between polymer dynamics and flow structures. In particular, direct numerical simulations of channel flow with Reynolds numbers ranging from 1000 to 6000 are used to study the formation and dynamics of elastic instabilities and their effects on the flow. Based on the splitting of the pressure into inertial and polymeric contributions, it is shown that the polymeric pressure is a non-negligible component of the total pressure fluctuations, although the rapid inertial part dominates. Unlike Newtonian flows, the slow inertial part is almost negligible in elasto-inertial turbulence. Statistics on the different terms of the Reynolds stress transport equation also illustrate the energy transfers between polymers and turbulence and the redistributive role of pressure. Finally, the trains of cylindrical structures around sheets of high polymer extension that are characteristics of elasto-inertial turbulence are shown to be correlated with the polymeric pressure fluctuations.     

LES of spatially developing turbulent boundary layer over a concave surface

We revisit the problem of a spatially developing turbulent boundary layer over a concave surface. Unlike previous investigations, we simulate the combined effects of streamline curvature as well as curvature-induced pressure gradients on the turbulence. Our focus is on investigating the response of the turbulent boundary layer to the sudden onset of curvature and the destabilising influence of concave surface in the presence of pressure gradients. This is of interest for evaluating the turbulence closure models. At the beginning of the curve, the momentum thickness Reynolds number is 1520 and the ratio of the boundary layer thickness to the radius of curvature is δ₀/R = 0.055. The radial profiles of the mean velocity and turbulence statistics at different locations along the concave surface are presented. Our recently proposed curvature-corrected Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model is assessed in an a posteriori sense and the improvements obtained over the base model are reported. From the large Eddy simulation (LES) results, it was found that the maximum influence of concave curvature is on the wall-normal component of the Reynolds stress. The budgets of wall-normal Reynolds stress also confirmed this observation. At the onset of curvature, the effect of adverse pressure gradient is found to be predominant. This decreases the skin friction levels below that in the flat section.     

High-pressure torsion applied to nickel single crystals

Nickel single crystals with different crystallographic orientations were deformed by high-pressure torsion. Special attention is devoted to examining the evolution of the micro-texture and microstructure. The initial crystal orientation was found to have a significant effect on the mechanical hardening and evolution of micro-texture at low and medium equivalent strains, whereas at very high strains no effect of the initial orientation was observed and the behaviour was very similar to a polycrystal. The evolution of micro-texture is in good qualitative agreement with the full constrained Taylor model. At very high equivalent strains the initial crystal orientation has no influence on micro-texture. At such strains, the hardening, the refinement of the structure and the texture reaches a saturation. The final micro-texture is explained by the change from one preferred crystallographic orientation to another.     

Magnetic resonance imaging in laboratory petrophysical core analysis

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a well-known technique in medical diagnosis and materials science. In the more specialized arena of laboratory-scale petrophysical rock core analysis, the role of MRI has undergone a substantial change in focus over the last three decades. Initially, alongside the continual drive to exploit higher magnetic field strengths in MRI applications for medicine and chemistry, the same trend was followed in core analysis. However, the spatial resolution achievable in heterogeneous porous media is inherently limited due to the magnetic susceptibility contrast between solid and fluid. As a result, imaging resolution at the length-scale of typical pore diameters is not practical and so MRI of core-plugs has often been viewed as an inappropriate use of expensive magnetic resonance facilities. Recently, there has been a paradigm shift in the use of MRI in laboratory-scale core analysis. The focus is now on acquiring data in the laboratory that are directly comparable to data obtained from magnetic resonance well-logging tools (i.e., a common physics of measurement). To maintain consistency with well-logging instrumentation, it is desirable to measure distributions of transverse (_T2$T_2$) relaxation time–the industry-standard metric in well-logging–at the laboratory-scale. These _T2$T_2$ distributions can be spatially resolved over the length of a core-plug. The use of low-field magnets in the laboratory environment is optimal for core analysis not only because the magnetic field strength is closer to that of well-logging tools, but also because the magnetic susceptibility contrast is minimized, allowing the acquisition of quantitative image voxel (or pixel) intensities that are directly scalable to liquid volume. Beyond simple determination of macroscopic rock heterogeneity, it is possible to utilize the spatial resolution for monitoring forced displacement of oil by water or chemical agents, determining capillary pressure curves, and estimating wettability. The history of MRI in petrophysics is reviewed and future directions considered, including advanced data processing techniques such as compressed sensing reconstruction and Bayesian inference analysis of under-sampled data. Although this review focuses on rock core analysis, the techniques described are applicable in a wider context to porous media in general, such as cements, soils, ceramics, and catalytic materials.     

The hydrogen bond under pressure

The hydrogen bonds are quite pervasive in several classes of materials. Its parameters are known to show systematic variations with hydrogen bond length, and pressure variable is thus a natural way for studying hydrogen bonded substances. In this article, we review the unifying features as obtained through several experimental and theoretical investigations. Amongst other things, it is examined whether the observed pressure-induced variations in parameters of hydrogen bonds are consistent with the co-relations known on different chemical substances at normal pressure. In particular, the controversies on variations of O–H and H- - -O pairs with pressure and symmetrization of hydrogen bond have been resolved. The effects of close packing promoted by pressure such as formation of muli-centered hydrogen bonds and steric repulsions and the way the hydrogen bonds counter these in different ways are also examined.     

Pressure dependence of dielectric properties of the LiNaGe4O9 ferroelectric

Dielectric properties of lithium–sodium–tetragermanate (LNG) LiNaGe₄O₉ crystal were investigated under hydrostatic pressure. The phase diagram and phase transition temperature as a function of pressure was constructed. Up to 200 MPa the dependence of T_C on pressure is linear with negative slope of 8.5 K/GPa. The influence of pressure on the Curie–Weiss law was observed. It was also shown that with increasing pressure the maximum value of the electric permittivity and Curie–Weiss constant are decreasing. The obtained results revealed complex mechanism of phase transition in the ferroelectric LNG.