Structural and phase characteristics of the diamond/matrix interfacial zone in high-resistant diamond composites

The structural-phase state of the contact zone and the factors that influence on the strength of diamond retention in the diamond carbide composites were determined. Composites were obtained by the new hybrid technology that eliminates the reheating of the metalized coating. The elaborated technology combines the thermal diffusion metallization of a diamond and the sintering by the scheme of self-dosed impregnation in a one-stage technological cycle. By the methods of electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and Raman spectroscopy the structural and phase characteristics of the interphase boundary were investigated. The improvement of chemical and mechanical adhesion between the diamond and carbide matrix was obtained. It was shown that the specific productivity of the samples with a metalized diamond component is 39% higher than those without metallization.     

Analyticity of resonances and eigenvalues and spectral properties of the massless Spin–Boson model

We extend the method of Pizzo multiscale analysis for resonances introduced in [5] in order to infer analytic properties of resonances and eigenvalues (and their eigenprojections) as well as estimates for the localization of the spectrum of dilated Hamiltonians and norm-bounds for the corresponding resolvent operators, in neighborhoods of resonances and eigenvalues. We apply our method to the massless Spin–Boson model assuming a slight infrared regularization. We prove that the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue (and their eigenprojections) are analytic with respect to the dilation parameter and the coupling constant. Moreover, we prove that the spectrum of the dilated Spin–Boson Hamiltonian in the neighborhood of the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue is localized in two cones in the complex plane with vertices at the location of the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue, respectively. Additionally, we provide norm-estimates for the resolvent of the dilated Spin–Boson Hamiltonian near the resonance and the ground-state eigenvalue. The topic of analyticity of eigenvalues and resonances has let to several studies and advances in the past. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that it is addressed from the perspective of Pizzo multiscale analysis. Once the multiscale analysis is set up our method gives easy access to analyticity: Essentially, it amounts to proving it for isolated eigenvalues only and use that uniform limits of analytic functions are analytic. The type of spectral and resolvent estimates that we prove are needed to control the time evolution including the scattering regime. The latter will be demonstrated in a forthcoming publication. The introduced multiscale method to study spectral and resolvent estimates follows its own inductive scheme and is independent (and different) from the method we apply to construct resonances.     

Coatings with thermally switchable surface energy produced from poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) block copolymer films

This work explores coatings with thermally switchable wetting behavior, based on block copolymers that possess both hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments. The amphiphilic block copolymers were synthesized by coupling allyl-ended poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and hydride-ended poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) oligomers via a Pt catalyst. One near-symmetric diblock possessed an order-disorder transition temperature (T_ODT) of 64 °C. When cooled through T_ODT in ambient air, the PDMS domains wet the film's surface, producing a hydrophobic coating with a water contact angle (CA) = 90°. However, when cooled in humidified air, hydrophilic PEO domains form at the surface, yielding CA = 30–40°. The coatings can be reversibly switched between the two states by reheating above T_ODT, in the appropriate environment, and then cooling, rapidly generating the desired room-temperature surface wettability. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 135–140     

Effects of silica nanoparticle addition on polymer semiconductor wettability and carrier mobility in solution‐processable organic transistors on hydrophobic substrates

The effects of the addition of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) on wettability of regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) organic semiconductor solutions on hydrophobic substrates and the carrier mobility in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) made of these films are investigated. The dewetting of films made from P3HT solutions on hydrophobic substrates modified with octadecyltrichlorosilane (ODTS) is markedly suppressed after the addition of SNPs with phenyl surfactants. This enables us to fabricate continuous P3HT/SNPs films with high crystallinity by the conventional spin‐coating technique, leading to higher mobility compared with P3HT FETs fabricated on non‐modified substrates. Moreover, the addition of SNPs with larger diameters compensates for the degradation of mobility associated with the increase in the concentration of SNPs. Solution‐processed P3HT/SNPs FETs on ODTS‐modified substrates exhibit a field‐effect mobility of 1.3 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1, which is almost comparable to that of P3HT FETs without SNPs (2.1 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1). © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 509–516     

Quantum theory as a description of robust experiments: Derivation of the Pauli equation

It is shown that the Pauli equation and the concept of spin naturally emerge from logical inference applied to experiments on a charged particle under the conditions that (i) space is homogeneous (ii) the observed events are logically independent, and (iii) the observed frequency distributions are robust with respect to small changes in the conditions under which the experiment is carried out. The derivation does not take recourse to concepts of quantum theory and is based on the same principles which have already been shown to lead to e.g. the Schrödinger equation and the probability distributions of pairs of particles in the singlet or triplet state. Application to Stern–Gerlach experiments with chargeless, magnetic particles, provides additional support for the thesis that quantum theory follows from logical inference applied to a well-defined class of experiments.     

Hyperbranched Kaustamin as an antibacterial for surface treatment

Hyperbranched Kaustamin as a commercially available cationic flocculant adsorbs on a glass surface with formation of the polymer film. Kaustamin has antimicrobial effect on Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, its film on glass keeps integrity and shape after absorption of water from air, which make the polymer appropriate as an antibacterial cover.     

Antiferromagnetic-vortex dynamics driven by spin-polarized current in small thin disks

We investigate vortex configuration confined in antiferromagnetic thin disks. By virtue of sublattice mismatch at the disk borders, we propose a model that takes such a magnetostatic-like cost into account. The model predicts that onion-like configuration interpolates between curly and divergent vortex. Concerning its dynamics, it is shown that the vortex acquires oscillatory dynamics with well-defined amplitude and frequency that may be controlled on demand by an alternating spin-polarized current. These findings may be useful for the emerging field of antiferromagnetic topological spintronics, once vortex dynamics may be controlled by purely electronic means.