Faraday instability in a surface-frozen liquid

Faraday surface instability measurements of the critical acceleration, a(c), and wave number, k(c), for standing surface waves on a tetracosanol (C24H50) melt exhibit abrupt changes at T(s)=54 degrees C, approximately 4 degrees C above the bulk freezing temperature. The measured variations of a(c) and k(c) vs temperature and driving frequency are accounted for quantitatively by a hydrodynamic model, revealing a change from a free-slip surface flow, generic for a free liquid surface (T>T(s)), to a surface-pinned, no-slip flow, characteristic of a flow near a wetted solid wall (T相似文献   

壁面静止水滴冻结过程形状变化

低温表面上的液滴冻结时会形成具有尖顶的形状。针对这一现象开展了理论与实验研究,建立了新的动态曲形相界面模型用来模拟水滴冻结过程中的形状变化。模型考虑重力和成核再辉效应的影响,将冻结过程中的冰水相界面近似为球冠形曲面,并在三相点处引入动态生长角和直角关系。对壁面上20μL静止水滴进行了冻结实验,记录水滴三相点高度的演化过程,以此拟合得到了其随时间变化的关联式,基于该关联式求解理论模型,得到了水滴最终冻结形状。模拟结果与实验结果在水滴初始轮廓、成核再辉轮廓和最终冻结轮廓以及冻结时间上均吻合良好。曲面模型的计算结果表明,固液相界面上不同位置处的冻结速率不同;随着相界面向上推移,冻结速率逐渐减小。     

Simplistic surface active agents mediated morphological tweaking of CdS thin films for photoelectrochemical solar cell performance

This study reports on the formation of cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanostructures with controlled morphology synthesized via a simple chemical route in surface active agent environment. The effect of organic surface active agents (surfactants) as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on structural, morphological, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of CdS thin films have been studied. Our results reveal that the organic surfactants play key roles in tweaking the surface morphology. A compact spongy ball like morphology was observed for the CdS samples grown without organic surfactants. The cauliflower's with nanopetals from the CTAB, whereas crowded star fish like morphology is observed in PEG-mediated growth. Water hyacinth like morphology is tweaked using SDS. Considering the importance of these nanostructures, the growth mechanism has been discussed in details. Additionally, the samples are photoelectrochemically (PEC) active and having a compact surface with a nanoporous structure twig helps in improved photoelectrochemical performance compared to that of CdS deposits from surfactant free solution. This is a simplistic way to tune the morphology using surfactants, which can be applied to other energy conversion applications.     

Influence of nano-SiO2 on dilational viscoelasticity of liquid/air interface of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide

An investigation was reported on the interfacial rheology of nano-SiO₂ dispersions in the presence of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The interfacial dilational viscoelasticity had been measured as a function of the nano-particle concentration. The properties of the interface were affected by different processes such as the surfactants adsorption at the liquid or at the particle interfaces. It was found that the influence of nano-SiO₂ particles on the interfacial properties was evident and complex. The property of SiO₂ particles would change from hydrophilic to hydrophobic when CTAB molecules absorbed at their surface. The reorganization of surfactants and the participation of hydrophobic SiO₂ at the surface were offered to explain the process. In particular, the interaction between surfactants and particles, and the transfer of particles from bulk to the surface played an important role in changing the properties of the interface.     

Depth-dependent spin dynamics of canonical spin-glass films: a low-energy muon-spin-rotation study

We have performed depth dependent muon-spin-rotation and -relaxation studies of the dynamics of single layer films of AuFe and CuMn spin glasses as a function of thickness and of its behavior as a function of distance from the vacuum interface (5-70 nm). A significant reduction in the muon-spin relaxation rate as a function of temperature with respect to the bulk material is observed when the muons are stopped near (5-10 nm) the surface of the sample. A similar reduction is observed for the whole sample if the thickness is reduced to, e.g., 20 nm and less. This reflects an increased impurity spin dynamics (incomplete freezing) close to the surface although the freezing temperature is only modestly affected by the dimensional reduction.     

Combined Facile Synthesis,Purification, and Surface Functionalization Approach Yields Monodispersed Gold Nanorods for Drug Delivery Applications

Synthesizing gold nanorods (AuNRs) by seed-mediated growth method results in the presence of undesired size and shape particles by-products occupying 10–90% of the population. In this study, AuNRs are synthesized by the seed-mediated growth method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. AuNRs with redshifted longitudinal localized surface plasmon resonance (LLSPR) peak, localized in the biological “transparency window” (650–1350 nm), are synthesized after optimizing seed solution, silver nitrate solution, and hydrochloric acid solution volumes, based on the published protocols. A two-step purification method, dialysis followed by centrifugation, is applied to remove excess CTAB and collect LLSPR-redshifted AuNRs with high rod purity (>90%). CTAB is subsequently exchanged with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to improve AuNRs biocompatibility. PEGylated AuNRs are confirmed innocuous to both SN4741 cells and B16F10 cells by the modified MTT assay and the modified lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay up to 1 nm and 24 h incubation. In this study, a combined facile synthesis, purification, and surface functionalization approach is proposed to obtain water-dispersible monodispersed AuNRs for drug delivery applications.     

Segregation of silicone acrylate from acrylate mixture at resin-mold interface and its effect on UV embossing

When silicone diacrylate was added in small amount (<5 wt.%) to ultraviolet (UV) curable formulations containing other oligomeric diacrylates, there was segregation of the silicone additive at the solid substrate-formulation interface. The amount was quantified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement of the UV cured film surface composition. The effect of silicone diacrylate concentration, resin formulation and substrate polarity on silicone surface excess was systematically studied. Young's-Gibbs adsorption theory was applied to the prediction of the silicone surface excess at the solid substrate interface for these oligomeric mixtures. Further, we proposed a simplified Young's-Gibbs adsorption theory equation to predict the variation of surface excess from only formulation surface tension and substrate critical surface tension. The selective segregation is beneficial to demolding in UV embossing since only small amount of release added can result in large decrease of the mold-resin interfacial energy difference leading to easy demolding and high replication fidelity.     

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Investigating the Adsorption of a Porphyrin at the Glass/Water Interface in the Presence of a Cationic Surfactant Below the Critical Micelle Concentration

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) spectroscopy was used to investigate the adsorption behavior of meso-tetrakis(p-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS) at the glass/water interface in the presence of a cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB) far below the critical micelle concentration. The adsorption model of TPPS at the glass/water interface in the presence of low concentration of CTAB was proposed, which was different from the adsorption of TPPS in the presence of micelles of CTAB at the glass/water interface. TPPS and CTAB did not form stable complex at the interface in dilute system. The interfacial species of TPPS were analyzed by comparing the spectra of TPPS at the glass/water interface and in the aqueous phase. The influences of the TPPS concentration, the CTAB concentration, and the pH values on the interfacial fluorescence spectra and intensities were studied. It was demonstrated that electrostatic interaction and hydrophobicity performed an important role on the adsorption of TPPS in the presence of CTAB. The different effects of TPPS concentration on the adsorption behaviour of TPPS at different pH were observed for the first time. It was found that the adsorption isotherms of TPPS at glass/water interface could fit Freundlich equation at pH 7.1.     

Theory of the liquid-vapour interface of a binary mixture of Lennard-Jones fluids

We present results of calculations of the equilibrium surface tension and density profiles for the liquid-vapour interface of a binary mixture of Lennard-Jones 12-6 fluids. The calculations are based on a density-functional theory for the Helmholtz free energy of the inhomogeneous mixture. This is a ‘microscopic’ generalization of the van der Waals-Cahn-Hilliard theory for the interface of a binary mixture.

Our calculations cover the full range of liquid-vapour coexistence and the whole range of concentration. We find a correlation between the excess surface tension of the mixture and the surface segregation (adsorption) of the species with the lower surface tension. The ways in which segregation and excess surface tension depend on the Lennard-Jones parameters of the pure components are briefly discussed. Our results for the excess surface tension of mixtures of Ar and N₂ and Ar and CH₄ are compared with experiment; the agreement is reasonable.     

Capping effect of CTAB on positively charged Ag nanoparticles

A facial synthesis process of silver nanoparticles (NPs) capped by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is reported with exploration for the capping effect of CTAB on particles’ stability and surface properties in aqueous medium. Multidisciplinary approaches including electrophoresis, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) are conducted to systematically investigate surface charge and the adsorbed CTAB layer structure on Ag clusters. Obtained results indicate that CTAB molecules bind strongly to silver surface via their headgroups and form a bilayer shell. Detailed analysis of SAXS and NMR data and discussion on the interaction between CTAB molecules and NPs’ surface, provide a clearer model of capped molecules on Ag clusters.     

Freezing of dynamical exponents in low dimensional random media

A particle in a random potential with logarithmic correlations in dimensions d = 1,2 is shown to undergo a dynamical transition at T(dyn)>0. In d = 1 exact results show T(dyn) = T(c), the static glass transition temperature, and that the dynamical exponent changes from z(T) = 2+2(T(c)/T)(2) at high T to z(T) = 4T(c)/T in the glass phase. The same formulas are argued to hold in d = 2. Dynamical freezing is also predicted in the 2D random gauge XY model and related systems. In d = 1 a mapping between dynamics and statics is unveiled and freezing involves barriers as well as valleys. Anomalous scaling occurs in the creep dynamics, relevant to dislocation motion experiments.     

Summary of conditions for precision in applications of ellipsometry to surface and film studies

Ellipsometry [1,2] is simple in instrumentation and application and is sensitive to fractional monatomic coverage under favourable conditions. This summary recapitulates the requirements for fruitful applications of this technique. In general it will be applied to study an interface situation or a reaction at an interface. It will therefore be necessary to obtain the optical parameters of the bulk phase and reaction products known or suspected to be involved at the interface when the nature and kinetics of the reactions occuring there are studied. These can then be used to compute curves based on various model postulates which can then be compared with observations until an acceptable interpretation can be places on the observations. The determination of optical parameters for a film-free interface of a bulk phase often then turns out to be simply a question of preparation and preservation of such a film-free interface.     

Shear waves in viscoelastic wormlike micellar fluids over a broad concentration range

Low frequency (61 Hz) shear wave speeds have been measured in viscoelastic wormlike micellar (WM) fluids for a concentration range of 20/12-500/300 mM CTAB/NaSAL where CTAB is the surfactant and NaSAL is the salt and the concentration ratio was fixed at 0.6 for all experiments. The birefringent property of the WM fluids was exploited to visually track the the shear pulse using crossed optical polarizing filters and high speed video. Several scalings of shear wave speed as a function of concentration were discovered: c(s) ~ √C for 20-200 mM and c(s) ~ C for higher concentrations, but with a break in the slope at 400 mM CTAB. Over this full concentration range, the shear wave speed varied from 0.08-0.7 m/s. The shear wave speed was also found to be sensitive to the time between fluid synthesis and measurement indicating a long equilibrium time. Further, comparison with elastic and loss moduli obtained from rheology data show that shear wave propagation is dominated by the elastic modulus for this frequency range. Also briefly discussed are potential applications of this fluid in elastography.     

Reversible sphere-to-lamellar wetting transition at the interface of a diblock copolymer system

We use ellipsometry to investigate a transition in the morphology of a sphere-forming diblock copolymer thin-film system. At an interface the diblock morphology may differ from the bulk when the interfacial tension favours wetting of the minority domain, thereby inducing a sphere-to-lamella transition. In a small, favourable window in energetics, one may observe this transition simply by adjusting the temperature. Ellipsometry is ideally suited to the study of the transition because the additional interface created by the wetting layer affects the polarisation of light reflected from the sample. Here we study thin films of poly(butadiene-ethylene oxide) (PB-PEO), which order to form PEO minority spheres in a PB matrix. As temperature is varied, the reversible transition from a partially wetting layer of PEO spheres to a full wetting layer at the substrate is investigated.     

Observation of surface layering in a nonmetallic liquid

Oscillatory density profiles (layers) have previously been observed at the free surfaces of liquid metals but not in other isotropic liquids. We have used x-ray reflectivity to study a molecular liquid, tetrakis(2-ethylhexoxy)silane. When cooled to T/Tc approximately 0.25 (well above the freezing point for this liquid), density oscillations appear at the surface. Lateral order within the layers is liquidlike. Our results confirm theoretical predictions that a surface-layered state will appear even in dielectric liquids at sufficiently low temperatures, if not preempted by freezing.     

Fe1.01Se0.4Te0.6单晶的超导电性研究

本文采用自助溶剂法生长得到Fe1.01Se0.4Te0.6单晶样品,超导零电阻温度Tczero=11.0 K,部分样品经400℃进行48小时退火之后,超导零电阻温度变为Tczero=7.0K.分析表明退火后样品的Fe含量变大,超导电性被部分抑制.通过磁场下电阻率-温度曲线的实验测量,用WHH(Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg)方法估算得到退火前后样品在0K附近的上临界场分别为83.2T和61.3T.上临界场μ0Hc2(T)随温度变化曲线在0T附近向高温方向上翘,说明样品具有"二流体"行为.直流磁化曲线在40K和120K分别出现向下弯曲,40K处的变化可能对应于过量Fe的自旋冻结.应变测量结果显示样品在117K时应变值发生一个突变,变化量约为晶格参数的0.06%,显示样品发生一个结构相变.因此,120K处的磁化下降对应于样品从四方相到正交相的结构转变.     

β-Cyclodextrin Effect on Micellization of Cetyltrimethyl ammonium Bromide in Aqueous Solution. Probed by Dual Fluorescence of Sodium P-Dimethylaminobenzoate

Effect of p-cyclodextrin (β-CD) on micellization of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in aqueous solution was investigated by twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) dual fluorescence of sodium p-dimethylaminobenzoate (SDMAB). It was shown that β-CD induces the micellization of CTAB and the aggregation of CTAB below CMC as well. A reduced charge density at CTAB micelle interface in the presence of β-CD, due to the incorporation of 1:1 CTAB-β-CD inclusion complex in micelle, was concluded to be the reason for β-CD induced micellization of CTAB.     

Co-adsorption of surfactants and propyl gallate on the hydrophilic oxide surfaces

Propyl gallate (PG) adsolubilisation in the cationic, anionic and nonionic surfactant micelles formed in the bulk solution and at the silica/solution interface has been investigated. It was found that in the absence of surfactant, propyl gallate does not adsorb on the silica surface from aqueous solution. However, in the presence of hexyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), its uptake by silica significantly increases. Alumina is quite an effective adsorbent for SDS and propyl gallate and does not adsorb nonionic TX-100. The addition of PG promotes adsorption of SDS and TX-100.     

Key factor affecting the structural and textural properties of ZSM-5/MCM-41 composite

ZSM-5/MCM-41 micro/mesoporous composite materials were synthesized by the hydrothermal technique with alkali-treated ZSM-5 zeolite as source of silica and aluminum and characterized by various physico-chemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen sorption at 77 K, transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), FTIR spectroscopy and NH₃ temperature programmed desorption (TPD) techniques. The effect of concentration of CTAB in the synthesis of these solids has been investigated, the mesopore volume, surface area and surface acidity decrease with increasing the concentration of CTAB. Increasing the CTAB concentration causes the recrystallization of zeolite ZSM-5 and it disadvantage the formation of mesoporous materials MCM-41. The catalytic activity of ZSM-5/MCM-41 materials has been evaluated in the Friedel–Crafts acylation of anisole with benzoyl chloride as alkylating agent. The results revealed the reaction to be influenced by surface area, pore volume and surface acidity.     

Surface tension of an electrolyte-air interface: a Monte Carlo study

We present a new method for calculating the surface tension of an electrolyte-air interface using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations with an implicit solvent in a spherical drop geometry. The boundary conditions for the electric field at the interface are accounted for using image and counter-image charges. The density profiles obtained from the simulations are used to calculate the excess surface tension of the electrolyte-air interface using the Gibbs adsorption isotherm equation. The results are found to be in good agreement with experiments and the earlier theoretical calculations.