Tight-binding and evolutionary search approach for nanoscale CoRh alloys

The dependence of the structural and magnetic properties of Co–Rh alloys at the nanoscale was investigated by exhaustively searching the minimum energy via a symbiotic algorithm on a Gupta potential for particle sizes of 13, 19, and 23 atoms. An unrestricted spd tight-binding Hamiltonian was then used to model the electronic properties. Our results underscore the importance of determining both the geometrical and the chemical configuration. A central result points toward a surface segregation that qualitatively and quantitatively depends on system size, with size effects dominating the surface segregation for small Co–Rh clusters (Rh atoms preferentially occupy surface sites), whereas surface energy dictates the segregation for large Co–Rh nanoparticles (Co segregates to the surface). This might have important consequences for heterogeneous catalysis, where the catalytic activity strongly depends on surface composition.     

Thermal curing behavior of MWCNT modified vinyl ester‐polyester resin suspensions prepared with 3‐roll milling technique

This study aims to investigate the curing behavior of a vinyl ester‐polyester resin suspensions containing 0.3 wt % of multiwalled carbon nanotubes with and without amine functional groups (MWCNTs and MWCNT‐NH₂). For this purpose, various analytical techniques, including Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman Spectroscopy, and Thermo Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA) were conducted. The resin suspensions with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared via 3‐roll milling technique. DSC measurements showed that resin suspensions containing CNTs exhibited higher heat of cure (Q), besides lower activation energy (E_a) when compared with neat resin. For the sake of simplicity of interpretation, FTIR investigations were performed on neat vinyl ester resin suspensions containing the same amount of CNTs as resin. As a result, the individual fractional conversion rates of styrene and vinyl ester were interestingly found to be altered dependent on MWCNTs and MWCNT‐NH₂. The findings obtained from RS measurements of the cured samples are highly proportional to those obtained from FTIR measurements. TGA measurements revealed that CNT modified nanocomposites have higher activation energy of degradation (E_d) compared with the cured polymer. The findings obtained revealed that CNTs with and without amine functional groups alter overall thermal curing response of the surrounding matrix resin, which may probably impart distinctive characteristics to mechanical behavior of the corresponding nanocomposites achieved. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1511–1522, 2009     

On the Stability of a Singular Vortex Dynamics

In this paper we address the question of the singular vortex dynamics exhibited in [15], which generates a corner in finite time. The purpose is to prove that under some appropriate small regular perturbation the corner still remains. Our approach uses the Hasimoto transform and deals with the long range scattering properties of a Gross-Pitaevski equation with time-variable coefficients.     

The effects of forcing and dissipation on phase transitions in thin granular layers

Recent experimental and computational studies of vibrated thin layers of identical spheres have shown transitions to ordered phases similar to those seen in equilibrium systems. Motivated by these results, we carry out simulations of hard inelastic spheres forced by homogenous white noise. We find a transition to an ordered state of the same symmetry as that seen in the experiments, but the clear phase separation observed in the vibrated system is absent. Simulations of purely elastic spheres also show no evidence for phase separation. We show that the energy injection in the vibrated system is dramatically different in the different phases, and suggest that this creates an effective surface tension not present in the equilibrium or randomly forced systems. We do find, however, that inelasticity suppresses the onset of the ordered phase with random forcing, as is observed in the vibrating system, and that the amount of the suppression is proportional to the degree of inelasticity. The suppression depends on the details of the energy injection mechanism, but is completely eliminated when inelastic collisions are replaced by uniform system-wide energy dissipation.     

A mathematical model for the generation of output information in a gravitoinertial mechanoreceptor when moving in a sagittal plane

A mathematical model for the generation of primary and secondary output information in a gravitoinertial mechanoreceptor is discussed. The numerical results obtained from this model are compared with the results of the physiological experiments performed in the Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Institute of Physiology, Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico.     

Step‐like melting mechanisms of isothermally crystallized isotactic polypropylene

The complex melting behavior of isotactic polypropylene, after isothermal crystallization, was studied within the context of step‐like melting mechanisms which were previously proposed for high temperature polymers. The morphological characteristics of the melting process were also studied as a function of molecular weight, and close similarities were observed with respect to high temperature polymers. Positive birefringence crystals of low molecular weight samples developed double melting behavior in three steps. The first melting step was assigned to continuous melting of secondary crosshatch reversing lamellae, together with recrystallization of the remaining isothermal crystals. In the second melting step (first melting endotherm), crystals tended to lose their original coarse negative birefringence due to melting of secondary reversing branching. This effect rendered new, finer texture, but still negative birefringence crystals. In the third melting step (second melting endotherm), there was a combination of melting of two crystal populations, one consisting of the remaining fraction of reversing primary crystals, and the other consisting of nonreversing primary crystals. A crosshatch secondary branching model was therefore proposed to explain the overall results. Mixed birefringence spherulites of high molecular weight samples displayed similar, although proportional, behavior under identical crystallization and melting conditions corroborating the proposed melting mechanism. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2188–2200, 2008     

Rigidity in vacuum under conformal symmetry

Motivated in part by Eardley et al. (Commun Math Phys 106(1):137–158, 1986), in this note we obtain a rigidity result for globally hyperbolic vacuum spacetimes in arbitrary dimension that admit a timelike conformal Killing vector field. Specifically, we show that if M is a Ricci flat, timelike geodesically complete spacetime with compact Cauchy surfaces that admits a timelike conformal Killing field X, then M must split as a metric product, and X must be Killing. This gives a partial proof of the Bartnik splitting conjecture in the vacuum setting.     

Di‐μ‐hydroxo‐bis{(aceto­nitrile)dibenzyl(6‐methyl‐2‐pyridylmethyl)amine‐κ2N,N]copper(II)} bis(perchlorate)

The title compound corresponds to a copper(II) dimer, [Cu₂(OH)₂(C₂H₃N)₂(C₂₁H₂₂N₂)₂](ClO₄)₂, where the metal centres are μ₂‐bridged by hydroxo groups. The coordination of each copper(II) centre is a slightly distorted square‐based pyramid, with two N atoms from dibenzyl(6‐methyl‐2‐pyridylmethyl)amine (BiBzMePMA) and two hydroxo O atoms occupying the basal positions, and the aceto­nitrile N atom at the apical position. The dimer is centrosymmetric, with a crystallographic inversion centre midway between the two Cu atoms [Cu⋯Cu = 2.9522 (9) Å]     

纳米碳酸钙基浅色导电粉的制备及性能研究

以纳米碳酸钙为核体,用聚电解质对其表面改性后,采用均相共沉淀法制备了锡掺杂氧化铟(ITO)包覆的碳酸钙基浅色导电粉.通过改变聚电解质层数、ITO的包覆量及煅烧时间等实验条件,探究了制备纳米碳酸钙基浅色导电粉的最佳条件.用X-射线粉末衍射仪、扫描电子显微镜、X-射线电子能谱以及粉末电阻率测试仪等对样品的结构、形貌、化学组成及电阻率等进行分析.结果表明:聚电解质层数为5层,CaCO3与ITO的质量比为6∶1,500℃煅烧4.5h制备的粉末具有最佳的导电性能,其电阻率为3.8×103 Ω·cm.