Random homogenization analysis in linear elasticity based on analytical bounds and estimates

In this work, random homogenization analysis of heterogeneous materials is addressed in the context of elasticity, where the randomness and correlation of components’ properties are fully considered and random effective properties together with their correlation for the two-phase heterogeneous material are then sought. Based on the analytical results of homogenization in linear elasticity, when the randomness of bulk and shear moduli, the volume fraction of each constituent material and correlation among random variables are considered simultaneously, formulas of random mean values and mean square deviations of analytical bounds and estimates are derived from Random Factor Method. Results from the Random Factor Method and the Monte-Carlo Method are compared with each other through numerical examples, and impacts of randomness and correlation of random variables on the random homogenization results are inspected by two methods. Moreover, the correlation coefficients of random effective properties are obtained by the Monte-Carlo Method. The Random Factor Method is found to deliver rapid results with comparable accuracy to the Monte-Carlo approach.     

Surface segregation of polypeptide-based block copolymer micelles: An approach to engineer nanostructured and stimuli responsive surfaces

We describe the surface segregation of polypeptide-based block copolymer micelles to produce stimuli-responsive nanostructures at the polymer blend/air interface. Such structures were obtained by simultaneous surface migration and self assembly at the surface of diblock copolymer/homopolymer blends. We employed blends composed of homopolymer (PS) and an amphiphilic block copolymer polystyrene-b-poly(l-glutamic acid) (PS-b-PGA). The surface was functionalized based on the preferential segregation to the polymer blend/air interface of the hydrophilic PGA block of the diblock copolymer upon annealing to water vapor. The surface migration of the diblock copolymer to the interface was demonstrated both by XPS and contact angle measurements. As a consequence, the PGA interfacial attraction leads to a large surface excess on diblock copolymer which in turn, through macrophase and microphase separation, produced separated domains at the surface with regions composed either of homo or block copolymer. Herein we demonstrate that the use of asymmetric diblock copolymers with a higher content in PS lead to spherical micellar assemblies randomly distributed at the surface. As observed by AFM imaging the blend composition, i.e. the amount of block copolymer within the blend influences the density of micelles at the surface. Finally, when exposed to water, the pH affects the surface morphology. The PGA segments are collapsed at low pH values and extended at pH values above 4.8, thus inducing variations on the topography of the films at the nanometer scale.     

Inhomogeneous structure and glass-forming ability in Zr-based bulk metallic glasses

Recently, a series of quaternary Zr-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), i.e., Zr₅₃Cu_18.7Ni₁₂Al_16.3, Zr_51.9Cu_23.3Ni_10.5Al_14.3 and Zr_50.7Cu₂₈Ni₉Al_12.3, have been developed and their glass-forming ability (GFA) increases with Cu concentration. In this work, atomic structures of the three BMGs were rebuilt by reverse Monte Carlo simulations based on the reduced pair distribution functions measured by high energy X-ray diffraction. The results show that a certain amount of substitution of short Zr-Cu, Cu-Cu pairs with long Zr-Zr and Zr-Al pairs enhances the local denser packing of Kasper polyhedral centered by Zr and Al atoms. A cell sub-divided method is proposed to describe the fluctuation of local number density which is found to follow the normal distribution function. The largest possible free volume in the three alloys is found to approaches to 3.8 Å. For the three alloys, the enhancement of GFA with increasing Cu content is due to the increase in the fluctuation degree of local density instead of the dense packing.     

Melamine trisulfonic acid-catalyzed N-formylation of amines under solvent-free conditions

A highly convenient method for N-formylation of amines via treatment by formic acid in the presence of melamine trisulfonic acid as a catalyst has been developed. This method showed improvements over previous reports in terms of yield, reaction time and chemoselectivity.