The electronic properties and electron transport of sawtooth penta-graphene nanoribbon under uniaxial strain: ab-initio study

ABSTRACT

The electronic properties and electron transport of a sawtooth penta-graphene nanoribbon (SSPGNR) under uniaxial strains are theoretically studied by density-functional theory (DFT) in combination with the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. We investigated the electronic structures and the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the SSPGNRs under a sequence of uniaxial strains in range from 10% compression to 10% stretch. In this strained range, carbon atoms still keep a pentagon network, but with the changing bond lengths. The C–C bond lengths change almost linearly with the tolerable strain. The value of the band gap of SSPGNRs can be depicted as a parabola under uniaxial strain. Our calculations show that the current is monotonous increase with compressive strain at the same applied bias voltage. In case of tensile strain, the variable rule of the current is different that it increases at first and decrease later. The fundamental physical properties (band structure, I–V characteristic) of SSPGNRs seem to be more sensitive to compressive strain than the stretch strain. The current intensity of the compressive-SSPGNR is by 2 orders of magnitude compared to that of the tensile-SSPGNR at the same strain in range from 6% to 10%. The results obtained from our calculations are beneficial to practical applications of these strained structures in SSPGNRs-based electromechanical devices.     

Effects on the evolution of microstructure and properties of low-silicon cast aluminum alloys in service

ABSTRACT

The microstructure evolution and property change of four kinds of low silicon cast aluminum alloy exposed to heat for 0–50?h at 200°C were studied by means of Brinell hardness test, tensile property test, friction and wear property test and XRD analysis. The results show that with increasing thermal exposure time, the tensile strength of each group of samples decreased and the amount of wear increased. The tensile strength of samples with more Si content decreased slowly. When the time increased to 50?h, the increase of wear loss was the largest. The hardness of samples after thermal exposure increases compared with that before thermal exposure. The residual stress of (311) diffraction crystal surface of AlSi3.5Mg0.66 under different thermal exposure time was measured. The type of residual stress changed from residual tensile stress to residual compressive stress after thermal exposure. There is an abnormal phenomenon that the hardness of the sample increased and the amount of wear increased, and it is evident that the distribution of residual stress was inhomogeneous after thermal exposure. It is found that with increasing thermal exposure time to 50?h, the average lattice distortion ε of the low-index crystal plane and the high-index crystal plane in the aluminum alloys gradually increased.     

Theory of hydrogen solubility in binary iron alloys based on ab initio calculation results

Interaction of hydrogen atoms with three substitutional impurities (X?=?Pd, Ti, Cr) in bcc iron base solid solution was modelled ab initio using the WIEN2k package. It was shown that in spite of attraction between H and X atoms, excess energy of the H atom in tetrahedral sites in the first sphere of coordination of the X atom has a significant positive value, while the lowest negative values are observed in the second (Pd, ?0.087?eV; Ti, ?0.091?eV) or the third (Cr, ?0.032?eV) sphere. A new thermodynamic theory of hydrogen solubility in dilute bcc Fe–X alloys was developed on the basis of these results. The resulting equation was used to analyze existing experimental data on H solubility in a number of Fe–X alloys, and X–H interaction energies were determined for each case. The energies determined from high-temperature solubility data for Fe–Pd, Fe–Ti and Fe–Cr are somewhat greater than those obtained in ab initio calculations. The theory gives a new basis for analyzing hydrogen behaviour in iron-base solid solutions.     

Critical and multicritical behavior in the Ising–Heisenberg universality class

Critical behavior of three-dimensional classical frustrated antiferromagnets with a collinear spin ordering and with an additional twofold degeneracy of the ground state is studied. We consider two lattice models, whose continuous limit describes a single phase transition with a symmetry class differing from the class of non-frustrated magnets as well as from the classes of magnets with non-collinear spin ordering. A symmetry breaking is described by a pair of independent order parameters, which are similar to order parameters of the Ising and O(N) models correspondingly. Using the renormalization group method, it is shown that a transition is of first order for non-Ising spins. For Ising spins, a second order phase transition from the universality class of the O(2) model may be observed. The lattice models are considered by Monte Carlo simulations based on the Wang–Landau algorithm. The models are a ferromagnet on a body-centered cubic lattice with the additional antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between next-nearest-neighbor spins and an antiferromagnet on a simple cubic lattice with the additional interaction in layers. We consider the cases N = 1, 2, 3 and in all of them find a first-order transition. For the N = 1 case we exclude possibilities of the second order or pseudo-first order of a transition. An almost second order transition for large N is also discussed.     

Liquid–Liquid Transition and Detrapping of Trapped Carriers of P(MMA/BA) Copolymers by Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Current

Poly (methyl methacrylate/butyl acrylate) [P(MMA/BA)] copolymers (M _η～2×10⁵) with different mass percentages of PMMA (100/0, 90/10, 81/19, and 75/25), were synthesized by the method of solution polymerization. In addition to the normal α and ρ peak, a third τ peak is observed in thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) spectra of the copolymers in the high temperature region. The α peak‐corresponds to the glass transition, the ρ peak originates from the detrapping of trapped carriers in the bulk amorphous structure related with flexible side groups, and the τ peak can be attributed to the charge detrapping related to the liquid–liquid transition of the copolymers. The three peaks all move to lower temperature with an increase of the BA component, indicating that the flexible side groups of butyl acrylate not only have an effect of plasticization on the glass transition and liquid–liquid transition, but also make the trap depth shallower and the detrapping process easier for the ρ and τ peaks. The experimental results confirm that TSDC analysis is very sensitive for investigating the liquid–liquid transition of polymers. The liquid–liquid transition temperature (T _LL) of the copolymers follows a type of the Fox equation. Fitting the results gives a T _LL of 102°C for polybutyl acrylate.     

Multiple mobility edges in a 1D Aubry chain with Hubbard interaction in presence of electric field: Controlled electron transport

Electronic behavior of a 1D Aubry chain with Hubbard interaction is critically analyzed in presence of electric field. Multiple energy bands are generated as a result of Hubbard correlation and Aubry potential, and, within these bands localized states are developed under the application of electric field. Within a tight-binding framework we compute electronic transmission probability and average density of states using Green's function approach where the interaction parameter is treated under Hartree–Fock mean field scheme. From our analysis we find that selective transmission can be obtained by tuning injecting electron energy, and thus, the present model can be utilized as a controlled switching device.     

Multidimensional space groups: Tables and standards

The previous speakers have dealt with tangible physical objects; I am to deal with organizational and symbolic problems. The symbolic problems are of greater scientific importance, but I must begin with those of human organization and in particular with the structure of the International Union of Crystallography (acronym IUCr).     

Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS): A Promising Tool for Biological Research

Abstract

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is an important biophysical technique. FCS is currently being used in many areas of biology to solve several scientific problems. Its properties such as detection at the single molecular level, higher sensitivity, and use of lower sample volume make FCS a promising molecular diagnostic tool. The promising applications of FCS extend from DNA kinetics/dynamics studies to the comprehensive understanding of receptor–ligand interactions. In this article, we review various promising biological applications of FCS.     

Aharonov–Bohm effects in magnetohydrodynamics

It is shown that an Aharonov–Bohm (AB) effect exists in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). This effect is best described in terms of the MHD variational variables (Kats, 2004; Yahalom and Lynden-Bell, 2008; Yahalom, 2010) [1], [10], [12]. If a MHD flow has a non-trivial topology some of the functions appearing in the MHD Lagrangian are non-single-valued. These functions have properties similar to the phases in the AB celebrated effect (Aharonov and Bohm, 1959; van Oudenaarden et al., 1998) [2], [3]. While the manifestation of the quantum AB effect is in interference fringe patterns (Tonomura et al., 1982) [4], the manifestation of the MHD Aharonov–Bohm effects are through new dynamical conservation laws.     

Simultaneous measurements of indoor radon and thoron and inhalation dose assessment in Douala City,Cameroon

ABSTRACT

Radon, thoron and associated progeny measurements have been carried out in 71 dwellings of Douala city, Cameroon. The radon–thoron discriminative detectors (RADUET) were used to estimate the radon and thoron concentration, while thoron progeny monitors measured equilibrium equivalent thoron concentration (EETC). Radon, thoron and thoron progeny concentrations vary from 31?±?1 to 436?±?12 Bq?m^–3, 4?±?7 to 246?±?5 Bq?m^–3, and 1.5?±?0.9 to 13.1?±?9.4 Bq?m^–3. The mean value of the equilibrium factor for thoron is estimated at 0.11?±?0.16. The annual effective dose due to exposure to indoor radon and progeny ranges from 0.6 to 9?mSv?a^–1 with an average value of 2.6?±?0.1?mSv?a^–1. The effective dose due to the exposure to thoron and progeny vary from 0.3 to 2.9?mSv?a^–1 with an average value of 1.0?±?0.4?mSv?a^–1. The contribution of thoron and its progeny to the total inhalation dose ranges from 7 to 60?% with an average value of 26?%; thus their contributions should not be neglected in the inhalation dose assessment.