A study of the static yield stress in a binary Lennard-Jones glass

The stress-strain relations and the yield behavior of a model glass (a 80:20 binary Lennard-Jones mixture) is studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. In a previous paper it was shown that, at temperatures below the glass transition temperature, Tg, the model exhibits shear banding under imposed shear. It was also suggested that this behavior is closely related to the existence of a (static) yield stress (under applied stress, the system does not flow until the stress sigma exceeds a threshold value sigmay). A thorough analysis of the static yield stress is presented via simulations under imposed stress. Furthermore, using steady shear simulations, the effect of physical aging, shear rate and temperature on the stress-strain relation is investigated. In particular, we find that the stress at the yield point (the "peak"-value of the stress-strain curve) exhibits a logarithmic dependence both on the imposed shear rate and on the "age" of the system in qualitative agreement with experiments on amorphous polymers, and on metallic glasses. In addition to the very observation of the yield stress which is an important feature seen in experiments on complex systems like pastes, dense colloidal suspensions and foams, further links between our model and soft glassy materials are found. An example is the existence of hysteresis loops in the system response to a varying imposed stress. Finally, we measure the static yield stress for our model and study its dependence on temperature. We find that for temperatures far below the mode coupling critical temperature of the model (Tc = 0.435 in Lennard-Jones units), sigmay decreases slowly upon heating followed by a stronger decrease as Tc is approached. We discuss the reliability of results on the static yield stress and give a criterion for its validity in terms of the time scales relevant to the problem.     

Experimental and Computational Study of the Thermal Decomposition of 3‐Methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol in m‐Xylene Solution

An experimental study of the thermal decomposition of a β‐hydroxy alkene, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution, has been carried out at five different temperatures in the range of 513.15–563.15 K. The temperature dependence of the rate constants for the decomposition of this compound in the corresponding Arrhenius equation is given by ln k (s^?1) = (25.65 ± 1.52) ? (17,944 ± 814) (kJ·mol^?1)·T^?1. A computational study has been carried out at the M05–2X/6–31+G(d,p) level of theory to calculate the rate constants and the activation parameters by the classical transition state theory. There is a good agreement between the experimental and calculated rate constants and activation Gibbs energies. The bonding characteristics of reactant, transition state, and products have been investigated by the natural bond orbital analysis, which provides the natural atomic charges and the Wiberg bond indices. Based on the results obtained, the mechanism proposed is a one‐step process proceeding through a six‐membered cyclic transition state, being a concerted and slightly asynchronous process. The results have been compared with those obtained previously by us (Struct Chem 2013, 24, 1811–1816) for the thermal decomposition of 3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution. We can conclude that in the compound studied in this work, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, the effect of substitution at position 3 by a weakly activating CH₃ group is the stabilization of the transition state formed in the reaction and therefore a small increase in the rate of thermal decomposition.     

Structural and Kinetic Aspects of Blood Plasma Protein Adsorption on the Surface of Hydrophobic Polymers

Abstract

Due to the wide use of polymers in medicine, researchers are required to solve a very important problem–to understand the interaction between materials of nonphysiological origin and the surrounding biological liquids, and tissues, particularly blood.     

Shearing a glassy material: numerical tests of nonequilibrium mode-coupling approaches and experimental proposals

The predictions of a nonequilibrium schematic mode-coupling theory developed to describe the nonlinear rheology of soft glassy materials have been numerically tested in a sheared binary Lennard-Jones mixture. In this Letter, we focus on the existence, behavior, and properties of an effective temperature T(eff) for the slow modes of the fluid, as defined from a generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem. New, simple experimental protocols to access T(eff) are proposed, and one such experiment is numerically performed. Our results give strong support to the thermodynamic interpretation of T(eff) and make it experimentally accessible in a very direct way.     

Mesure de la duree de vie de niveaux d'energie d'ions par transfert de coherence dans une collision de penning: Application aux niveaux 4f 2F72 et 2F52 de Mg+

Metastable 2³S₁ He atoms are optically oriented and their orientation is transferred to metallic ions produced by Penning collisions $\text{[He (2}{}^3\text{S}{}_1\text{)}\text{+ M →}\text{He (}{}^1\text{S}{}_0\text{)}\text{+ M}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{+}\text{e}$. If r.f. transitions are induced in the 2³S₁ He level, the circularly polarized light emitted by the ions in a direction perpendicular to the static magnetic field is modulated at the r.f. frequency. The variation of the modulation amplitude with frequency depends on the lifetime of the level of the excited ion.We describe an experimental apparatus with which we measure the modulation amplitude from 1 MHz to 110 MHz. In this way the lifetime of the 4f²F_{$\text{7}\text{2}$} and ²F_{$\text{5}\text{2}$} Mg⁺ levels has been determined.     

Introducing variable cell shape methods in field theory simulations of polymers

We propose a new method for carrying out field-theoretic simulations of polymer systems under conditions of prescribed external stress, allowing for shape changes in the simulation box. A compact expression for the deviatoric stress tensor is derived in terms of the chain propagator, and it is used to monitor changes in the box shape according to a simple relaxation scheme. The method allows fully relaxed, stress free configurations to be obtained even in nontrivial morphologies, and it enables the study of morphology transitions induced by external stresses.