Calorimetric study of liquid gadolinium-based alloys

The enthalpies of mixing of liquid Gd-Si (1770±5 K) and Al-Gd (1760±5 K) alloys have been measured by high-temperature isoperibolic calorimetry. The calorimetric study of the gadolinium-based liquid alloys demonstrates the great negative enthalpies of mixing, which is associated with the contribution of GdSi and GdAl₂ intermetallides into the liquid-state thermodynamics. The comparison of obtained results with literature data has been performed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Self-organization of polymer dispersed nematic droplets

Self-organization of polymer dispersed nematic droplets has been observed experimentally. Self-organization is manifested in the spatial periodic distribution of drop clusters as well as in the orientational ordering of the symmetry axes of the droplet structures. The possible elastic and electrostatic mechanisms for the phenomena are discussed.     

The relationship between thermodynamic properties and local atomic structure of Al-TM (TM = Mn,Fe, Co,Ni, Cu) melts

The relationship between structure and thermodynamic properties of Al- transition metal (TM) (TM = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) melts had been studied by using the results of X-ray diffraction experiments, reverse Monte Carlo simulations and the model of ideal associated solution (MIAS). It was considered that local atomic structure of melts is determined by dense non-crystalline atomic packing and energy of interatomic interactions. This allowed to choose the types of associates for the MIAS. It is shown that the prominent role of the atomic packing factor in the Al-Mn, Al-Fe melts leads to correlation between the local atomic ordering of melts and the one of relevant polytetrahedral phases and defines a set of associates. Strengthening of heteroatomic interactions in the Al-Co, Al-Ni melts leads to an increase of the energy factor role in determining their structure and properties that reduces the number of associates from three for the Al-Mn melts to one for the Al-Ni.