Medium-range structural order in liquid Ni20Al80 alloy: Experimental and molecular dynamics studies

In this Letter, structural properties of liquid Ni₂₀Al₈₀ have been studied through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and results agree well with X-ray experiments. The prepeak in the structure factor manifests the existence of medium-range structural order (MRSO) in liquid Ni₂₀Al₈₀. Analyses in MRSO reveal the dominance of ideal icosahedra and defective icosahedra which, furthermore, form clusters and share common atoms.     

Controlled synthesis of palladium icosahedra nanocrystals by reducing H2PdCl4 with tetraethylene glycol

The controlled synthesis of Pd icosahedra in tetraethylene glycol with H₂PdCl₄ as a precursor and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a stabilizer was demonstrated. Tetraethylene glycol served as both solvent and reducing agent, and uniform Pd icosahedra with a mean size of 45 ± 5 nm were successfully synthesized with a high yield of over 90% in oil-bath at 160 °C for 2.5 h. A certain affinity for the metal particles, a higher viscosity and a milder reducing power of tetraethylene glycol would be responsible for the formation of uniform and stable Pd icosahedra with a high yield. The optimum KOH/Pd(II) ratio, PVP/Pd(II) ratio, temperature, and heating time for the reaction system was 1.4/1, 1/1, 160 °C, and 2.5 h, respectively.     

Glass formation and local structure evolution in rapidly cooled PdNi alloy melt under high pressure

Using molecular-dynamics simulation, investigations of the local structure under high pressure and the glass formation in the PdNi alloy melt under high pressure are performed. The critical cooling rates for glass formation are reduced apparently with pressure. With increasing of pressure, a more compacted local structure with more ideal icosahedra than defected icosahedra is obtained, which may be one of the main factors for the contribution of the high pressure to the glass formation.     

Teo的C~2模型与其它稠合规则之间关系的研究

提出了一个稠合型簇合物的稠合规则,讨论了唐氏拓扑结构规则和Mingos稠合规则的推广,扩大了两个稠合规则的应用范围.研究了在稠合型簇合物中Teo的C2模型与Mingos稠合规则、推广的唐氏拓扑结构规则和本文提出的稠合规则之间的关系.同时,利用提出的稠合型簇合物的稠合规则导出了超级簇合物"clusters of clusters"中原子和电子之间存在的魔数关系.     

Crystal growth, transport, and magnetic properties of Ln3Co4Sn13 (Ln=La, Ce) with a perovskite-like structure

Ln₃Co₄Sn₁₃ (Ln=La, Ce) have been synthesized by flux growth and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. These compounds adopt the Yb₃Rh₄Sn₁₃-type structure and crystallize in the cubic space group (No. 223) with Z=2. Lattice parameters at 298 K are , , and , for the La and Ce analogues, respectively. The crystal structure consists of an Sn-centered icosahedron at the origin of the unit cell, which shares faces with eight Co trigonal prisms and 12 Ln-centered cuboctahedra. Magnetization data at 0.1 T show paramagnetic behavior down to 1.8 K for Ce₃Co₄Sn₁₃, with per Ce³⁺, while conventional type II superconductivity appears below 2.85 K in the La compound. Electrical resistivity and specific heat data for the La compound show a corresponding sharp superconducting transition at T_c∼2.85 K. The entropy and resistivity data for Ce₃Co₄Sn₁₃ show the existence of the Kondo effect with a complicated semiconducting-like behavior in the resistivity data. In addition, a large enhanced specific heat coefficient at low T with a low magnetic transition temperature suggests a heavy-fermionic character for the Ce compound. Herein, the structure and physical properties of Ln₃Co₄Sn₁₃ (Ln=La, Ce) are discussed.     

Shape-controlled synthesis of gold icosahedra and nanoplates using Pluronic P123 block copolymer and sodium chloride

Gold icosahedra with an average diameter of about 600 nm were easily prepared by heating an aqueous solution of the amphiphilic block copolymer, poly(ethylene oxide)₂₀-poly(propylene oxide)₇₀-poly(ethylene oxide)₂₀ (Pluronic P123), and hydrogen tetrachloroaurate(III) trihydrate (HAuCl₄·3H₂O) at 60 °C for 25 min. When sodium chloride (NaCl:HAuCl₄ molar ratio=10:1) was added to this aqueous solution, gold nanoplates were produced. The chloride ion was found to be a key component in the formation of the gold nanoplates by facilitating the growth of {111} oriented hexagonal/triangular gold nanoplates, because similar gold nanoplates were produced when LiCl or KCl was added to the aqueous solution instead of NaCl, while gold nanocrystals having irregular shapes were produced when NaBr or NaI was added.