Late Triassic successive amalgamation between the South China and North China blocks: Insights from structural analysis and magnetic fabrics study of the Bikou Terrane and its adjacent area, northwestern Yangtze block, central China

The Bikou Terrane, located at the conjunction of the Longmenshan fold-thrust belt and the west Qinling orogenic belt in centeral China, was involved in the Late Triassic collision between the South China and North China blocks. The Bikou Terrane has preserved crucial information on structural geometry and kinematics of Triassic tectonics, and is therefore of great importance for reconstructing the Paleo-Tethyan evolutionary history. However, multi-phase tectonic events of the Bikou Terrane are unsettled. This work presents detailed structural analysis based on both the field and laboratory works, which reveals three phases of deformation events in Bikou and its adjacent areas, including top-to-the-SW shearing related to SW-ward thrusting (DI) mainly to the north of the Bikou Terrane, top-to-the-NNW shearing related to NNW-ward thrusting (DII) in the Bikou Terrane, and strike-slip faulting (DIII) locally developed in the northern Bikou Terrane. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) study and related structural analysis not only support the multiphase deformation but also reveal a gradual transition from the DII-related magnetic fabrics to the DIII-related magnetic fabrics in the Bikou Terrane. Integrating published geochronological data, it is constrained that DI occurred at ca. 237−225 Ma, DII occurred at ca. 224−219 Ma, and DIII possibly occurred during the Early Cretaceous. Based on regional tectonics, the DI event corresponds to the collision between the South Qinling block and the Bikou Terrane, and the DII event reflects the intracontinental amalgamation between the Bikou Terrane and the Yangtze block, which indicates a Late Triassic successive amalgamation from the North China block to the South China block. Intracontinental adjustment represented by the strike-slip (DIII event) occurred after the final amalgamation between the North China and South China blocks. By applying AMS on deciphering structural geometry and multi-phase deformation, our study suggests that AMS is a useful tool for structural analysis.

A design method for metamaterials: 3D transversely isotropic lattice structures with tunable auxeticity

A method for designing 3D transversely isotropic auxetic lattice structures is proposed. Based on it, two new auxetic structures have been designed. Systematically, their effective elastic properties are investigated computationally and analytically in all loading directions. The effective Young's moduli and Poisson's ratios within the transverse plane and those along the longitudinal direction are widely tunable by tailoring the structural geometry. Both structures exhibit transverse and longitudinal auxeticities concurrently as well as separately. The proposed auxetic structures expand the existing auxetic material space in terms of elastic anisotropy.

Structural Geometry Variation of 1,4-Naphthalene-Based Co-Polymers to Tune the Device Performance of PVK-Host-Based OLEDs

Blue-color-emitting organic semiconductors are of significance for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this study, through Suzuki coupling polymerization, three 1,4-naphthalene-based copolymers—namely, PNP(1,4)-PT, PNP(1,4)-TF, and PNP(1,4)-ANT—were designed and synthesized. The variation of comonomers, phenothiazine (PT), triphenylamine substituted fluorene (TF), and anthanthrene (ANT), effectively tuned the emitting color and device performance of poly(9-vinyl carbazole) (PVK)-based OLEDs. Especially, the polymer PNP(1,4)-TF, bearing perpendicular aryl side groups, showed a most twisted structural geometry, which enabled an ultra-high thermal stability and a best performance with blue emitting in PVK-host-based OLEDs. Overall, in this work, we demonstrate a promising blue-color-emitting polymer through structural geometry manipulation.

Study the structure, stability and CO2 adsorption of the ScVB5 cluster

A combination of genetic algorithm and density functional theory (GA-DFT) was used to calculate the minimum structures of ScVB5 clusters. The thirteen isomers of ScVB5 cluster were investigated at the level of PBE/def2-TZVPP, TPSSh/def2-TZVPP, and TPSSh/def2-QZVP levels. The relative energies, the structural geometry, ionization energy, affinity energy of neutral isomers were reported. The ScVB5 cluster can be formed by adding atom into smaller clusters. The proposed structure of ScVB5 cluster for CO2 treatment is a pentagonal bipyramid in the Cs symmetry with vanadium atom at one of the vertices and scandium atom in the base of bipyramid. The favor position for adsorp CO2 by the ScVB5 cluster were at around of Sc and V atoms. The dual transition metal-doped boron clusters can interact with CO2 molecules stronger than pure boron clusters.