Molecular dynamics simulation of diffusion for Ni–Zr interface

The molecular dynamics simulation has been performed to study the effects of temperature on interdiffusion of Ni–Zr system. The simulated results indicate that the thickness of Ni/Zr diffusion layer increased with increasing diffusion time, and interdiffusion results in disordered or amorphization in the diffusion zone. During the diffusion process, Ni atoms diffuse crossing the interface more easily and deeply into Zr side than Zr atoms into Ni side. The activation energies of Ni and Zr are 1.25 and 1.28 eV for Ni(100)//Zr(0001) interface, 1.33 and 1.42 eV for Ni(110)//Zr(0001) interface at the temperature range of 950–1100 K, respectively. The microscopic diffusion mechanisms for Ni atoms in Zr lattice have been studied, and the results show that the most possible diffusion mechanism is the interstitial hopping mechanism, while for Zr diffusing in Ni, the vacancy diffusion mechanism is favored. The interdiffusion for case of Ni(110)//Zr(0001) interface is more easy than that of Ni(100)//Zr(0001) interface due to the lower surface energy for the former. In the diffusion zone of Ni–Zr, some typical clusters have been identified, which are similar to those extracted from the Ni–Zr intermetallic compounds, and which are generally consistent with the experimental observations in diffusion couples.

Effect of Polymer Demixed Nanotopographies on Bacterial Adhesion and Biofilm Formation

As the current global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) persists, developing alternatives to antibiotics that are less susceptible to resistance is becoming an urgent necessity. Recent advances in biomaterials have allowed for the development and fabrication of materials with discrete surface nanotopographies that can deter bacteria from adhering to their surface. Using binary polymer blends of polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) and varying their relative concentrations, PS/PCL, PS/PMMA and PCL/PMMA polymer demixed thin films were developed with nanoisland, nanoribbon and nanopit topographies. In the PS/PCL system, PS segregates to the air-polymer interface, with the lower solubility PCL preferring the substrate-polymer interface. In the PS/PMMA and PCL/PMMA systems, PMMA prefers the air-polymer interface due to its greater solubility and lower surface energy. The anti-adhesion efficacy of the demixed films were tested against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14). PS/PCL and PCL/PMMA demixed films showed a significant reduction in cell counts adhered on their surfaces compared to pure polymer control films, while no reduction was observed in the counts adhered on PS/PMMA demixed films. While the specific morphology did not affect the adhesion, a relationship between bacterial cell and topographical surface feature size was apparent. If the surface feature was smaller than the cell, then an anti-adhesion effect was observed; if the surface feature was larger than the cell, then the bacteria preferred to adhere.

Thermodynamics of manganese oxides: Sodium, potassium, and calcium birnessite and cryptomelane

Manganese oxides with layer and tunnel structures occur widely in nature and inspire technological applications. Having variable compositions, these structures often are found as small particles (nanophases). This study explores, using experimental thermochemistry, the role of composition, oxidation state, structure, and surface energy in the their thermodynamic stability. The measured surface energies of cryptomelane, sodium birnessite, potassium birnessite and calcium birnessite are all significantly lower than those of binary manganese oxides (Mn3O4, Mn2O3, and MnO2), consistent with added stabilization of the layer and tunnel structures at the nanoscale. Surface energies generally decrease with decreasing average manganese oxidation state. A stabilizing enthalpy contribution arises from increasing counter-cation content. The formation of cryptomelane from birnessite in contact with aqueous solution is favored by the removal of ions from the layered phase. At large surface area, surface-energy differences make cryptomelane formation thermodynamically less favorable than birnessite formation. In contrast, at small to moderate surface areas, bulk thermodynamics and the energetics of the aqueous phase drive cryptomelane formation from birnessite, perhaps aided by oxidation-state differences. Transformation among birnessite phases of increasing surface area favors compositions with lower surface energy. These quantitative thermodynamic findings explain and support qualitative observations of phase-transformation patterns gathered from natural and synthetic manganese oxides.

The energy components of stacked chromatin layers explain the morphology, dimensions and mechanical properties of metaphase chromosomes

The measurement of the dimensions of metaphase chromosomes in different animal and plant karyotypes prepared in different laboratories indicates that chromatids have a great variety of sizes which are dependent on the amount of DNA that they contain. However, all chromatids are elongated cylinders that have relatively similar shape proportions (length to diameter ratio approx. 13). To explain this geometry, it is considered that chromosomes are self-organizing structures formed by stacked layers of planar chromatin and that the energy of nucleosome–nucleosome interactions between chromatin layers inside the chromatid is approximately 3.6 × 10 −20 J per nucleosome, which is the value reported by other authors for internucleosome interactions in chromatin fibres. Nucleosomes in the periphery of the chromatid are in contact with the medium; they cannot fully interact with bulk chromatin within layers and this generates a surface potential that destabilizes the structure. Chromatids are smooth cylinders because this morphology has a lower surface energy than structures having irregular surfaces. The elongated shape of chromatids can be explained if the destabilizing surface potential is higher in the telomeres (approx. 0.16 mJ m −2 ) than in the lateral surface (approx. 0.012 mJ m −2 ). The results obtained by other authors in experimental studies of chromosome mechanics have been used to test the proposed supramolecular structure. It is demonstrated quantitatively that internucleosome interactions between chromatin layers can justify the work required for elastic chromosome stretching (approx. 0.1 pJ for large chromosomes). The high amount of work (up to approx. 10 pJ) required for large chromosome extensions is probably absorbed by chromatin layers through a mechanism involving nucleosome unwrapping.

Density Functional Theory Study of Magnesium Surface

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed on seven magnesium surfaces of Mg(100), Mg(010), Mg(001), Mg(110), Mg(101), Mg(011) and Mg(111). The electronic state density was analyzed. The stabilities of the seven surfaces were established. The results indicated that the surface energies are in the range of 0.4610 to 1.0940 J/m2, which correspond to the Mg(001) and Mg(101) surfaces respectively. These data agree well with the available experimental result. In addition, it was found that the lower surface energy corresponds to more evenly distributed density of state (DOS), more number of DOS peaks but less height of it.

Bulk and (001) Surface Properties of TiAl3 Compound

The structural and electronic properties of bulk and (001) surface of TiAl3 have been examined by the first-principles total-energy pseudopotential method based on density functional theory. The lattice constants and heat of formation of bulk TiAl3 we obtained are in good agreement with the experimental and other theoretical values. The calculated bulk properties indicates that bonding nature in TiAl3 is a combination of metallic and ionic, in which the metallic bonding become the predominate one. the strongest hybridization exist in the DO22 structure, the Al-3p and Ti-3d bonding of TiAl3 play the dominant role in hybridization. The structural relaxation and surface energy for (001) slab have been simulated to make sure the stability of slabs with different atomic layers. Compared to TiB2 (0001) slab, TiAl3 surfaces shows smaller structural relaxation and lower surface energy, furthermore, the charge redistribution of (001) slab shows almost the same characteristics as bulk TiAl3, which confirms structural stability of TiAl3 with (001) slab. This present work makes a beneficial attempt at exploring TiAl3 surface as an ab initio method for studying possible nucleation mechanism of Aluminum on it.

The Performance of Silicone Coatings Filled with Modification Carbon Nanotubes

Silicones coatings were widely used owing to their excellent low surface energy and good flexibility. The structure of the modified multiple wall nanotubes (MWNTs) was tested by IR. Influence of content and sort of MWNTs on microstructures, hydrophobicity of coatings and EIS was investigated using SEM, contact angle measurement (CAM) and electrochemical workstation. The results show that various groups had embedded carbon nanotubes, the coating modified by MWNTs has much lower surface energy than that of the coating wothout modification, the coating modified by different MWNTs have diverse surface energy, and the low-frequency impedance of the coatings was not decreased as the weight of MWNTs increased.

Molecular Dynamics Studies of Surface Nucleation and Crystal Growth of Si on SiO2 Substrates

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of atomistic processes of nucleation and crystal growth of silicon (Si) on SiO2 substrate have been performed using the Tersoff potential based on a combination of Langevin and Newton equations. A new set of potential parameters was used to calculate the interatomic forces of Si and oxygen (O) atoms. It was found that the (111) plane of the Si nuclei formed at the surface was predominantly parallel to the surface of MD cell. The values surface energy for (100), (110), and (111) planes of Si at 77 K were calculated to be 2.27, 1.52, and 1.20 J/m2, respectively. This result suggests that, the nucleation leads to a preferred (111) orientation in the poly-Si thin film at the surface, driven by the lower surface energy.

Control of Primary Particle Size and the Onset of Aggregate Formation: The Effect of Energy Release in Nanoparticle Collision and Coalescence Processes

During coalescence, the surface area of the particle decreases, resulting in a heat release associated with the resulting lower surface energy. In a growth process particle heating competes with heat transfer by conduction to the cooler carrier gas and radiation. This temperature increase can be extremely important and should be accounted for when modeling collision/coalescence processes. The heat release associated with particle coalescence may reduce the coalescence time by as much as a few orders of magnitude. In addition, under some conditions there is insufficient time for the particles to cool to the gas temperature before another collision event takes place. It is shown that accounting for energy release and heat transfer effects have a dramatic effect on primary particle formation and the onset of aggregate formation. The results of the work indicate that to grow the largest primary particles one should operate at low pressures and high volume loadings.