Search results for " Crystals"

Synthesis and characterization of new azoles as building blocks for functional ionic systems

2015

Zero permeability and zero permittivity band gaps in 1D metamaterial photonic crystals

2007

We consider layered heterostructures combining ordinary positive index materials and dispersive metamaterials. We show that these structures can exhibit a new type of photonic gap around frequencies where either the magnetic permeability \mu or the electric permittivity \epsilon of the metamaterial is zero. Although the interface of a semi-infinite medium with zero refractive index (a condition attained either when \mu= 0 or when \epsilon= 0) is known to give full reflectivity for all incident polarizations, here we show that a gap corresponding to \mu = 0 occurs only for TE polarized waves, whereas a gap corresponding to \epsilon = 0 occurs only for TM polarized waves. These band gaps are …

CaSO4 and its pressure-induced phase transitions. A density functional theory study

2012

Theoretical investigations concerning possible calcium sulfate, CaSO(4), high-pressure polymorphs have been carried out. Total-energy calculations and geometry optimizations have been performed by using density functional theory at the B3LYP level for all crystal structures considered. The following sequence of pressure-driven structural transitions has been found: anhydrite, Cmcm (in parentheses the transition pressure) → monazite-type, P2(1)/n (5 GPa) → barite-type, Pnma (8 GPa), and scheelite-type, I4(1)/a (8 GPa). The equation of state of the different polymorphs is determined, while their corresponding vibrational properties have been calculated and compared with previous theoretical r…

Tuning the defect configurations in nematic and smectic liquid crystalline shells

2013

Thin liquid crystalline shells surrounding and surrounded by aqueous phases can be conveniently produced using a nested capillary microfluidic system, as was first demonstrated by Fernandez-Nieves et al. in 2007. By choosing particular combinations of stabilizers in the internal and external phases, different types of alignment, uniform or hybrid, can be ensured within the shell. Here, we investigate shells in the nematic and smectic phases under varying boundary conditions, focusing in particular on textural transformations during phase transitions, on the interaction between topological defects in the director field and inclusions in the liquid crystal (LC), and on the possibility to rel…

Efficient light-induced phase transitions in halogen-bonded liquid crystals

2016

Here, we present a new family of light-responsive, fluorinated supramolecular liquid crystals (LCs) showing efficient and reversible light-induced LC-to-isotropic phase transitions. Our materials design is based on fluorinated azobenzenes, where the fluorination serves to strengthen the noncovalent interaction with bond-accepting stilbazole molecules, and increase the lifetime of the cis-form of the azobenzene units. The halogen-bonded LCs were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, hot-stage polarized optical microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. Simultaneous analysis of light-induced changes in birefringence, absorption, and optical scattering allowed us to estimate tha…

Bioinspired actuated adhesive patterns of liquid crystalline elastomers.

2012

Gecko-inspired arrays of micropillars made of a liquid crystalline elastomer display thermoswitchable adhesive behavior as a consequence of elongation changes caused by reorientation of the mesogens at the nematic-isotropic (N-I) phase transition.

Orientation and Dynamics of ZnO Nanorod Liquid Crystals in Electric Fields.

2010

ZnO nanorod polymer hybrids (i.e., ZnO nanorods coated with a block copolymer with a short anchor block (dopamine) and a longer solubilizing block of polystyrene (PS)) form liquid crystalline (LC) phases if they are dispersed at high concentration e.g., in a PS oligomer matrix. Due to the high mobility of the low T(g)-matrix the nanorod polymer hybrids show a switching behavior under an applied AC electric field. Hence, the orientation of the nanorod mesogens can be changed from planar (parallel to the substrate) to homeotropic (perpendicular) in full analogy to the switching of low molecular liquid crystals in an electric field. Dielectric measurements show that such a switching is mainly …

Nanosized shape-changing colloids from liquid crystalline elastomers.

2010

A method to prepare shape-changing nanospheres from liquid crystalline elastomers is reported. The nanosized colloids are prepared by a miniemulsion process. During this process, colloids are prepared from a liquid crystalline (LC) main-chain polyester and subsequently crosslinked into a nanometer-sized LC elastomer. The ability of these LC elastomers to change their shape at the phase transition temperature from the smectic A to the isotropic phase was detected by temperature-dependent transmission electron microscopy. The phase transition-induced shape change leads to strongly shape anisotropic nanosized elastomer particles.

Simulations clarify when supercooled water freezes into glassy structures

2014

Although liquid water is a ubiquitous substance and its properties are crucial for all living species, the precise understanding of these properties is still a matter of active scientific research. One rather mysterious aspect concerns the conditions when undercooled water freezes not into ice crystals but into glass-like structures. Based on a rather novel type of computer simulation approach, in PNAS, Limmer and Chandler (1) propose a nonequilibrium phase diagram that attempts to clarify the conditions (temperature, pressure, cooling protocol) under which one should observe transitions from undercooled water to different forms of amorphous ice.

Effect of Ga content on luminescence and defects formation processes in Gd3(Ga,Al)5O12:Ce single crystals

2018

The work was supported by the Institutional Research Funding IUT02-26 of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and the project 16-15569S of the Czech Science Foundation.