Search results for "Crystallization"
showing 10 items of 774 documents
Equilibrium phase behavior of polyethylene oxide and of its mixtures with tetrahydronaphthalene or/and poly(ethylene oxide-block-dimethylsiloxane)
2002
Liquid/solid and liquid/liquid (LL) transition temperatures were measured by means of an automated device that monitors the light passing through the systems as a function of T at different constant cooling or heating rates q. For pure polyethylene oxide (PEO) crystallization and melting temperatures depend on |q|0.3 and become identical at the equilibrium transition temperature Tm=61.0 °C in the limit of infinitely slow cooling/heating. The reduction of Tm for PEO dissolved in tetrahydronaphthalene (THN) yields information on the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter ξ between these two compounds; ξ results negative and decreases markedly with rising polymer concentration. A tentative explan…
Solvent hydrodynamics speed up crystal nucleation in suspensions of hard spheres
2014
We present a computer simulation study on the crystal nucleation process in suspensions of hard spheres, fully taking into account the solvent hydrodynamics. If the dynamics of collodial crystallization were purely diffusive, the crystal nucleation rate densities would drop as the inverse of the solvent viscosity. However, we observe that the nucleation rate densities do not scale in this way, but are enhanced at high viscosities. This effect might explain the large discrepancy between the nuclation rate densities obtained by simulation and experiment that have reported in the literature so far.
Precursor-mediated crystallization process in suspensions of hard spheres.
2010
We report on a large scale computer simulation study of crystal nucleation in hard spheres. Through a combined analysis of real and reciprocal space data, a picture of a two-step crystallization process is supported: First dense, amorphous clusters form which then act as precursors for the nucleation of well-ordered crystallites. This kind of crystallization process has been previously observed in systems that interact via potentials that have an attractive as well as a repulsive part, most prominently in protein solutions. In this context the effect has been attributed to the presence of metastable fluid-fluid demixing. Our simulations, however, show that a purely repulsive system (that ha…
Classical nucleation theory for the crystallization kinetics in sheared liquids
2019
While statistical mechanics provides a comprehensive framework for the understanding of equilibrium phase behavior, predicting the kinetics of phase transformations remains a challenge. Classical nucleation theory (CNT) provides a thermodynamic framework to relate the nucleation rate to thermodynamic quantities such as pressure difference and interfacial tension through the nucleation work necessary to spawn critical nuclei. However, it remains unclear whether such an approach can be extended to the crystallization of driven melts that are subjected to mechanical stresses and flows. Here, we demonstrate numerically for hard spheres that the impact of simple shear on the crystallization rate…
Morphological Control of Hydrothermal Ni(OH)2 in the Presence of Polymers and Surfactants: Nanocrystals, Mesocrystals, and Superstructures
2008
International audience; Polymers with different hydrophilic groups [polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), ammonium polyacrylate (APA), and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC)] and surfactants [cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecylbenzensulfonate (SDBS)] were used as additives to modify the crystallization of β-Ni(OH)2 in hydrothermal conditions. Marked morphological changes in the β-Ni(OH)2 particles were observed depending on the additive concentration and on the duration of the hydrothermal treatment. The final morphology is the result of a complex, time-dependent self-assembly and growth process. Well-defined particles with sizes from submicrometer range to a few micrometers co…
Colloidal crystallization in the quasi-two-dimensional induced by electrolyte gradients.
2012
We investigated driven crystal formation events in thin layers of sedimented colloidal particles under low salt conditions. Using optical microscopy, we observe particles in a thermodynamically stable colloidal fluid to move radially converging towards cation exchange resin fragments acting as seed particles. When the local particle concentration has become sufficiently large, subsequently crystallization occurs. Brownian dynamics simulations of a 2D system of purely repulsive point-like particles exposed to an attractive potential, yield strikingly similar scenarios, and kinetics of accumulation and micro-structure formation. This offers the possibility of flexibly designing and manufactur…
One-Dimensional Hypersonic Phononic Crystals
2010
We report experimental observation of a normal incidence phononic band gap in one-dimensional periodic (SiO(2)/poly(methyl methacrylate)) multilayer film at gigahertz frequencies using Brillouin spectroscopy. The band gap to midgap ratio of 0.30 occurs for elastic wave propagation along the periodicity direction, whereas for inplane propagation the system displays an effective medium behavior. The phononic properties are well captured by numerical simulations. The porosity in the silica layers presents a structural scaffold for the introduction of secondary active media for potential coupling between phonons and other excitations, such as photons and electrons.
Comparative X-ray diffraction study of the crystalline microstructure of tetragonal and monoclinic vanadium–zirconium dioxide solid solutions produce…
2009
The microstructural characteristics of solid solutions, prepared by heating dried gel precursors with nominal compositions VxZr1−xO2(0 ≤x≤ 0.1) at 723 and 1573 K, were determined from X-ray diffraction patterns. The crystalline microstructure of the resulting specimens, characterized by a prevalent crystallite shape, a volume-weighted crystallite size distribution and a second-order lattice strain distribution, was found to depend on the vanadium content. A characteristic feature of all size distributions was their bimodality, explained as a result of transformations between tetragonal and monoclinic phases during thermal treatment. A comparative study of the microstructure of both zirconia…
Large Photonic Films by Crystallization on Fluid Substrates
2002
Cracks, which appear due to shrinkage during drying of artificial opaline films, strongly limit the use of these materials. Crystallization on fluid substrates (liquid metals) is a way to circumvent this problem. By this method it is possible to prepare crack-free three-dimensional “monocrystals” with a very low defect density and the size in millimeters.
Scanning electron microscopy study of twins in ZnSe single crystals grown by solid-phase recrystallization
2001
ZnSe single crystals were grown from n-type microcrystalline boules by a solid phase recrystallization (SPR) method. During SPR, twinned regions appear with different electronic recombination properties. The recrystallizations were performed under different atmospheres, Ar or Se, and pressures to investigate the influence of growth conditions on these structural features. Recombination properties were studied by means of cathodoluminescence (CL) and remote-electron beam induced current (REBIC). Wavelength dispersive X-ray (WDX) mappings were also performed to analyze possible differences in stoichiometry related to the presence of extended defects.