Dislocation pattern formation is a phenomenon where during significant plastic deformation dislocations organize themselves into (meta)stable structures. Modeling such systems is a non-trivial task, because the number of interacting dislocations is high, bringing discrete simulation models to their computational limits. Continuum models, although more efficient, generally do not contain sufficient information for a physically detailed representation of such systems. In this paper we show how a continuum dislocation dynamics theory can be used to model idealized pattern formation. Furthermore, we show how discrete dislocation dynamics (DD) simulations can be used to provide physical input for our continuum model.

Gelatin functionalized with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) has been shown to allow crosslinking by photopolymerization and metathesis reaction. However, side chain functionalization of gelatin might reduce triple helicalization, which influences mechanical properties of gelatin-based polymer networks. Here, the influence of glycidylmethycrylation of gelatin on the chain organization, swelling, and mechanical properties is investigated by comparing among each other physical gels prepared from GMA-gelatin solutions of different concentrations (5-20 wt.-%) by drying and rehydration. An increase of GMA-gelatin concentration from 5 wt.-% to 20 wt.-% led to an increased density of produced gelatin films and a decreasing water uptake of the films from 1160 wt.-% to 730 wt.-%, while the storage modulus was increasing about one order of magnitude from 440 Pa to 4090 Pa. The relative single and triple helix content was not influenced by the variation of polymer concentration.

Ruthenium-nitrosyl (RuII(NO)) complexes are stable in the dark, but exhibit a unique photoreactivity which can lead either to a solid state isomerization from RuII(NO) to RuII(ON), or to a nitric oxide (NO·) release in solution. From our recent discovery of a high yield of isomerization (> 92%) in [RuII(py)4Cl(NO)](PF6)2, we have developed a computational strategy aimed at designing switchable nonlinear optical (NLO) material with high contrast (large difference in the on / off NLO response) in the solid state. Our synthetic targets are terpyridine based RuII chromophores in which various substituents can be introduced to adjust the NLO response which, at best, should be vanishing in the off state. Alternatively, these complexes can undergo a photo-induced NO· release in solution, a possibility which becomes increasingly appealing in relation to the discovery of the numerous biological roles of NO·, in the context of the emergence of the photodynamic therapy. A promising fluorene-terpyridine RuII(NO) complex was investigated, which could find an additional interest in relation to its capability for releasing NO· by a two-photon absorption process.

Thin film Ti doped ZnO (Ti-ZnO) film were grown on sapphire (0001) substrate by RF and DC magnetron sputtering. Films were grown at a substrate temperature of 250 °C with different Ti/Zn concentration. Surface chemical study of the samples was performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the stoichiometry and Ti/Zn ratio for all samples. Surface morphology of the samples were studied by atomic force microscopy. X-ray diffraction was carried out to determine the crystallinity of the film. No secondary phases of TixOy was observed. We observed a slight increase in the lattice constant with the increase in Ti concentration in ZnO. No ferromagnetic signal was observed for any of the samples. However, some samples showed super-paramagnetic phase.

This work shows a cost effective process to prepare carbon-carbon nanostructured composites using mechanical milling (MM) and a new manufacturing method based on rapid induction sintering. Here we use commercially and cost effective amorphous sources of carbon. The nature of the raw carbon is characterized by means of XRD and Raman, and after MM and sintering we observe a clear evolution of the phases of carbon in situ into more complex structures, including but not limited to graphene, graphitic carbon, and nanodiamond. The raw soot transforms in situ into graphitic particles after 1 hour of MM. Further milling (10 hours) induces the formation of nano-diamond particles. Milling times between 1 and 10 h are ideal to prepare intermediate phases between graphene and nanodiamond. In other words MM is capable of inducing the formation of nearly amorphous carbon soot into complex structures that are ideal for structural composite materials. The sintering process is a novel method involving a “pressureless” process and rapid induction heating. Furthermore, the carbon nanostructures that are produced during milling serve as seeds to grow larger particles that can easily reach micrometric sizes. This process achieved high densification as that proposed in commercial methods such as Spark Plasma Sintering.

The role of the initial bacterial inoculates on the biocorrosion of API X52 pipeline steel coupons was evaluated by electrochemical noise technique. The experiments were performed under laboratory conditions using an aerobic bacteria identified as Achromobacter xylosoxidans. Inoculations in the interval strain of 1x104 – 1x108 CFU/ml were evaluated. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) analysis was carried out to evaluate the corrosive effects induced on the API X52 electrodes. The results show that all corroded surfaces show sites of localized corrosion, however, the density of de sites of localized corrosion have different grades depending of the initial inoculation used during the experiments. The maximum density sites of localized corrosion were obtained in the experiments with 1x105 CFU/ml. From inoculates of 1x106 CFU/ml the density sites of localized corrosion diminished constantly. The results show that with inoculates over 1x106 CFU/ml, the oxygen demand for the bacterial strain limits the presence of oxygen available into the metallic surface to maintain the corrosion reactions. The results were supported by the EDX analysis of the corrosion products formed on the metallic surfaces where the oxygen peaks diminished as the bacterial inoculation increases.

Reliability and degradation processes in broad-area InGaAs-AlGaAs strained quantum well (QW) lasers are under intensive investigation because these lasers are the key components for fiber lasers and amplifiers that have found both industrial and military applications in recent years. Unlike single-mode lasers that were developed for high reliability telecom applications, broad-area lasers were mainly targeted for applications that require less stringent reliability of the lasers until recently. Especially, the lack of field reliability data is a concern for satellite communication systems where high reliability is required of lasers for long-term duration. For our present study, we addressed this concern by performing long-term life-tests of broad-area InGaAs-AlGaAs strained QW lasers and also by studying mechanisms that are responsible for catastrophic degradation of the lasers.

Apatites are often seen as good potential candidates for the immobilization of halide-rich wastes. In particular, phosphate apatites have received much attention in recent years, however, their synthesis often produces complicated multi-phase systems, with a number of secondary phases forming [1.2]. Calcium vanadinite (Ca5(VO4)3Cl) demonstrates a much simpler phase system, with only a single Ca2V2O7 secondary phase which can easily be retarded by the addition of excess CaCl2. However, when doping with SmCl3 (as an inactive analogue for AnCl3) the Sm forms a wakefieldite (SmVO4) phase rather than being immobilized within the vanadinite, a result of having to form an energetically unfavourable Ca vacancy in order for the lattice to remain neutral overall. It has been postulated that charge-balancing the lattice via co-substitution of a monovalent cation will be less disfavoured and therefore help stabilise formation of a (Ca5-2x Smx A x )(VO4)3Cl solid solution (A = monovalent cation). This has been investigated using a combined modelling and experimental approach. Static lattice calculations performed using Li+, Na+ and K+ as charge-balancing species have shown the energy cost to be less than half that of charge-balancing via formation of a Ca vacancy. As a result, solid state synthesis of (Ca5-2x Smx Lix )(VO4)3Cl, (Ca5−2x Smx Nax )(VO4)3Cl and (Ca5-2x Smx Kx )(VO4)3Cl solid solutions have been trialled, and analysis of the resulting products has shown a significant reduction in both the SmVO4 and Ca2V2O7 secondary phases across all dopant levels.

Through undulator sources at 3rd generation synchrotrons, highly coherent X-rays with sufficient flux are nowadays routinely available, which allow carrying over photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) from visible light to the X-ray regime. X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) is based on the auto-correlation of X-ray speckle patterns during the temporal evolution of a material and provides access both to equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of materials at the Angstrom scale. Owing to technical limitations (detector readout), XPCS has typically been used for the detection of slow dynamics on the scale of seconds. The variety of scattering geometries employed in conventional X-ray analysis can be combined with XPCS. In this work, we report on bulk diffraction (XRD) used to study the prototypical shape memory alloy Ni63Al37 undergoing a structural, diffusionless (martensitic) transformation. Two-time correlation functions reveal non-equilibrium dynamics superimposed with microstructural avalanches.

The principles of Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) are supported in the behavior of the oxide film formed into a crack; in fact the active dissolution of metal atoms after a film rupture and until fill repassivation is the base of slip dissolution model which is a good model to justified the crack tip advance in stainless steels (SS) used in vessel internal components for the nuclear industry. This paper shows the analyzed made at the oxide film formed on samples of 304L SS sensitized and non sensitized, under autoclave conditions (288°C, 8MPa) with and without crevice geometric formation, using SEM, XRD and Raman Spectra.

The crevice and no crevice condition allow establish the difference of an oxide formed on a free surface (no crevice) and the oxide formed on the wall in a crack (crevice); the chemical and physical properties of oxide film can alter the mechanism and kinetics of SCC process, so the difference between these two conditions will give more information about the behavior of the oxide film.

The photoelectromagnetic (PEM) investigations are proposed for determination of diffusion length of carriers in graphene. The presented measurements are performed in Corbino configuration using noncontact technique. The circular PEM currents are detected in an outer coil by induction if illumination intensity is periodically varied. The theoretical dependence of PEM response on magnetic field induction, intensity and spatial distribution of illumination as well as on frequency of illumination chopping is presented. Experimental PEM data are presented for graphene films grown by CVD processing on a cooper foil and transferred onto a glass substrate. The presented method of investigations should be essential for development of graphene electronic and optoelectronic devices.

We have studied photoluminescence (PL) from undoped GaN films grown by HVPE technique on sapphire. Several defect-related PL bands are observed in the low-temperature PL spectrum. The concentrations of the defects responsible for these PL bands are determined from the dependence of PL intensity on excitation intensity. The RL band with a maximum at 1.8 eV is often the dominant PL band in HVPE GaN. It is caused by an unknown defect with the concentration of up to ∼1017 cm-3. The concentrations of defects responsible for other defect-related PL bands rarely exceed 1015 cm-3.

We studied GeTe structures in topological switching random access memories (TRAMs) with a [GeTe/Sb2Te3] superlattice by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. We examined the electrical characteristics of the TRAMs deposited at different temperatures. We found that XRD spectra differed between the films deposited at 200 and 240°C and that the differences corresponded to the differences in the GeTe sequences in the films.

We studied effects of atmospheric air dielectric barrier discharge plasma irradiation to seeds of radish sprouts on chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations in their leaves. Plasma irradiation increases chlorophyll concentration under some irradiation conditions, whereas the irradiation has little effects on carotenoid concentration. These results show that plasma irradiation to seeds has influence on cell activities in a selective way.

Bioactive materials based on polymer/hydroxyapatite are currently being extensively investigated as materials for promotion of bone tissue regeneration and reconstruction [1]. In this work, a material interpenetrating based on poly 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA), Chitosan and hydroxyapatite (HA) was prepared following the methodology of the foaming gas Damla Çetin [2], generating an interpenetrated network with the chitosan filled with hydroxyapatite. The materials were evaluated by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and in vitro bioactivity [3] (SBF) and characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The TGA studies suggested that there was not existence of possible interactions between polymers and HA but there is a thermal stability increase in the HA content. Meanwhile, SBF and its characterization by SEM, was found that the materials are bioactives as indicated by the formation of a bone-like apatite layer after immersion in simulated body fluid, indicating the potential of this material for use in bone tissue engineering.

Mechanical properties and new morphological data on synthetic sodium hydrogen urate monohydrate are reported and interpreted. Crystals formed in supersaturated aqueous solutions were identified by powder x-ray diffraction. Intact grains and separate needles were examined by several microscopy techniques, some reported here for the first time. The dominant morphology was spherulite-type, comprising tapered, branched blades (needles) radiating out of a common core. The pointed blade tips were truncated by (011) planes, corresponding to hydrogen-bonded planes. Branching was at about a 5° angle or its multiples, suggesting it accommodated by dislocation arrays at the low angle boundaries, as is often seen in twinning. Vicker’s micro-hardness, extrapolated to zero porosity, was 0.90 GPa, which is greater than the hardness measured by nano-indentation. Present results are anticipated to be useful in interpreting the mechanical characteristics of the material crystallized in vivo and its action concerning gout, and affording inferences on the role of the milieu on morphologies, fragmentation, and hardness.

Copper valence and environment in two sodium aluminophosphate glasses suggested for immobilization of HLW from reprocessing of spent fuel of uranium-graphite channel reactor (Russian AMB) were studied by XRD, SEM/EDX, XAFS and EPR. Target glass formulations contained ∼2.4-2.5 mol.% CuO. The quenched samples were predominantly amorphous. The annealed MgO free sample had higher degree of crystallinity than the annealed MgO-bearing sample but both them contained orthophosphate phases. Cu in the materials was partitioned in favor of the vitreous phase. In all the samples copper is present as major Cu2+ and minor Cu+ ions. Cu2+ ions form planar square complexes (CN=4) with a Cu2+-O distance of 1.93-1.95 Å. Two more ions are positioned at a distance of 2.76-2.86 Å from Cu2+ ions. So the Cu2+ environment looks like a strongly elongated octahedron as it also follows from the absence of the pre-edge peak due to 1s→3d transition in Cu K edge XANES spectra of the materials. Cu+ ions form two collinear bonds at Cu+-O distances of 1.80-1.85 Å. Thus average Cu coordination number (CN) in the first shell was found to be 2.7-3.0.