Structural phase transition in the layered perovskite compound BaTb2Mn2O7

A distorted layered perovskite compound BaTb2Mn2O7 was synthesized by the solid state reaction in pure argon. There is a structural phase transition in the BaTb2Mn2O7 compound. The phase transition was characterized by the DSC and high temperature Xray diffraction. The heat capacity of BaTb2Mn2O7 was calculated. The thermal anomaly corresponding to the phase transition was observed at about 740K. The lattice parameters were calculated by the CELL program for BaTb2Mn2O7, It has Tb-type orthorhombic symmetry with a = 0.3908 nm, b = 0.3866 nm, c = 2.0163 nm, and space group Immm at room temperature. With the increase of temperature, the lattice parameters gradually increase until 673K. From 723K to 973K, the compound translates to tetragonal with a = 0.39078 nm, c = 2.0277 nm and S.G. I4/mmm. This result is fairly in accordance with that of heat capacity.

Observation of inverted phases in poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) triblock copolymer by solvent-induced order-disorder phase transition

We report observation of inverted phases consisting of spheres and/or cylinders of the majority fraction block in a poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS) triblock copolymer by solvent-induced order-disorder phase transition (ODT). The SBS sample has a molecular weight of 140K Da and a polystyrene (PS) weight fraction of 30%. Tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were utilized to study the copolymer microstructure of a set of solution-cast SBS films dried with different solvent evaporation rates, R. The control with different R leads to kinetic frozen-in of microstructures corresponding to a different combination parameter chi (eff)Z of the drying films (where chi (eff) is the effective interaction parameter of the polymer solution in the cast film and Z the number of "blobs" of size equal to the correlation length one block copolymer chain contains), for which faster evaporation rates result in microstructures of smaller chi (eff)Z. As R was decreased from rapid evaporations (similar to0.1 mL/h), the microstructure evolved from a totally disordered one sequentially to inverted phases consisting of spheres and then cylinders of polybutadiene (PB) in a PS matrix and finally reached the equilibrium phase, namely cylinders of PS in a PB matrix. We interpret the formation of inverted phases as due to the increased relative importance of entropy as chi (eff)Z is decreased, which may dominate the energy penalty for having a bigger interfacial area between the immiscible blocks in the inverted phases.

Phase transition and transition kinetics of a thermotropic poly(amide-imide) derived from 70% pyromellitic dianhydride, 30% terephthaloyl chloride, and 1,3-bis[4-(4 '-aminophenoxy)cumyl]benzene

The phase transition and transition kinetics of a liquid crystalline copoly(amide-imide) (PAI37), which was synthesized from 70 mol% pyromellitic dianhydride, 30 mol% terephthaloyl chloride, and 1,3-bis[4-(4'-aminophenoxy)cumyl]benzene, was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and rheology. PAI37 exhibits a glass transition temperature at 182 degreesC followed by multiple phase transitions. The crystalline phase starts to melt at similar to 220 degreesC and forms smectic C (S-C) phase. The Sc phase transforms into smectic A (S-A) phase when the temperature is above 237 degreesC. The S-C to S-A transition spans a broad temperature range in which the S-A phase vanishes and forms isotropic melt. The WARD fiber pattern of PAI37 pulled from the anisotropic melt revealed an anomalous chain orientation, which was characterized by its layer normal perpendicular to the fiber direction. The transition kinetics for the mesophase and crystalline phase formation was also studied.

Structural studies of excimer laser-induced percolative phase transition on polyimide thin film surfaces

The behavior of electrical conductivity for excimer laser irradiated polyimide films in the vicinity of the critical number of laser shots was described by three-dimensional percolative phase transition model. It is: found that electrical conductivity changed more rapidly than that predicted by the percolation model. Thus, the change in microstructure with increasing number of laser shots was analyzed by FT-IR Raman spectrometry and laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry. It is demonstrated that not only the number but also the average size of graphite particles on the irradiated polyimide film surfaces increased with increasing number of laser shots. These results were helpful to better understand the critical change in electrical conductivity on the irradiated polyimide film surfaces. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Phase transition temperature of HPT(2,3,6,7,10,11-hexa-n-pentyloxytriphenylene) from molecule dynamic simulation

Molecule dynamics simulation was used on HPT(2,3,6,7,10,11-hexa-n-pentyloxytriphenylene), which is a discotic Liquid crystal. From analyzing the energy and displacement varying with the temperature, the phase transition temperature of PM6MPP can be predicted. The deviations of T-g, T-m and T-i due to the MD time scale are small enough that it should be possibly used to predict the material properties especially when more powerful computers are available.

Phase transition temperatures of side chain liquid crystal polymer from molecular dynamics simulation

In this paper, phase transition temperatures of side chain liquid crystal polymer were predicted by molecular dynamics simulation. We analyzed the change of energy and the degree of similarity(S) with the temperature varying. The simulated phase transition temperatures agree with the experimental values in a proper deviation.

KINETICS OF NONISOTHERMAL PHASE-TRANSITION OF POLY(ESTER-IMIDE)

Based on Jeziorny theory, the kinetics of phase transition of poly(ester-imide) has been determined under non-isothermal condition by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Avrami exponent n, kinetic parameters G(c) and rate constant Z(c) were derived and discussed.

THE EFFECTS OF LANTHANIDE IONS AND THEIR COMPLEXES ON THE PHASE-TRANSITION PROPERTY OF DIPALMITOYLPHOSPHATIDYLETHANOLAMINE LIPOSOMES

The effects of metal ions and lanthanide complexes on the gel-to-liquid crystal phase transition temperature T-m of dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine liposomes have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. The results show that the addition of metal ions to the dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE) liposomes dispersions increases the main phase transition temperature T-m in the order of monovalent< divalent< trivalent cations. The enhancement of T-m is not large as increasing the lanthanide ions concentration. The enhancement of Pr3+ is larger than that of La3+. Remarkable differences were observed between La-citrate and La-lactate complexes at different pH solutions. At pH 7.0, La-citrate complex has no effect on the T-m, La-lactate complex, however, increases the T-m value, and the increase is larger than that of free lanthanide ions at the same concentration. The decrease of pH of complexes solutions lowers the phase transition temperature. We have preliminarily discussed the mechanism of the enhancements of lanthanide ions and the synergism of lanthanide ion and lactate ligand follow the ion induced dehydration of lipid and the potential effects of ion-lipid interaction.

RAMAN-SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF CRYSTAL PHASE-TRANSITION IN BIS(N-UNDECYLAMMONIUM) TETRACHLOROZINCATE

The solid-solid phase transition of [n-C11H23NH3]2ZnCl4 Complex have been studied by Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the occurence of the structural phase transitions mainly related to the change of packing structure and molecular conformation o

AN INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF THE STRUCTURAL PHASE-TRANSITION IN THE PEROVSKITE-TYPE LAYER COMPOUND [N-C16H33NH3]2COCL4

The solid-solid phase transitions in the perovskite-type layer compound [n- C16H33NH3]2CoCl4 have been studied by infrared spectroscopy. A new phase transition at 340 K was found by comparison with differential scanning calorimetry results. A temperature dependence study of the infrared spectra provides evidence of the occurrence of structural phase transitions related to the dynamics of the alkylammonium ions and hydrogen bonds. The main transition at 374 K corresponds to the conformational order-disorder change in the chain, which probably couples with reorientational motions of the NH3 polar heads. GTG or GTG' defects appear in the high temperature disordered phase.

MOSSBAUER-EFFECT STUDIES OF THE PHASE-TRANSITION PROCESS IN EUROPIUM PENTAPHOSPHATE

Mossbauer spectra of europium pentaphosphate are measured at various temperatures (126 to 200-degrees-C). Some Mossbauer parameters, such as isomer shift, electric quadrupole splitting, and asymmetry parameter of the EFG at Eu-151 nuclei are derived from the experimental spectra. The lattice parameters of the crystal are determined at several temperatures. The experimental results indicate that the crystal structure of europium pentaphosphate changes from monoclinic to orthorhombic. All of the temperature dependences of the Mossbauer parameters provide evidence of a phase transition of the crystal. The phase transition temperature can be determined from the curve of the asymmetry parameter of EFG versus temperature to 165-degrees-C.

Low-temperature heat capacity and phase transition of n-hexatriacontane

The heat capacities of crystalline and liquid n-hexatriacontane were measured with an automatic adiabatic calorimeter over the temperature range of 80-370 K. Two solid-to-solid phase transitions at the temperatures of 345.397 and 346.836 K, and a fusion at the temperature of 348.959 K have been observed. The enthalpies and entropies of these phase transitions as well as the chemical purity of the substance were determined on the basis of the heat capacity measurements. Thermal decomposition temperatures of the compound were measured by thermogravimetric analysis. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Identified particle production, azimuthal anisotropy, and interferometry measurements in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=9.2 GeV

We present the first measurements of identified hadron production, azimuthal anisotropy, and pion interferometry from Au + Au collisions below the nominal injection energy at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) facility. The data were collected using the large acceptance solenoidal tracker at RHIC (STAR) detector at root s(NN) = 9.2 GeV from a test run of the collider in the year 2008. Midrapidity results on multiplicity density dN/dy in rapidity y, average transverse momentum < p(T)>, particle ratios, elliptic flow, and Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) radii are consistent with the corresponding results at similar root s(NN) from fixed-target experiments. Directed flow measurements are presented for both midrapidity and forward-rapidity regions. Furthermore the collision centrality dependence of identified particle dN/dy, < p(T)>, and particle ratios are discussed. These results also demonstrate that the capabilities of the STAR detector, although optimized for root s(NN) = 200 GeV, are suitable for the proposed QCD critical-point search and exploration of the QCD phase diagram at RHIC.