Role of silica nanoparticles in conductivity enhancement of nanocomposite solid polymer electrolytes: (PEG(x) NaBr): ySiO(2)

Nanocomposite solid polymer electrolytes (NCSPEs) with conducting species other than Li ions are being investigated for solid-state battery applications. Pristine solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) do not show ionic conductivity suitable for batteries. Addition of inert fillers to SPEs is known to enhance the ionic conductivity. In this paper, we present the role of silica nanoparticles in enhancing the ionic conductivity in NCSPEs with sodium as conducting species. Sodium bromide is complexed with the host polyethylene glycol polymer by solution cast method and silica nanoparticles (SiO2, average particle size 7 nm) are incorporated into the complex in small amounts. The composites are characterized by powder XRD and IR spectroscopy. Conductivity measurements are undertaken as a function of concentration of salt and also as a function of temperature using impedance spectroscopy. Addition of silica nanoparticles shows an enhancement in conductivity by 1-2 orders of magnitude. The results are discussed in terms of interaction of nanoparticles with the nonconducting anions.

Discussion: Remoulded shear strength at plastic and semi-solid states

The undrained shear strength of remoulded soils is of great concern in geotechnical engineering applications. This study aims to develop a reliable approach for determining the undrained shear strength of remoulded fine-grained soils, through the use of index test results, at both the plastic and semi-solid states of consistency. Experimental investigation and subsequent analysis involving a number of fine-grained soils of widely varying plasticity and geological origin have led to a two-parameter linear model of the relationship between logarithm of remoulded undrained shear strength and liquidity index. The numerical values of the parameters are found to be dependent to a lesser extent on the soil group and to a greater extent on the soil state. Based on the values of regression coefficient, ranking index and ranking distance, it seems that the relationship represents the experimental results well. It may be pointed out that the possibility of such a relationship in the semi-solid state of a soil has not been explored in the past. It is also shown that the shear strength at the plastic limit is about 32–34 times that at the liquid limit.

Nucleation of a Stable Solid from Melt in the Presence of Multiple Metastable Intermediate Phases: Wetting, Ostwald's Step Rule, and Vanishing Polymorphs

In many systems, nucleation of a stable solid may occur in the presence of other (often more than one) metastable phases. These may be polymorphic solids or even liquid phases. Sometimes, the metastable phase might have a lower free energy minimum than the liquid but higher than the stable-solid-phase minimum and have characteristics in between the parent liquid and the globally stable solid phase. In such cases, nucleation of the solid phase from the melt may be facilitated by the metastable phase because the latter can ``wet'' the interface between the parent and the daughter phases, even though there may be no signature of the existence of metastable phase in the thermodynamic properties of the parent liquid and the stable solid phase. Straightforward application of classical nucleation theory (CNT) is flawed here as it overestimates the nucleation barrier because surface tension is overestimated (by neglecting the metastable phases of intermediate order) while the thermodynamic free energy gap between daughter and parent phases remains unchanged. In this work, we discuss a density functional theory (DFT)-based statistical mechanical approach to explore and quantify such facilitation. We construct a simple order-parameter-dependent free energy surface that we then use in DFT to calculate (i) the order parameter profile, (ii) the overall nucleation free energy barrier, and (iii) the surface tension between the parent liquid and the metastable solid and also parent liquid and stable solid phases. The theory indeed finds that the nucleation free energy barrier can decrease significantly in the presence of wetting. This approach can provide a microscopic explanation of the Ostwald step rule and the well-known phenomenon of ``disappearing polymorphs'' that depends on temperature and other thermodynamic conditions. Theory reveals a diverse scenario for phase transformation kinetics, some of which may be explored via modem nanoscopic synthetic methods.

Solid-solid collapse transition in a two dimensional model molecular system

Solid-solid collapse transition in open framework structures is ubiquitous in nature. The real difficulty in understanding detailed microscopic aspects of such transitions in molecular systems arises from the interplay between different energy and length scales involved in molecular systems, often mediated through a solvent. In this work we employ Monte-Carlo simulation to study the collapse transition in a model molecular system interacting via both isotropic as well as anisotropic interactions having different length and energy scales. The model we use is known as Mercedes-Benz (MB), which, for a specific set of parameters, sustains two solid phases: honeycomb and oblique. In order to study the temperature induced collapse transition, we start with a metastable honeycomb solid and induce transition by increasing temperature. High density oblique solid so formed has two characteristic length scales corresponding to isotropic and anisotropic parts of interaction potential. Contrary to the common belief and classical nucleation theory, interestingly, we find linear strip-like nucleating clusters having significantly different order and average coordination number than the bulk stable phase. In the early stage of growth, the cluster grows as a linear strip, followed by branched and ring-like strips. The geometry of growing cluster is a consequence of the delicate balance between two types of interactions, which enables the dominance of stabilizing energy over destabilizing surface energy. The nucleus of stable oblique phase is wetted by intermediate order particles, which minimizes the surface free energy. In the case of pressure induced transition at low temperature the collapsed state is a disordered solid. The disordered solid phase has diverse local quasi-stable structures along with oblique-solid like domains. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Study of ground state phases for spin-1/2 Falicov-Kimball model on a triangular lattice

The spin dependent Falicov-Kimball model (FKM) is studied on a triangular lattice using numerical diagonalization technique and Monte-Carlo simulation algorithm. Magnetic properties have been explored for different values of parameters: on-site Coulomb correlation U, exchange interaction J and filling of electrons. We have found that the ground state configurations exhibit long range Neel order, ferromagnetism or a mixture of both as J is varied. The magnetic moments of itinerant (d) and localized U) electrons are also studied. For the one-fourth filling case we found no magnetic moment from d- and f-electrons for U less than a critical value. `.2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Model for triplet state engineering in organic light emitting diodes

Engineering the position of the lowest triplet state (T-1) relative to the first excited singlet state (S-1) is of great importance in improving the efficiencies of organic light emitting diodes and organic photovoltaic cells. We have carried out model exact calculations of substituted polyene chains to understand the factors that affect the energy gap between S-1 and T-1. The factors studied are backbone dimerisation, different donor-acceptor substitutions, and twisted geometry. The largest system studied is an 18 carbon polyene which spans a Hilbert space of about 991 x 10(6). We show that for reverse intersystem crossing process, the best system involves substituting all carbon sites on one half of the polyene with donors and the other half with acceptors. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Microscopic description of the evolution of the local structure and an evaluation of the chemical pressure concept in a solid solution

Extended x-ray absorption fine-structure studies have been performed at the Zn K and Cd K edges for a series of solid solutions of wurtzite Zn1-xCdxS samples with x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0, where the lattice parameter as a function of x evolves according to the well-known Vegard's law. In conjunction with extensive, large-scale first-principles electronic structure calculations with full geometry optimizations, these results establish that the percentage variation in the nearest-neighbor bond distances are lower by nearly an order of magnitude compared to what would be expected on the basis of lattice parameter variation, seriously undermining the chemical pressure concept. With experimental results that allow us to probe up to the third coordination shell distances, we provide a direct description of how the local structure, apparently inconsistent with the global structure, evolves very rapidly with interatomic distances to become consistent with it. We show that the basic features of this structural evolution with the composition can be visualized with nearly invariant Zn-S-4 and Cd-S-4 tetrahedral units retaining their structural integrity, while the tilts between these tetrahedral building blocks change with composition to conform to the changing lattice parameters according to the Vegard's law within a relatively short length scale. These results underline the limits of applicability of the chemical pressure concept that has been a favored tool of experimentalists to control physical properties of a large variety of condensed matter systems.

Formation of annular austenitic ring between outer ferrite layer and solid globule in a semi-solid processed SS 304L

The microstructure of an austenitic SS 304L rapidly quenched from its semi-solid state shows a unique annular austenitic ring in between the core of each globule and its ferritic outer layer. On the basis of experimental results and microstructural analysis, it is proposed that the ring is formed as a result of preferential austenitic phase nucleation in a small quantity of liquid entrapped between adjacent solid globules during rapid quenching, in spite of the fact that ferrite is the thermodynamically stable phase for the alloy. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Numerical modeling of the non-isothermal liquid droplet impact on a hot solid substrate

The heat transfer from a solid phase to an impinging non-isothermal liquid droplet is studied numerically. A new approach based on an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) finite element method for solving the incompressible Navier Stokes equations in the liquid and the energy equation within the solid and the liquid is presented. The novelty of the method consists in using the ALE-formulation also in the solid phase to guarantee matching grids along the liquid solid interface. Moreover, a new technique is developed to compute the heat flux without differentiating the numerical solution. The free surface and the liquid solid interface of the droplet are represented by a moving mesh which can handle jumps in the material parameter and a temperature dependent surface tension. Further, the application of the Laplace-Beltrami operator technique for the curvature approximation allows a natural inclusion of the contact angle. Numerical simulation for varying Reynold, Weber, Peclet and Biot numbers are performed to demonstrate the capabilities of the new approach. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polymorphism and Phase Transformation Behavior of Solid Forms of 4-Amino-3,5-dinitrobenzamide

We report the preparation, analysis, and phase transformation behavior of polymorphs and the hydrate of 4-amino-3,5-dinitrobenzamide. The compound crystallizes in four different polymorphic forms, Form I (monoclinic, P2(1)/n), Form II (orthorhombic, Pbca), Form III (monoclinic, P2(1)/c), and Form IV (monoclinic, P2(1)/c). Interestingly, a hydrate (triclinic, P (1) over bar) of the compound is also discovered during the systematic identification of the polymorphs. Analysis of the polymorphs has been investigated using hot stage microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, in situ variable-temperature powder X-ray diffraction, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. On heating, all of the solid forms convert into Form I irreversibly, and on further heating, melting is observed. In situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies revealed that Form II transforms to Form I above 175 degrees C via single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation. The hydrate, on heating, undergoes a double phase transition, first to Form III upon losing water in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal fashion and then to a more stable polymorph Form I on further heating. Thermal analysis leads to the conclusion that Form II appears to be the most stable phase at ambient conditions, whereas Form I is more stable at higher temperature.

Inter molecular azide-diisocyanate coupling: new insights for energetic solid propellants

Hydroxyl terminated azide binders can undergo a spurious reaction with diisocyanates to form tetrazoline-5-one via an inter molecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction apart from urethane/allophanate groups which has been overlooked. This has serious implications on solid propellants. The computed activation barrier using density functional theory (DFT) for urethane formation reaction is 28.4 kJ mol(-1) and that for tetrazoline-5-one formation reaction is 108.0 kJ mol(-1). DFT studies reveal that the rate limiting step of the reaction is 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between azide and isocyanate. A dual cure was observed in the temperature ranges 42-77 degrees C and 78-146 degrees C by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rheological studies, confirming multiple reactions. Tetrazoline-5-one formation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).

A Few Case Studies on the Correlation of Particle Network and Its Stability on the Ionic Conductivity of Solid-Liquid Composite Electrolytes

We discuss here the crucial role of the particle network and its stability on the long-range ion transport in solid liquid composite electrolytes. The solid liquid composite electrolytes chosen for the study here comprise nanometer sized silica (SiO2) particles having various surface chemical functionalities dispersed in nonaqueous lithium salt solutions, viz, lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) in two different polyethylene glycol based solvents. These systems constitute representative examples of an independent class of soft matter electrolytes known as ``soggy sand'' electrolytes, which have tremendous potential in diverse electrochemical devices. The oxide additive acts as a heterogeneous dopant creating free charge carriers and enhancing the local ion transport. For long-range transport, however, a stable spanning particle network is needed. Systematic experimental investigations here reveal that the spatial and time dependent characteristics of the particle network in the liquid solution are nontrivial. The network characteristics are predominantly determined by the chemical makeup of the electrolyte components and the chemical interactions between them. It is noteworthy that in this study the steady state macroscopic ionic conductivity and viscosity of the solid liquid composite electrolyte are observed to be greatly determined by the additive oxide surface chemical functionality, solvent chemical composition, and solvent dielectric constant.

Die Filling Behaviour of Semi Solid A356 Al Alloy Slurry During Rheo Pressure Die Casting

The present work discusses the findings obtained from simulations of semi solid die filling of a steering knuckle, prior to actual component development using in-house developed rheo pressure die casting system. Die filling capability of A356 Al alloy at semi-solid state has been investigated using commercial software Flow-3Dcast to optimise the pouring temperature of semi-solid slurry into the die cavity, while all other variables such as gating design, die preheat temperature and injection velocity are kept constant based on the prior knowledge obtained from trial numerical simulations and experimentation. Efforts have been made to nullify the essence of costly, time consuming experiments towards obtaining high-quality castings out of the findings obtained from numerical simulations. The optimum pouring temperature identified in the present study is 610 A degrees C, which facilitates smoother slurry flow, minimum surface defect concentration, uniform temperature field and solid fraction distribution within the component cavity.

Light Induced Metastable State of Silver Nitroprusside Probed by Raman Spectroscopy

Low temperature Raman spectroscopic measurements on silver nitroprusside (AgNP), Ag-2Fe(CN)(5)NO] powders display reversible features of a partially converted metastable state. The results are compared with similarly observed metastable state in case of sodium nitroprusside (NaNP) and the differences have been discussed in terms of possible resistance to metastable state formation offered by silver atoms on the basis of hard soft acid base (HSAB) theory.