Self-aggregation of vapor-liquid phase transition

The concept of the molecular free path is introduced to derive a criterion distinguishing active molecules from inactive molecules in liquid phase. Based on molecular self-aggregation theory a concept of the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of active molecules is proposed to describe the physical configuration before the formation of the nuclei in the process of vapor-liquid phase transition. All active molecules exist in the form of the monomer when the concentration of active molecules is lower than CAC, while the active molecules will generate aggregation once the concentration of the active molecules reaches CAC. However, these aggregates with the aggregation number N smaller than 5 can steadily exist in bulk phase. The other excess active molecules can only produce infinite aggregation and form a critical nucleus of vapor-liquid phase transition. Without outer perturbation the state point of CAC corresponds to the critical superheated or supercooled state in the process of vapor-liquid phase transition. With the aggregate property, the interfacial tension between the bulk phase and the tiny new phase is predicted and a correction is made for the classical nucleation rate in a quite good agreement with experimental results.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of the ice nucleation and growth process leading to water freezing

Upon cooling, water freezes to ice. This familiar phase transition occurs widely in nature, yet unlike the freezing of simple liquids, it has never been successfully simulated on a computer. The difficulty lies with the fact that hydrogen bonding between individual water molecules yields a disordered three-dimensional hydrogen-bond network whose rugged and complex global potential energy surface permits a large number of possible network configurations. As a result, it is very challenging to reproduce the freezing of 'real' water into a solid with a unique crystalline structure. For systems with a limited number of possible disordered hydrogen-bond network structures, such as confined water, it is relatively easy to locate a pathway from a liquid state to a crystalline structure. For pure and spatially unconfined water, however, molecular dynamics simulations of freezing are severely hampered by the large number of possible network configurations that exist. Here we present a molecular dynamics trajectory that captures the molecular processes involved in the freezing of pure water. We find that ice nucleation occurs once a sufficient number of relatively long-lived hydrogen bonds develop spontaneously at the same location to form a fairly compact initial nucleus. The initial nucleus then slowly changes shape and size until it reaches a stage that allows rapid expansion, resulting in crystallization of the entire system.     

Neutron and X-ray diffraction study of the broken symmetry phase transition in solid deuterium

The solid hydrogen compounds D2, HD and H2 remain quantum molecular solids up to pressures in the 100 GPa range. A remarkable macroscopic consequence is the existence of a pressure-induced broken symmetry phase transition, in which the molecules go from a spherical rotational state to an anisotropic rotational state. Theoretical understanding of the broken symmetry phase structure remains controversial, despite numerous studies. Some open questions concern the existence of long- or short-range orientational order; whether a strong isotopic shift on the transition pressure should be assigned to the nuclear zero-point motion or to quantum localization; and whether the structures are cubic, hexagonal or orthorhombic. Here we present experimental data on the structure of the broken symmetry phase in solid D2, obtained by a combination of neutron and X-ray diffraction up to 60 GPa. Our data are incompatible with orthorhombic structures predicted by recent theoretical works. We find that the broken symmetry phase structure is incommensurate with local orientational order, being similar to that found in metastable cubic para-D2.     

How atomic nuclei cluster

Nucleonic matter displays a quantum-liquid structure, but in some cases finite nuclei behave like molecules composed of clusters of protons and neutrons. Clustering is a recurrent feature in light nuclei, from beryllium to nickel. Cluster structures are typically observed as excited states close to the corresponding decay threshold; the origin of this phenomenon lies in the effective nuclear interaction, but the detailed mechanism of clustering in nuclei has not yet been fully understood. Here we use the theoretical framework of energy-density functionals, encompassing both cluster and quantum liquid-drop aspects of nuclei, to show that conditions for cluster formation can in part be traced back to the depth of the confining nuclear potential. For the illustrative example of neon-20, we show that the depth of the potential determines the energy spacings between single-nucleon orbitals in deformed nuclei, the localization of the corresponding wavefunctions and, therefore, the degree of nucleonic density clustering. Relativistic functionals, in particular, are characterized by deep single-nucleon potentials. When compared to non-relativistic functionals that yield similar ground-state properties (binding energy, deformation, radii), they predict the occurrence of much more pronounced cluster structures. More generally, clustering is considered as a transitional phenomenon between crystalline and quantum-liquid phases of fermionic systems.     

Suppression of crystal nucleation in polydisperse colloids due to increase of the surface free energy

The formation of small crystallites is governed by two competing factors: the free energy gained upon transferring constituent atoms, molecules or colloidal particles from the metastable liquid to the more stable solid, and the free energy needed to create the surface area of the crystallite. Because the ratio of surface area to bulk is large for small particles, small crystallites dissolve spontaneously under conditions where larger crystallites are stable and macroscopic crystal growth occurs only if spontaneously formed crystallites exceed a critical minimum size. On theoretical grounds, the probability of forming such critical crystal nuclei is expected to increase rapidly with supersaturation. However, experiments show that the rate of crystal nucleation in many systems goes through a maximum as the supersaturation is increased. It is commonly assumed that the nucleation rate peaks because, even though the probability of forming critical nuclei increases with increasing concentration, the rate of growth of such nuclei decreases. Here we report simulations of crystal nucleation in suspensions of colloidal spheres with varying size distributions that show that the probability that critical nuclei will form itself goes through a maximum as the supersaturation is increased. We find that this effect, which is strongest for systems with the broadest particle size distribution, results from an increase with supersaturation of the solid-liquid interfacial free energy. The magnitude of this effect suggests that vitrification at high supersaturations should yield colloidal glasses that are truly amorphous, rather than nano-crystalline.     

电磁场作用中近液相线铸造ZL201合金的组织及其机理

以ZL201合金为研究对象,采用降低浇铸温度同时施加电磁场的模铸工艺,研究了ZL201合金的凝固组织及组织细化机理.结果表明:在液相线温度附近施加电磁场,合金组织为均匀、细小非枝晶组织;随着电流增大和冷却增强,组织细小、均匀的趋势增强;低过热度浇铸时,临界晶核半径减小,此时在电磁场作用下,熔体的温度梯度降低,促进了准固相原子团簇在熔体中的形成,形核率增大,组织细小、均匀.凝固初期,由于电磁场作用使溶质分布均匀,熔体中晶核向各方向的长大速率趋于一致,晶粒以近球形长大.     

Amplification of chirality in two-dimensional enantiomorphous lattices

The concept of chirality dates back to 1848, when Pasteur manually separated left-handed from right-handed sodium ammonium tartrate crystals. Crystallization is still an important means for separating chiral molecules into their two different mirror-image isomers (enantiomers), yet remains poorly understood. For example, there are no firm rules to predict whether a particular pair of chiral partners will follow the behaviour of the vast majority of chiral molecules and crystallize together as racemic crystals, or as separate enantiomers. A somewhat simpler and more tractable version of this phenomenon is crystallization in two dimensions, such as the formation of surface structures by adsorbed molecules. The relatively simple spatial molecular arrangement of these systems makes it easier to study the effects of specific chiral interactions; moreover, chiral assembly and recognition processes can be observed directly and with molecular resolution using scanning tunnelling microscopy. The enantioseparation of chiral molecules in two dimensions is expected to occur more readily because planar confinement excludes some bulk crystal symmetry elements and enhances chiral interactions; however, many surface structures have been found to be racemic. Here we show that the chiral hydrocarbon heptahelicene on a Cu111 surface does not undergo two-dimensional spontaneous resolution into enantiomers, but still shows enantiomorphism on a mesoscopic length scale that is readily amplified. That is, we observe formation of racemic heptahelicene domains with non-superimposable mirror-like lattice structures, with a small excess of one of the heptahelicene enantiomers suppressing the formation of one domain type. Similar to the induction of homochirality in achiral enantiomorphous monolayers by a chiral modifier, a small enantiomeric excess suffices to ensure that the entire molecular monolayer consists of domains having only one of two possible, non-superimposable, mirror-like lattice structures.     

晶化时间、模板剂对Si-MCM-41结构的影响

以有机硅为硅源,采用碱性水热合成制备Si-MCM-41,借助XRD,N2吸附-脱附表征手段系统研究晶化时间、模板剂对其长程有序结构的影响.结果表明:晶化过程中必须调节体系的pH,样品的六方晶相才会随晶化时间的增长而不断地生长和完善.长时间的晶化有利于孔壁增厚,对于提高Si-MCM-41的稳定性是有利的,但同时比表面积呈现下降趋势.综合考虑六方有序结构的生长和完善以及孔壁的厚度、比表面积等因素,确定晶化时间为120 h.增加模板剂(template)浓度会促进Si-MCM-41孔结构形成和排列的规整性,当模板剂为c(template)/c(SiO2)=0.7,六方有序度下降,适宜的c(template)/c(SiO2)应为0.5.     

High entropy state of orientationally-disordered clusters in Zr-based bulk metallic glass

A phase transformation of a metastable Zr2Ni intermetallic crystalline phase to vitrify was studied with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on a plastic crystal model (PCM), which utilizes the orientational disorder of molecules of plastic crystals in a class of soft matter. The simulation results show ed that computational operations in MD-PCM for the random rotati ons of the clusters in the crystalline phase around their center of gravity and subsequent annealing lead to form a dense random pa cking structure from the metastable Zr2Ni phase. These randomly-rotated clusters provide high degrees of freedom in terms of atomic positions, which results in enhancing the glass-forming ability of the alloy. The critical fraction of the number of rotated cl usters for forming the glassy phase ( fc^R) is evaluated to be 0.75 ? 0.80. Thus, the critical fraction of the number of un-rotated clusters (fc^U=1?fc^R) is close to the critical concentration of site percolation for metallic materials. The mechanism of the metastable Zr2Ni phase to vitrify with increasing f^R was analyzed with a concept of communal entropy in the free volume theory with solid- and liquid-like cells proposed by Cohen and Grest. The MD-PCM for the metastable Zr2Ni phase suggests that Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) can be regarded as an alloy in a high rotation entropy state of cl usters and that glass transition takes place by percolation of th e nuclei of a liquid-like glassy phase.     

镧离子修饰TiO2的制备及其光催化性能

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了La^3 修饰的TiO2光催化剂,通过XRD,TEM,Raman等考察了La^3 掺杂对TiO2结构的影响,并以液相苯酚光催化降解为探针,研究了La对TiO2催化性能的影响,结果表明：La^3 的掺杂能够显著提高TiO2的催化活性和热稳定性．主要归因①La^3 掺杂导致催化剂比表面积增加;②La^3 掺杂使锐钛矿相结晶度增加,同时有效抑制金红石相的出现．     

Structural transformation in supercooled water controls the crystallization rate of ice

One of water's unsolved puzzles is the question of what determines the lowest temperature to which it can be cooled before freezing to ice. The supercooled liquid has been probed experimentally to near the homogeneous nucleation temperature, T(H) ≈ 232 K, yet the mechanism of ice crystallization-including the size and structure of critical nuclei-has not yet been resolved. The heat capacity and compressibility of liquid water anomalously increase on moving into the supercooled region, according to power laws that would diverge (that is, approach infinity) at ~225 K (refs 1, 2), so there may be a link between water's thermodynamic anomalies and the crystallization rate of ice. But probing this link is challenging because fast crystallization prevents experimental studies of the liquid below T(H). And although atomistic studies have captured water crystallization, high computational costs have so far prevented an assessment of the rates and mechanism involved. Here we report coarse-grained molecular simulations with the mW water model in the supercooled regime around T(H) which reveal that a sharp increase in the fraction of four-coordinated molecules in supercooled liquid water explains its anomalous thermodynamics and also controls the rate and mechanisms of ice formation. The results of the simulations and classical nucleation theory using experimental data suggest that the crystallization rate of water reaches a maximum around 225 K, below which ice nuclei form faster than liquid water can equilibrate. This implies a lower limit of metastability of liquid water just below T(H) and well above its glass transition temperature, 136 K. By establishing a relationship between the structural transformation in liquid water and its anomalous thermodynamics and crystallization rate, our findings also provide mechanistic insight into the observed dependence of homogeneous ice nucleation rates on the thermodynamics of water.     

表面活性剂对草酸钙结晶的影响(综述)

综述了表面活性剂对尿结石主要组分草酸钙(CaOxa)晶体成核、生长、聚集和相变等过程的影响,讨论了表面活性剂与CaOxa晶体的作用机理,以期为CaOxa结石的形成和抑制提供一个更详尽的解释．     

化学沉积法制备CdS纳米薄膜及成膜机理

分别以Cd(NO_{3)2和(NH2)2CS作为镉源和硫源, 用化学沉积法(CBD)在ITO玻璃上生长CdS半导体纳米薄膜. 考察了Cd^{２＋浓度、 沉积温度、 沉积时间和后处理温度对CdS成膜的影响. 紫外 可见吸收谱和原子力显微镜结果表明, 改变溶液浓度和后处理温度都能有效调节CdS的吸收带边, 得到均一致密的CdS纳米薄膜. 探讨了膜形成机理, 给出了成核过程模型, 进一步修正了传统成膜机制. 认为ITO玻璃基片表面活性位和晶核的形成是均一致密CdS纳米膜形成的关键. 晶核的形成是电学、 热学、 力学和化学等因素共同作用的结果.}}     

Quadruplex structure of Oxytricha telomeric DNA oligonucleotides.

The telomeres of most eukaryotes contain a repeating G-rich sequence with the consensus d(T/A)1-4G1-8, of which 12-16 bases form a 3' single-strand overhang beyond the telomeric duplex. It has been proposed that these G-rich oligonucleotides associate to form four-stranded structures from one, two or four individual strands and that these structures may be relevant in vivo. The proposed structures contain Hoogsteen base-paired G-quartets, precedent for which has been in the literature for many years. Here we use 1H NMR spectroscopy to study the conformations of the DNA oligonucleotides d(G4T4G4) (Oxy-1.5) and d(G4T4G4T4G4T4G4) (Oxy-3.5) which contain the Oxytricha telomere repeat (T4G4). We find that these molecules fold to form a symmetrical bimolecular and an intramolecular quadruplex, respectively. Both structures have four G-quartets formed from nucleotides that are alternately syn and anti along each strand. This arrangement differs from earlier models in which the strands are alternately all syn or all anti. The T4 loops in Oxy-1.5 are on opposite ends of the quadruplex and loop diagonally across the G-quartet, resulting in adjacent strands being alternately parallel and antiparallel.     

科学:永无止境的迷宫--谈人类对物质结构的认识

通过人类对物质结构认识的发展简史以及粒子物理的重大进展，说明科学是类似于永无止境的迷宫，不可能走向终极。     

A common mammalian plan of accessory optic system organization revealed in all primates

The accessory optic system (AOS), which was described as early as 1870 by Gudden, constitutes a distinct midbrain visual pathway in all classes of vertebrates. In non-primate mammals, retinal fibres of this system project to a set of three nuclei: the dorsal (DTN), the lateral (LTN) and the medial (MTN) terminal nuclei. Whereas all AOS cells respond to the slow motion of large visual stimuli, the neurons are tuned to complementary directions of movement: horizontal temporo-nasal direction for the DTN, vertical up and down for the LTN and vertical down for the MTN. It has thus been suggested that these nuclei establish a system of retinal coordinates for the detection of whole field motion. As the AOS provides direct and indirect pathways to both oculomotor and vestibular structures, each of these nuclei is thought to be an essential link in the co-ordination of eye and head movements in relation to movement within the visual-field. One problem for the generalization of this theory is that the medial terminal nucleus has never been found in primates. In this report we establish both the existence of this nucleus and its afferent input from the retina in all major groups of primates (prosimians, New and Old World monkeys and apes), indicating a common anatomical plan of organization of the AOS in mammals.     

海相碳酸盐鲕粒形成过程的模拟实验研究

通过实验室模拟沉积环境的方法对鲕粒进行人工合成,探索鲕粒的形成过程及影响鲕粒形成的环境条件,实验的主要参数有体系中的藻类、体系的水动力和晶核数量。结果表明:静水条件及藻类活跃的人造海水中鲕粒的圈层结构及表面结晶程度发育最好,说明较弱的水动力及藻类的生物作用有助于鲕粒的生长;体系中碳酸钙晶核的数量是鲕粒能否形成的决定因素。根据晶核数量及反应活化能的不同,对海相碳酸盐鲕粒及泥晶灰岩的形成过程进行动力学分析。     

The rotating wind of the quasar PG 1700+518

It is now widely accepted that most galaxies undergo an active phase, during which a central super-massive black hole generates vast radiant luminosities through the gravitational accretion of gas. Winds launched from a rotating accretion disk surrounding the black hole are thought to play a critical role, allowing the disk to shed angular momentum that would otherwise inhibit accretion. Such winds are capable of depositing large amounts of mechanical energy in the host galaxy and its environs, profoundly affecting its formation and evolution, and perhaps regulating the formation of large-scale cosmological structures in the early Universe. Although there are good theoretical grounds for believing that outflows from active galactic nuclei originate as disk winds, observational verification has proven elusive. Here we show that structures observed in polarized light across the broad Halpha emission line in the quasar PG 1700+518 originate close to the accretion disk in an electron scattering wind. The wind has large rotational motions (approximately 4,000 km s(-1)), providing direct observational evidence that outflows from active galactic nuclei are launched from the disks. Moreover, the wind rises nearly vertically from the disk, favouring launch mechanisms that impart an initial acceleration perpendicular to the disk plane.     

TiB2粒子细化铝合金的电子理论分析

利用固体分子经验电子理论对在铝合金细化过程中起主要作用的TiB2 粒子的价电子结构进行了分析和计算。结果表明 ,TiB2 中的共价电子主要集中在最强的B B键上 ,其晶体中的B B键可形成稳固的六边形结构。大量弥散分布的TiB2 粒子在铝熔体中形成了与石墨类似的连续网状结构 ,为TiAl3 在其上成核提供了平面衬底。TiB2与TiAl3 之间的润湿角较小 ,使成核所需的能量较低。加之TiAl3 与α Al之间具有良好的晶格对应关系 ,从而形成了大量的异质晶核 ,使铝合金得到细化。