Developing novel liquid crystal technologies for display and photonic applications

Modern liquid crystal displays (LCDs) require novel technologies, such as new alignment methods to eliminate alignment layers, fast response and long operation time. To this end, we report an overview of recent efforts in LCD technologies devoted to realize more display modes having no alignment layer, faster switching time and low battery consumption. In particular, we overview recent advances on the liquid crystals (LCs) alignment for display applications, which includes superfine nanostructures, polymeric microchannels and polymer stabilized LCs. Furthermore, we analyze the main optical and electro-optical properties of new generation LCDs displays addressing a particular attention to LCs blue phase hosting gold nanoparticles. Moreover, we focus on the progress of electrofluidic displays, which demonstrates characteristics that are similar to LCDs, with attention on various pixel designs, operation principles and possible future trends of the technology.     

Cover Picture: Arresting,Fixing, and Separating Dimers Composed of Uniform Silica Colloidal Spheres (Adv. Funct. Mater. 12/2006)

In colloidal suspensions of silica, particles undergo constant collisions. By controlling various parameters, the repulsive barrier can be reduced, thereby substantially increasing the number of collision‐induced dimerization events. Xia and co‐workers report on p. 1627 that the dimers could be arrested and then permanently fixed by introducing a small amount of fresh tetraethylorthosilicate into the colloidal suspension, with monodisperse dimer yields of up to 50 %. This yield could be increased to 80 % by centrifugation in a density gradient medium. When fresh tetraethylorthosilicate is introduced into a colloidal suspension of silica spheres, it hydrolyzes and condenses in situ to arrest and fix the dimers resulting from constant collisions between the spheres. By optimizing the experimental parameters (including the length of aging time) and the diameter of the silica spheres, as well as the concentrations of counterions, water, and ammonia, it is possible to routinely produce monodisperse dimers with a yield as high as 50 %. When combined with centrifugation using a density gradient medium, the yield of such dimers could be further increased to 80 %. It is believed that this method will provide a simple and versatile approach to the high‐volume production of dimers from spherical colloids composed of different materials. These dimers may find widespread use in a range of applications such as fabrication of photonic crystals and fundamental studies related to colloidal science.     

机械合金化Fe-Ni粉末的相结构

使用XRD和Moessbauer等方法，研究了在Ar气氛下机械合金化Fe—Ni粉末相结构的变化．结果表明，在机械合金化Fe64-Ni36粉末过程中，fcc相的数量随着球磨时间的增加先增加然后减少，与加乙醇球磨Fe64-Ni36的情形相同．当Ni的含量(原子分数)大于50％时，有fcc相、顺磁相和FeNi3形成，当Ni的含量低于50％时，bcc相的数量随着Ni含量减少而增加．Moessbauer谱的结果表明，因球磨时间或Fe、Ni比例的不同，Fe—Ni球磨粉末固溶体具有不同结构的原子配比。     

大块非晶合金的性能、制备及应用

综述了大块非晶合金的性能、制备方法及应用，对比了吸铸法制备的棒状Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5,Zr57Cu20Al10Ni8Ti5,Zr52.5Ti5Cu17.9Ni14.6Al10(原子分数)大块非晶样品的过冷温度区间宽度(△Tx)，给出了3种大块非晶合金系列的热稳定性参数Tg、Tx及△Tx，提出了大块非晶合金领域存在的问题及发展方向．     

Panchromatic Chromophore Mixtures in an AlPO4‐5 Molecular Sieve: Spatial Separation Effects and Energy Transfer Cascades

Dye‐loaded AlPO₄‐5 single crystals were prepared by microwave‐assisted hydrothermal synthesis from a batch, containing a mixture of three chromophores (Coumarin 40, Rhodamine BE50, and Oxazine 1) differing in their absorption range, molecular dimensions, and solubilities. Confocal fluorescence images reveal a spatial separation effect of the dye molecules, where the slimmer, more‐soluble dye molecule (Coumarin 40) is uniformly distributed in the body of the single crystal, and the bulky and/or less‐soluble ones (Rhodamine BE50, Oxazine 1) are situated in distinct domains. Visible spectra show good panchromatic absorption of visible light. Fluorescence lifetime measurements indicate the presence of an energy transfer cascade of the entirely fixed dye molecules from Coumarin 40 to Oxazine 1. The transfer mechanism is predominantly radiative.     

Continuous precipitation of calcium sulfate dihydrate from waste sulfuric acid and lime

Precipitation of calcium sulfate dihydrate, gypsum, from (i) a pure sulfuric acid/lime suspension and (ii) a waste sulfuric acid/lime suspension in a continuous pilot plant in the temperature range from 40 °C to 80 °C was studied. It was observed that in the case of waste sulfuric acid with a high content of Mg²⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions, several hours after the beginning of the precipitation, partial dissolution of the product and modification of the crystals from needle‐ and plate‐like to agglomerated structures occurred. It is suggested that the secondary changes occur due to the increased concentration of Mg²⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions in the reactor. Below 60 °C, and above 70 °C plate‐like and needle‐like single crystals respectively were formed. The mean size (d₅₀) of the crystals was found to increase with increasing temperature and decrease with the initial concentration of lime. Gypsum produced between 70 °C and 80 °C is suitable for further processing for construction plaster. In a precipitation process with pure sulfuric acid only single perfect needle‐like crystals occurred. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

A One-Dimensional Nonlocal Damage-Plasticity Model for Ductile Materials

This paper presents a new 1-D non-local damage-plasticity deformation model for ductile materials. It uses the thermodynamic framework described in Houlsby and Puzrin (2000) and holds, nevertheless, some similarities with Lemaitre’s (1971) approach. A 1D finite element (FE) model of a bar fixed at one end and loaded in tension at the other end is introduced. This simple model demonstrates how the approach can be implemented within the finite element framework, and that it is capable of capturing both the pre-peak hardening and post-peak softening (generally responsible for models instability) due to damage-induced stiffness and strength reduction characteristic of ductile materials. It is also shown that the approach has further advantages of achieving some degree of mesh independence, and of being able to capture deformation size effects. Finally, it is illustrated how the model permits the calculation of essential work of rupture (EWR), i.e. the specific energy per unit cross-sectional area that is needed to cause tensile failure of a specimen.     

锌电积的节电探讨

分析厂影响锌电积电能消耗的因素，提出了锌电积的节电对策与展望。     

基于光敏自组装多层膜的液晶光控取向膜

采用layer-by-layer(LBL)的方法，将基板依次在具有光敏双键的季铵盐水溶液和聚乙烯基苯磺酸钠水溶液中浸泡，石英基板表面形成了自组装多层沉积膜。经线性偏振紫外光辐照后，LBL多层膜表现出明显的紫外吸收各向异性。将两片带有各向异性薄膜的基板做成平行液晶器件。在正交的偏光显微镜下观察，发现取得均一、稳定的取向效果。该种光控取向膜有望用作LCoS微显示的取向层。     

光声耦合与光子Cooper对

文中研究了光声耦合所导致的光子Cooper对的形成机制，计算了光子Cooper对的能隙（0.01eV）和尺度（10^-5m)以及内禀角动量（奇数），并简要讨论了几十开低温下介质中光的超流效应的可能性。由于在低温下， 光子Cooper对不容易受到热运动的激发，因此有可能存在光的超流现象。