Related papers: Size-dependent spinodal and miscibility gaps for i…
One of the most fundamental questions in tribology concerns the area dependence of friction at the nanoscale. Here, experiments are presented where the frictional resistance of nanoparticles is measured by pushing them with the tip of an…
Mechanical interactions between biological cells may be mediated by secreted products, making them dependent on the local particle density. Here, we explore the generic physics of density-dependent attractive interactions. We show using…
Nickel-rich layered oxides have been widely used as positive electrode materials for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries, but their degradation has severely affected cell performance, in particular at a high voltage and temperature.…
We study various models of independent particles hopping between energy `traps' with a density of energy barriers $\rho(E)$, on a $d$ dimensional lattice or on a fully connected lattice. If $\rho(E)$ decays exponentially, a true dynamical…
Hybrid nanoparticles allow exploiting the interplay of confinement, proximity between different materials and interfacial effects. However, to harness their properties an in-depth understanding of their (meta)stability and interfacial…
In this work, we conducted molecular dynamics simulations to study the fracture mechanism of ice crystals in a bulk phase and at ice-ice interfaces at the atomistic scale. We show that there exists a narrow disordered interfacial layer…
We have used mesoscale simulations to study the effect of immobile particles on microstructure formation during spinodal decomposition in ternary mixtures such as polymer blends. Specifically, we have explored a regime of interparticle…
A variety of studies have modeled the physics of material deformation and damage as examples of generalized phase transitions, involving either critical phenomena or spinodal nucleation. Here we study a model for frictional sliding with…
A critical advantage of electrostatic assemblies over covalent and crystalline bound materials is that associated structures can be disassembled into their original constituents. Nanoscale devices designed for the controlled release of…
The phase separation mechanism of a binary liquid mixture off-critically quenched in its miscibility gap is nucleation and growth, its homogeneous phase reaching a metastable equilibrium state. The successive stages of growth of the…
The linear and cubic dynamic susceptibilities of solid dispersions of nano-sized maghemite particles have been measured for three samples with a volume concentration of magnetic particles ranging from 0.3 % to 17 %, in order to study the…
We present a continuum model for symmetry-breaking phase transformations in intercalation compounds, based on Ericksen's multi-well energy formulation. The model predicts the nucleation and growth of crystallographic microstructures in…
Achieving reversible anode-free solid-state batteries hinges on controlling alkali-metal plating and stripping at buried interfaces, yet the underlying nanoscale mechanisms remain unresolved. Here we introduce virtual-electrode low-energy…
Linear complexions are stable defect states, where the stress field associated with a dislocation induces a local phase transformation that remains restricted to nanoscale dimensions. As these complexions are born at the defects which…
Nanostructured Si is the most promising high-capacity anode material to substantially increase the energy density of Li-ion batteries. Among the remaining challenges is its low rate capability as compared to conventional materials. To…
Geometric frustration offers a pathway to soft matter self-assembly with controllable finite sizes. While the understanding of frustration in soft matter assembly derives almost exclusively from continuum elastic descriptions, a current…
We conduct a theoretical study of the bistable optical response of a nanoparticle heterodimer comprised of a closely spaced semiconductor quantum dot and metal nanoparticle. The bistable nature of the response results from the interplay…
As a typical immiscible binary system, copper (Cu) and lithium (Li) show no alloying and chemical intermixing under normal circumstances. A notable example that takes advantages of the immiscibility between Cu and Li is the widespread…
A fluid composed of two molecular species may undergo phase segregation via spinodal decomposition. However, if the two molecular species can interconvert, e.g. change their chirality, then a phenomenon of phase amplification, which has not…
The penetration of dendrites in ceramic lithium conductors severely constrains the development of solid-state batteries (SSBs) while its nanoscopic origin remain unelucidated. We develop an in-situ nanoscale electrochemical characterization…