Related papers: The physics of cement cohesion
Interfacial hydration structures are crucial in wide-ranging applications, including battery, colloid, lubrication etc. Multivalent ions like Mg2+ and La3+ show irreplaceable roles in these applications, which are hypothesized due to their…
In this paper, the effectiveness utilization of agriculture wastes and industrial wastes in the composites cement has been studied in terms of physical and mechanical properties. Twenty weight percent of fly ash and eighty weight percent of…
Hydrogen threatens the structural integrity of metals and thus predicting hydrogen-material interactions is key to unlocking the role of hydrogen in the energy transition. Quantifying the interplay between material deformation and hydrogen…
This article gives an overview of recent theoretical and experimental findings concerning the hydrodynamic interaction between liquid-embedded particles in various confined geometries. A simple unifying description emerges, which accounts…
The erosion and transport of particles by an impinging turbulent jet in air is observed in various situations, such as the cleaning of a surface or during the landing of a spacecraft. The presence of inter-particle cohesive forces modifies…
Strong shear thickening and jamming in dense suspensions are driven by friction as particles are sheared into contact. Control over these frictional interactions can be achieved via particle shape and roughness, and also via the particles'…
Hydrogen bonds are of paramount importance in the chemistry of clays, mediating the interaction between the clay surface and water, and for some materials between separate layers. It is well-established that the accuracy of a computational…
Quantum coherence is an essential ingredient in quantum information processing and plays a central role in emergent fields such as nanoscale thermodynamics and quantum biology. However, our understanding and quantitative characterization of…
Soft materials capable of large inelastic deformation play an essential role in high-performance nacre-inspired architectured materials with a combination of stiffness, strength and toughness. The rigid "building blocks" made from glass or…
Cohesion mechanism of cubic approximant crystals of newly discovered binary quasicrystals, Cd$_6$M (M=Yb and Ca), are studied theoretically. It is found that stabilization due to alloying is obtained if M is an element with low-lying…
The aggregation of clay particles in aqueous solution is a ubiquitous everyday process of broad environmental and technological importance. However, it is poorly understood at the all-important atomistic level since it depends on a complex…
Intuitively, droplets in proximity merge when brought into contact. However, under certain conditions, they may not coalesce due to the entrapment of an interstitial gas film. Non-coalescence between water droplets has so far been observed…
Understanding the molecular and electronic structure of electrolytes at interfaces requires an analysis of the interactions between the electrode surface, the ions, and the solvent environment on equal footing. Here, we tackle this…
We have used calculations based on density functional theory to investigate the energetics of hydrogen absorption in calcium-intercalated graphites. We focus particularly on the absorption energy and the stability of the hydrogenated…
The structure of polymers at solid interfaces evolves over time, but the corresponding changes in their rheological properties remain poorly understood. Here, using a home-built quartz tuning fork atomic force microscope-based…
Thermodynamics tells us to expect underwater contact between two hydrophobic surfaces to result in stronger adhesion compared to two hydrophilic surfaces. However, presence of water changes not only energetics, but also the dynamic process…
Droplet coalescence is essential in a host of biological and industrial processes, involving complex systems as diverse as cellular aggregates, colloidal suspensions, and polymeric liquids. Classical solutions for the time evolution of…
In this study, molecular dynamic simulations are employed to investigate the nucleation of NaCl crystal in solutions. According to the simulations, the dissolved behaviors of NaCl in water are dependent on ion concentrations. With…
Existence of strongly bound water molecules on silicate surfaces, above the desorption temperature of water ice, has been first predicted by computational studies and recently demonstrated by laboratory experiments. Such trapped water may…
When two solid surfaces are brought in contact, water vapor present in the ambient air may condense in the region of the contact to form a liquid bridge connecting the two surfaces : this is the so-called capillary condensation. This…