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Materials that are strong, ultra-light weight and tough are in demand for a range of applications, requiring architectures and components carefully designed from the micrometer down to nanometer scales. Nacre-a structure found in many…
Molecular dynamics (MD) is employed to investigate the plastic deformation mechanisms of single crystalline yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia (YSTZ) nanopillars under uniaxial compression. Simulation results show that the nanoscale…
Direct observation of organic molecular nanocrystals and their evolution using electron microscopy is extremely challenging, due to their radiation sensitivity and complex structure. Here, we introduce 4D-scanning confocal electron…
Pure and homogeneous biological macromolecules (i.e. proteins, nucleic acids, protein-protein or protein-nucleic acid complexes, and functional assemblies such as ribosomes and viruses) are the key for consistent and reliable biochemical…
Coarsening of bicontinuous microstructures is observed in a variety of systems, such as nanoporous metals and mixtures that have undergone spinodal decomposition. To better understand the morphological evolution of these structures during…
In many biological materials with a hierarchical structure there is an intriguing and unique mechanism responsible for the 'propagation' of order from the molecular to the nano- or micro-scale level. Here we present a much simpler molecular…
Twisted and rope-like assemblies of filamentous molecules are common and vital structural elements in cells and tissue of living organisms. We study the intrinsic frustration occurring in these materials between the two-dimensional…
Unlike most synthetic materials, biological materials often stiffen as they are deformed. This nonlinear elastic response, critical for the physiological function of some tissues, has been documented since at least the 19th century, but the…
To explore the role of the olivine grain size and crystal preferred orientation (CPO) on the evolution of the microstructure and the mechanical behaviour of upper mantle rocks up to large strains, we performed axial extension experiments at…
A continuum dislocation model of formation of grains whose boundaries have a non-vanishing thickness is proposed. For a single crystal deforming in simple shear the lamellar structure of grains with thin layers containing dislocations as…
The internal energy associated with the defect microstructure of strongly deformed crystals provides an important driving force for grain boundary motion during recrystallization. Typical dislocation microstructures are strongly…
Linear complexions are stable defect states that form along dislocations and recent experiments have demonstrated strengthening effects exceeding classical precipitation hardening predictions, motivating a detailed study of nanoscale…
Experimentally obtained X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns can be difficult to solve, precluding the full characterization of materials, pharmaceuticals, and geological compounds. Herein, we propose a method based upon a multi-objective…
There is a growing need for biolabels that can be used in both optical and electron microscopies, are non-cytotoxic, and do not photobleach. Such biolabels could enable targeted nanoscale imaging of sub-cellular structures, and help to…
An intrinsic feature of disordered and out-of-equilibrium materials, such as glasses, is the dependence of their properties on their history. An important example is rheological memory, in which disordered solids obtain properties based on…
The recrystallized grain size and texture in alloys can be controlled via the microchemistry state during thermomechanical processing. The influence of concurrent precipitation on recovery and recrystallization is here analyzed by directly…
We explore the nematic ordering of the rod-like liquid crystals 5CB and 6CB, embedded into parallel-aligned nanochannels in mesoporous silicon and silica membranes as a function of mean channel radius (4.7<=R <=8.3 nm), and thus geometrical…
We use computer simulation to study crystal-forming model proteins equipped with interactions that are both orientationally specific and nonspecific. Distinct dynamical pathways of crystal formation can be selected by tuning the strengths…
Diatoms are microscopic algae found in all of Earths water courses. They produce frustules, porous silica exoskeletons, grown by precipitation of silicic acid from water. Frustule components, known as girdles, from some diatom species also…
Revealing the structure of complex biological macromolecules, such as proteins, is an essential step for understanding the chemical mechanisms that determine the diversity of their functions. Synchrotron based x-ray crystallography and…