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We present high-resolution optical birefringence measurements upon sequential filling of an array of parallel-aligned nanochannels (14~nm mean diameter) with rod-like (acetonitrile) and disc-like (hexafluorobenzene) molecules. We will…
Brittle fracturing of materials is common in natural and industrial processes over a variety of length scales. Knowledge of individual particle dynamics is vital to obtain deeper insight into the atomistic processes governing crack…
We present an optimization-driven approach to creating a double-tough ceramic material with a brick-and-mortar microstructure, where the mortar is itself transformation-toughened, engineered with the goal of simultaneously achieving high…
We investigate two-dimensional crystal assemblies formed by a binary mixture of colloidal particles with a size ratio of 0.88 and driven by short-ranged depletion interactions. Our experiments show that the orientational order of the…
Bone is a stiff and though, hierarchical and continuously evolving material that optimizes its structure to respond to mechanical stimuli, which also govern growth and remodeling processes. However, a full understanding of the underlying…
Bone is a multiscale heterogeneous materiel of which principal function is to support the body structure and to resist mechanical loading and fractures. Bone strength does not depend only on the quantity and quality of bone which is…
The necking instability is a precursor to tensile failure and rupture of materials. A quasistatically loaded free-standing uniaxial specimen typically exhibits necking at a single location, corresponding to a long wavelength bifurcation…
Optical anisotropy is a fundamental attribute of some crystalline materials and is quantified via birefringence. A birefringent crystal not only gives rise to asymmetrical light propagation but also attenuation along two distinct…
Under normal conditions, bulk crystals of BiScO$_3$ , BiCrO$_3$, BiMnO$_3$, BiFeO$_3$, and BiCoO$_3$ present three very different variations of the perovskite structure: an antipolar phase, a rhombohedral phase with a large polarization…
Natural ceramic composites present complex microstructures that lead to tortuous crack paths and confer them high toughness. Current microreinforced composites do not yet reach the same level of complexity in their microstructures,…
We have developed a method for prediction of the hardest crystal structures in a given chemical system. It is based on the evolutionary algorithm USPEX (Universal Structure Prediction: Evolutionary Xtallography) and electronegativity-based…
Bimetallic nanoparticles (often known as nanoalloys) with core-shell arrangement are of special interest in several applications, such as in optics, catalysis, magnetism and biomedicine. Despite wide interest in applications, the physical…
The locations of the fully despun, double synchronous end states of tidal evolution are derived for spherical components. With the exception of nearly equal-mass binaries, binary asteroid systems are in the midst of lengthy tidal…
The transport of bio-particles in viscous flows exhibits a rich variety of dynamical behaviour, such as morphological transitions, complex orientation dynamics or deformations. Characterising such complex behaviour under well controlled…
One of many important features of the tumour microenvironment is that it is a place of active Darwinian selection where different tumour clones become adapted to the variety of ecological niches that make up the microenvironment. These…
Living organisms are molecular systems with self-sustained dynamics via energy conversion through molecular cooperation, resulting in highly complex macroscopic behaviors. Construction of such autonomous macroscopic dynamics at a molecular…
Expanding the library of self-assembled superstructures provides insight into the behavior of atomic crystals and supports the development of materials with mesoscale order. Here we build upon recent findings of soft matter quasicrystals…
Spontaneous self-assembly of hard convex polyhedra are known to form orientationally disordered crystalline phases, where particle orientations do not follow the same pattern as the positional arrangement of the crystal. A distinct type of…
We demonstrate with experiments and simulations how microscopic self-propelled particles navigate through environments presenting complex spatial features, which mimic the conditions inside cells, living organisms and future lab-on-a-chip…
Understanding the evolution of dislocation structures during plastic deformation is critical for predicting the mechanical performance of metallic materials. In this work, we applied in situ scanning electron microscopy/electron backscatter…