Influences of oscillatory structural forces on dewetting of nanoparticle-laden ultrathin films

To understand the influences of nanoparticles on dewetting in ultra-thin films, both linear stability the- ory and numerical simulations are performed in the present study, with the consideration of oscillatory structural （OS） forces. Long scale approximation is utilized to simplify the hydrodynamic and diffusion equations to a nonlinear system for film thickness and nanoparticle concentration. Results show that the presence of nanoparticles generally suppresses the dewetting process. Two physical mechanisms responsi- ble for this phenomenon are addressed in the present study. When the oscillatory structural forces are relatively smaller, the essential feature of film evolution is similar to the case of particle-free flow. The reduction of the linear growth rate and the postponement of film rupturing can be attributed to the increment of the viscosity due to the presence of nanoparti- cles. On the other hand, when the intensity of the OS forces becomes stronger, the stepwise thinning of film can be ob- served which prevents the film from rupture. Numerical sim- ulations indicate that this phenomenon is caused by the ex- istence of a stable zone due to the oscillatory nature of the structural forces. Another interesting finding is that the non- uniformity of the distribution of nanoparticle concentration might destabilize a spinodally stable film, and trigger the oc- currence of film dewetting.

AN ANALYTICAL METHOD FOR SOLVING INTERNAL FORCES AND DEFORMATIONS OF BAR-SYSTEM STRUCTURE IN SPACE

In this paper, based on the idea of finite element method, the initial parametric method in bending, problem of a beam is extended to analyse the bar-system structure by employing Dirac function and llcavisidc step function.Then a new method for analysing the internal forces and deformations of bar-system structure in space is suggested by improving the mixed method in statically indeterminate structure.The inferred process and obtained answer will be more succinct and accurate when the problem of internal forces and deformations of bar-system structure is analysed by using the new method provided in this paper.

A NUMERICAL METHOD FOR SECOND ORDER MEAN FORCES AND SLOWLY VARYING FORCES ON A FLOATING STRUCTURE

Existing far field expressions of second order potentials are by no means complete.Hence there has been no exact far field expression of second order potentials.In this paper the far field expression for Φ_d^((2)) is purposely avoided in deducing the formulae of second order forces and a series of functions Φ_(dRn)^((?)) are used.The far field expression of is given,which for (x,U,z)∈Σ,φ_(dRn)^((2))(?) φ_d^((2)).Using these properties formulae for calculating second order diffraction forces are obtained.To calculate the integral ∫∫_(?)1/g f_(?)Ψ_(?)ds it is divided into two parts.One is the integral over a finite domain and the function under the integral is continuous,so the usual approximate integration formulae may be used. The other is the integral over an infinite domain.Using the far field expression of first order potentials,formulae for calculating the integral to meet given accuracies are given. The mooring force in surge direction is used for comparison between numerical predictions and experimental measurements.The predicted results are checked against the measured value in a specially designed test.In the low frequency domain of interest,the mooring forces in surge,for calculated and experimental spectra are in good consistency so long as the damping coefficients is choosen appropriately.

THE COMPUTATION OF SEEPAGE FORCE ON MARINE STRUCTURES WITH FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The wave-induced seepage force is investigated on marine structures resting on or buried in the seabed.The bed is modelled as a poroelastic medium containing a nearly saturated water.The governing equations are solved with Finite Element Method.For a pipeline buried in the seabed,agreement between the present numerical results and that of Cheng H.D.(1986)is quite satisfactory.

Self-assembly and morphological characterization of two-component functional amyloid proteins

Functional amyloid has been increasingly applied as self-assembling nanostructures to construct multifunctional biomaterials.However,little has been known how different side domains,varied fusion positions and subunits affect self-assembly and morphologies of amyloid fibrils.Here,we constructed three groups of two-component amyloid proteins based on CsgA,the major protein components of Escherichia coli biofilms,to bridge these gaps.We showed that all fusion proteins have amyloid features,as indicated by Congo red assay.Atomic force microscopy（AFM） indeed reveals that these fusion proteins are able to self-assemble into fibrils,with an average diameter of 0.5-2 nm and length of hundreds of nanometers to several micrometers.The diameter of fibrils increases with the increase of the molecular weight of fusion domains,while the dynamic assembly of recombinant proteins was delayed as a result of the introduction of fusion domains.Moreover,fusion of the same functional domains but at intermediate position seems to cause the most interference on fibril assembly compared with those fused at C or Nterminus,as mainly short and irregular fibrils were detected.This phenomenon appears more pronounced for randomly coiled mussel foot proteins（Mfps） than for rigid chitin-binding domain（CBD）.Finally,increase of the molecular weight of tandem repeats in protein monomer seemed to increase the fibril diameter of the resultant fibrils,but either reduction of the tandem repeats of CsgA to one single belta-sheet loop or increase in the number of tandem repeats of CsgAs from one to four produced shorter and intermittent fibrils compared with CsgA control protein.These studies therefore provide insights into self-assembly of two-component amyloid proteins and lay the foundation for rational design of multifunctional molecular biomaterials.

High electrocaloric cooling power of relaxor ferroelectric BaZr_xTi_(1–x)O_3 ceramics within broad temperature range

Electrocaloric effect （ECE） is much promising to realize high efficiency and environment friendly solution in solid cooling devices. Relaxor ferroelectrics are good candidates for the materials with high elec-trocaloric cooling power. In this paper, relaxor ferroelectric Ba（ZrxTil_x）O3 （BZT, x = 0.2, 0.21, 0.22, 0.23） ceramics were prepared with their temperature change （AT） induced by the ECE and electrocaloric strength （AT/E） measured within broad temperature range. It is found that the BZT21 （x = 0.21) exhibits the largest ATof-4.67 K and a high AT/E value of-0.46 km/MV at 9.9 MV/m and 25℃. BZT21 also exhi-bits apparent relaxor ferroelectric response, showing a very broad EC peak in the temperature interval between 15℃ and 50℃. Moreover, the relationship between EC properties and relaxor features was analyzed by piezoresponse force microscopy test. The results reveal that more dispersed phase structures induce additional configurational entropy, which is in favor for the enhanced EC performance. The inter-play and compromise between the kinetic and thermodynamic mechanisms of domain switching deter-mines the optimal composition for the EC performances of the BZT ceramics.

Effects of concave and convex substrate curvature on cell mechanics and the cytoskeleton

In order to understand how cells respond to concave and convex subcellular surface structures,colloidal crystal array and honeycomb-structured surfaces composed of highly ordered hexagonal units with completely inverse curvature were fabricated via facile self-assembly and breath figure approaches,respectively.The influence of hexagonal surface curvature on cell fate was subsequently investigated.Cells underwent more extensive spreading on the convex colloidal crystal array surface,while adhesive forces were higher on the concave honeycomb surface.The behaviors of cells on the different surfaces were investigated by comparing cell morphology,cellular adhesive force and cytoskeleton structure.The results revealed comprehensive differences in cell behavior between those on concave honeycomb surfaces and convex colloidal crystal arrays.