Understanding the alkyl effect of geminal dinitropropyl ester energetic plasticizers on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene(HTPB):Simultaneous tuning on low temperature behavior and processability

Geminal dinitropropyl ester plasticizers(DNPEPs) possess excellent energetic performances which provide good potentials as insensitive plasticizer. In this study, we design and synthesize DNPEPs with different alkane chain parts, and systematically investigate their structure-property relationships.Results show that DNPEPs have impact sensitivities all higher than 25.2 J, thermal decomposition temperatures all higher than 254 ℃, and glass transition temperatures(T_(g)) lower than-90 ℃.Furthermore, the effects of DNPEPs as plasticizer are studied on hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene(HTPB) in detail, including the viscosity, glass transition temperatures and others. It is noteworthy that 2,2-dinitropropyl nonanoate(DNPNc) among these DNPEPs exhibits the most expected simultaneous tuning effects on both viscosity and T_(g) of HTPB systems, providing favorable potentials to replace the conventional plastizers as dioctyl sebacate(DOS) in the HTPB based propellants and explosives.

A ten-fold coordinated high-pressure structure in hafnium dihydrogen with increasing superconducting transition temperature induced by enhancive pressure

High pressure is an effective method to induce structural and electronic changes,creating novel high-pressure structures with excellent physical and chemical properties.Herein,we investigate the structural phase transition of hafnium dihydrogen(HfH2)in a pressure range of 0 GPa-500 GPa through the first-principles calculations and the crystal structure analysis by particle swarm optimization(CALYPSO)code.The high-pressure phase transition sequence of HfH2is I4/mmm→Cmma→P-3m1 and the two phase transition pressure points are 220.21 GPa and 359.18 GPa,respectively.A newly trigonal P-3m1 structure with 10-fold coordination first appears as an energy superior structure under high pressure.These three structures are all metallic with the internal ionic bonding of Hf and H atoms.Moreover,the superconducting transition temperature(Tc)values of Cmma at 300 GPa and P-3m1 at 500 GPa are 3.439 K and 19.737 K,respectively.Interestingly,the superconducting transition temperature of the P-3m1 structure presents an upward trend with the pressure rising,which can be attributed to the increase of electron-phonon coupling caused by the enhanced Hf-d electronic density of states at Fermi level under high pressure.

Discovery of controllable high Chern number quantum anomalous Hall state in tetragonal lattice FeSIn

Quantum anomalous Hall(QAH) insulators have excellent properties driven by fancy topological physics, but their practical application is greatly hindered by the observed temperature of liquid nitrogen, and the QAH insulator with high Chern number is conducive to spintronic devices with lower energy consumption. Here, we find that monolayer Fe SIn is a good candidate for realizing the QAH phase;it exhibits a high magnetic transition temperature of 221 K and tunable C = ±2 with respect to magnetization orientation in the y–z plane. After the application of biaxial strain, the magnetic axis shifts from the x–y plane to the z direction, and the effect of the high C and ferromagnetic ground state on the stress is robust. Also, the effect of correlation U on C has been examined. These properties are rooted in the large size of the Fe atom that contributes to ferromagnetic kinetic exchange with neighboring Fe atoms. These findings demonstrate monolayer Fe SIn to be a major template for probing novel QAH devices at higher temperatures.

QSPR Study on the Glass Transition Temperature of Polyacrylates

Structural parameters of 22 polyacrylic compounds were computed at two levels using Hartree-Fock and DFT methods. Based on the experimental data of glass transition temperature （Tg）, four-parameter （energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital （ELoMO）, the highest positive charge （Qmax^＋）, dipole moments（μ） and the next highest occupied molecular orbital （ENLOMO）） dependent equations were developed using structural parameters as theoretical descriptors. Especially, Tg dependent equation calculated at the HF/6-31G（d） level is more advantageous than others in view of their correlation and predictive abilities. This dependent equation was validated by variance inflation factors （VIF） and t-test methods.

Fabrication and characterization of SmO_(0.7)F_(0.2)FeAs bulk with a transition temperature of 56.5 K

The superconductivity of iron-based superconductor SmO 0.7 F 0.2 FeAs was investigated. The SmO 0.7 F 0.2 FeAs sample was prepared by the two-step solid-state reaction method. The onset resistivity transition temperature is as high as 56.5 K. X-ray diffraction （XRD） results show that the lattice parameters a and c are 0.39261 and 0.84751 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the global J c was more than 2.3 × 10 5 A/cm 2 at T = 10 K and H = 9 T, which was calculated by the formula of J c = 20ΔM/[a（1-a/（3b））]. The upper critical fields, H c2 ≈ 256 T （T = 0 K）, was determined according to the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg formula, indicating that the SmO 0.7 F 0.2 FeAs was a superconductor with a very promising application.

High temperature strain glass in Ti–Au and Ti–Pt based shape memory alloys

Strain glass is a frozen short-range strain ordered state found in shape memory alloys recently, which exhibits novel properties around the ideal glass transition temperature T_(0). However, the T_(0) of current strain glass systems is still very low, limiting their potential applications and experimental studies. In this paper, we reported two new strain glass systems with relatively high T_(0). In Ti_(50)Au_(50-x)Cr_(x) alloys, the strain glass appears at x = 25, and exhibits a T_(0) of 251 K, while in Ti_(50)Pt_(50-y)Fey alloys, the strain glass takes place at y = 30, and shows a T_(0) of 272 K. Both of them are comparable with the highest T_(0) value reported so far. Moreover, the phase diagrams of main strain glass systems in Ti-based alloys were summarized. It is found that the influence of the martensitic transformation temperature of the host alloy on the T_(0) of the strain glass is limited. This work may help to design new strain glass systems with higher T_(0) above ambient temperature.

Temperature and doping dependent flat-band superconductivity on the Lieb-lattice

We consider the superconducting properties of Lieb lattice, which produces a flat-band energy spectrum in the normal state under the strong electron–electron correlation. Firstly, we show the hole-doping dependent superconducting order amplitude with various electron–electron interaction strengths in the zero-temperature limit. Secondly, we obtain the superfluid weight and Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless(BKT) transition temperature with a lightly doping level. The large ratio between the gap-opening temperature and BKT transition temperature shows similar behavior to the pseudogap state in high-T_(c) superconductors. The BKT transition temperature versus doping level exhibits a dome-like shape in resemblance to the superconducting dome observed in the high-T_(c) superconductors. However, unlike the exponential dependence of T_(c) on the electron–electron interaction strength in the conventional high-T_(c) superconductors, the BKT transition temperature for a flat band system depends linearly on the electron–electron interaction strength. We also show the doping-dependent superconductivity on a lattice with the staggered hoping parameter in the end. Our predictions are amenable to verification in the ultracold atoms experiment and promote the understanding of the anomalous behavior of the superfluid weight in the high-T_(c) superconductors.

SIGMAPLUG—A NEW TEMPERATURE INDICATOR FOR REMAINING LIFE ASSESSMENT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPONENTS

Improved life assessment techniques will enable engineering components to be replaced before failure, thereby reducing the risk of industrial accidents as well as minimizing financial loss due to unscheduled outages. For components operating at high temperatures, temperature measurement is very important. In many situations, the environmental conditions are too hostile for conventional techniques to be used. Researchers over the world have been looking for new techniques for temperature measurement and one such device, called Feroplug, has been developed previously by the and coworkers. The Feroplug has been patented in USA, UK and Europe by the British Technology Group. The underlying principle of the Feroplug is based on the transformation of ferrite in some specially designed duplex stainless steels. This paper describes a new invention called Sigmaplug which is a new development of the Feroplug but using an entirely different physical principle. It was discovered that the sigma phase in Fe

CHARACTERISTIC TRANSITION TEMPERATURE OF BRITTLENESS OF LOW CARBON STEEL

On the basis of analysis of low carbon steel fracture macro-features and micro-processes at low temperature,the definition was given of the characteristic transition temperature of brittleness,T_(pm),and its physical meaning was expounded.Discussion was carried out of phys- ical characteristic of variation at T_(pm) in respect of the fracture toughness and property of crack arrest.In addition,research was made on the application of T_(pm),which can give infor- mation about the transition of the fracture toughness,the property of crack arrest and critical crack size,to estimation the brittleness of low carbon steel at low temperatures.

EFFECT OF DUCTILE-BRITYLE TRANSITION TEMPERATURE OF Al-Si COATING ON FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF Ni-BASE SUPERALLOYS

The effect of Al content on the ductile-brittle transition temperature of Al-Si coating and the effect of fracture behaviour.of the Al-Si coating on the fatigue properties of Ni-base superallovs have been investigated to propose the theoretical basis of search for an optimum of mechanical properties of the high temperature coating on Ni-base alloys.

POLYMER CHAIN DIFFUSION AT A TEMPERATURE BELOW ITS BULK GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURE

In this study, it was examined whether the dynamics of polymer chains at a surface is different from that in thebulk, and if so, to what extent they differ in terms of surface glass transition temperature and diffusion coefficient. Obtainedresults clearly indicate that surface chains can travel for a relatively large distance in comparison with the characteristiclength scale of usual segmental motion even at a temperature below its bulk glass transition temperature, T_g^b. This isconsistent with our previous results that the surface glass transition temperature is much lower than the corresponding T_g^b.Also, it was experimentally revealed that there was a gradient of molecular motion in the surface region.

Gate-regulated transition temperatures for electron hopping behaviours in silicon junctionless nanowire transistors

We investigate gate-regulated transition temperatures for electron hopping behaviours through discrete ionized dopant atoms in silicon junctionless nanowire transistors.We demonstrate that the localization length of the wave function in the spatial distribution is able to be manipulated by the gate electric field.The transition temperatures regulated as the function of the localization length and the density of states near the Fermi energy level allow us to understand the electron hopping behaviours under the influence of thermal activation energy and Coulomb interaction energy.This is useful for future quantum information processing by single dopant atoms in silicon.

Effects of C60 on the Glass Transition Temperature of Carbazole-based Photorefractive Polyphosphazenes

The bi-functional carbazole-based photorefractive polyphosphazenes with different content of C_（60）-doped were fabricated. The glass transition temperature（T_g） of these polymer composite materials was determined using a differential scanning calorimetric（DSC） method. According to the DSC measurement results with different heating rates, the variation of T_g and the active energy of glass transition（E_g） were analyzed in detail. The analysis results indicate that the transition region shifts to higher temperatures with increasing heating rate, and C_（60） content（below 1.0 wt%） can influence the T_g of photorefractive polyphosphazenes. The T_g first increases and then decreases with the C_（60） content（below 1.0 wt%）. The probable causes of the influence of C_（60） on T_g was proposed.

Creep performance of PVC aged at temperature relatively close to glass transition temperature

In order to predict the mechanical performance of the polyvinyl chloride （PVC） at a high operating temperature, a series of short-term tensile creep tests （one- tenth of the physical aging time） of the PVC are carried out at 63 ℃ with a small constant stress by a dynamic mechanical analyzer （DMA）. The Struik-Kohlrausch （SK） formula and Struik shifting methods are used to describe these creep data for various physical aging time. A new phenomenological model based on the multiple relaxation mechanisms of an amorphous polymer is developed to quantitatively characterize the SK parameters （the initial creep compliance, the characteristic retardation time, and the shape factor） determined by the aging time. It is shown that the momentary creep compliance curve of the PVC at 63℃ can be very well fitted by the SK formula for each aging time. However, the SK parameters for the creep curves are not constant during the aging process at the elevated temperatures, and the evolution of these parameters and the creep rate versus aging time curves at the double logarithmic coordinafes have shown a nonlinear phenomenon. Moreover, the creep master curves obtained by the superposition with the Struik shifting methods are unsatisfactory in such a case. Finally, the predicted results calculated from the present model incorporating with the SK formula are in excellent agreement with the creep experimental data for the PVC isothermally aged at the temperature relatively close to the glass transition temperature.

Prediction of Glass Transition Temperatures of Polyarylates Using a Support Vector Machine Model

A three-descriptor quantitative structure-property relationship （QSPR） model, based on the support vector machine （SVM） algorithm, was constructed to predict the glass transition temperatures （Tgs） ofpolyarylates with complex structures. A total of 50 polyarylates were randomly divided into three sets, viz., the training set （30 polymers）, validation set （10 polymers） and prediction set （10 polymers）. By adjusting various parameters by trial and error, the final optimum SVM model based on Austin Model 1 （AM1） calculation is a polynomial kernel with the parameters C of 100, ε of 1.00E-05 and d of 2. The root-mean-square （RMS） errors obtained from the training set, validation set and prediction set are 19.4, 12.8 and 15.5 K, respectively. Research results show that the proposed SVM model has better statistical quality than the previous models. Thus, applying the SVM algorithm to predict Tgs of polymers is feasible.

A NEURAL NETWORK STUDY ON GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURE OF POLYMERS

In this paper, an artificial neural network model is adopted to study the glass transition temperature of polymers. In our artificial neural networks, the input nodes are the characteristic ratio C-infinity, the average molecular weight M-e between entanglement points and the molecular weight M-mon of repeating unit. The output node is the glass transition temperature T-g, and the number of the hidden layer is 6. We found that the artificial neural network simulations are accurate in predicting the outcome for polymers for which it is not trained. The maximum relative error for predicting of the glass transition temperature is 3.47%, and the overall average error is only 2.27%. Artificial neural networks may provide some new ideas to investigate other properties of the polymers.

Degradation Mechanism of the Superconducting Transition Temperature in Nb Thin Films

Systemic measurements show that there is no 3D to 2D crossover in the reduction of the superconducting transition temperature Tc in Nb thin films. This result is consistent with all previous measurements while it is contrary to the prevailing understanding based on the interplay between proximity, localization, and lifetime broadening. Our study indicates that the decrease of Tc can be interpreted by the combined effects of electron-phonon coupling parameter λ and the defect scattering rate pw, being uniquely determined by their ratio λ/ρw. Other factors such as film thickness and irradiation do not produce additional effects beyond these two parameters.

Frequency Switches at Transition Temperature in Voltage-Gated Ion Channel Dynamics of Neural Oscillators

Understanding of the mechanisms of neural phase transitions is crucial for clarifying cognitive processes in the brain. We investigate a neural oscillator that undergoes different bifurcation transitions from the big saddle homoclinic orbit type to the saddle node on an invariant circle type, and the saddle node on an invariant circle type to the small saddle homoclinic orbit type. The bifurcation transitions are accompanied by an increase in thermodynamic temperature that affects the voltage-gated ion channel in the neural oscillator. We show that nonlinear and thermodynamical mechanisms are responsible for different switches of the frequency in the neural oscillator. We report a dynamical role of the phase response curve in switches of the frequency, in terms of slopes of frequency-temperature curve at each bifurcation transition. Adopting the transition state theory of voltagegated ion channel dynamics, we confirm that switches of the frequency occur in the first-order phase transition temperature states and exhibit different features of their potential energy derivatives in the ion channel. Each bifurcation transition also creates a discontinuity in the Arrhenius plot used to compute the time constant of the ion channel.