Microscale Crystals Research Articles

Nanoscale ripples on the compressive fracture surface of a bulk metallic glass with microscale crystals

Some periodic and straight strips with about 60 nm spacing were observed on the compressive fracture surface of Ni42Cu5Ti20Zr21.5Al8Si3.5 bulk metallic glass (BMG) rods containing minor microscale crystals. The characteristic difference between amorphous matrix and microscale crystals also reveal why periodic corrugations could not be observed on the fracture surface of metal crystals. The dynamic crack instability may be explained by the interaction of the propagating crack and the internal micro-cracks. This kind of periodic morphologies showed in-plane feature, which may be attributed to the non-intense interaction between dynamic crack and micro-crack.

MORPHOLOGY EVOLUTION AT NANO- TO MICRO-SCALE

Morphology evolution of inorganic/organic crystals during crystallization is a universal growth phenomenon. In this work, we have developed a capping agent-assisted strategy to clearly identify the whole process of morphology evolution in solution growth system. One kind of morphology evolution trend with three types of morphologies of cuprous oxide ( Cu 2 O ) was kinetically observed at varying the molar ratio of EDTA/ Cu (II) under three different pH values. Two kinds of morphology evolution trends of zinc oxide ( ZnO ) were also kinetically observed in the presence of H 2 O 2 and CH 3 COOH (HAc), respectively. Simulation results show that the morphology evolution of nano- to micro-scale crystals is strongly dependent on the bonding characteristics of a growth system. The present strategy positively explores the interesting principles of morphology evolution of functional materials, and can be widely extended to nano- to micro-scale devices research.

Metastable two-component gel—exploring the gel–crystal interface

This paper reports a two-component system in which molecular recognition rapidly leads to the formation of a homogeneous fibrillar gel that, over a period of hours, aggregates via fibre-fibre interactions to yield microcrystals--providing insight into the relationship between nanoscale gels and microscale crystals.

Nucleation of apatite crystals in vitro by self-assembled dentin matrix protein 1

Bones and teeth are biocomposites that require controlled mineral deposition during their self-assembly to form tissues with unique mechanical properties. Acidic extracellular matrix proteins play a pivotal role during biomineral formation. However, the mechanisms of protein-mediated mineral initiation are far from understood. Here we report that dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1), an acidic protein, can nucleate the formation of hydroxyapatite in vitro in a multistep process that begins by DMP1 binding calcium ions and initiating mineral deposition. The nucleated amorphous calcium phosphate precipitates ripen and nanocrystals form. Subsequently, these expand and coalesce into microscale crystals elongated in the c-axis direction. Characterization of the functional domains in DMP1 demonstrated that intermolecular assembly of acidic clusters into a beta-sheet template was essential for the observed mineral nucleation. Protein-mediated initiation of nanocrystals, as discussed here, might provide a new methodology for constructing nanoscale composites by self-assembly of polypeptides with tailor-made peptide sequences.

Photosensitive 2,5-distyrylpyrazine particles produced from rapid expansion of supercritical solutions

Solvent-free, photoreactive particles of 2,5-distyrylpyrazine (DSP) monomer were developed by rapid precipitation from an expanding supercritical chlorodifluoromethane solution. DSP polymer particles were produced by solid-state photopolymerization. DSP particles below a critical diameter of about 0.5 μm were found to be mechanically stable and did not fragment upon photopolymerization. The rate of DSP photopolymerization was shown to be size-sensitive. Nano-scale particles demonstrated superior photoreactivity in the solid state in comparison to micro-scale crystals. UV spectra of DSP at different degrees of conversion were investigated and the extinction coefficients were calculated for the DSP monomer and polymer in sulfuric acid.