Phase Transition Parameters Research Articles

Photoelectrochemical properties of the relaxor Ba(Ti0.90Sc0.05Nb0.05)O3: application to the degradation of amoxicillin under solar light

Polycrystalline sample Ba(Ti0.9Sc0.05Nb0.05)O3 (BTSN) has been synthesized by solid-state reaction. The effects on the symmetry and dielectric properties of simultaneous cationic substitution of scandium and niobium in the titanium site of BaTiO3 were investigated. The room-temperature X-ray diffraction revealed a cubic perovskite phase after sintering at 1350 °C. The dielectric properties in the ranges (80–445 K) and (102–106 Hz) were studied. A broad dielectric band anomaly coupled with the shift of dielectric maxima toward higher temperatures with increasing frequency indicates a diffuse phase transition with a relaxor behavior. The parameters of the diffuse phase transition were evaluated from the linear plot of the modified Curie–Weiss law and a good fit to the Vogel–Fulcher relation corroborates the relaxor nature. The relaxor ferroelectric is characterized by a spontaneous polarization which should promote the separation of electron/hole (e−/h+) pairs and favors the photocatalytic properties in the nanodomains. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, measured over the region (1 mH–105 Hz) at pH ~ 7, shows the predominance of the bulk contribution. This BTSN ferroelectric ceramic possesses attractive photoelectrochemical properties with an optical gap of 2.54 eV and a flat band potential of 0.45 V SCE . As application, the oxide was successfully tested for the photooxydation under solar light of amoxicillin (AMX), a currently used antibiotic. Indeed, the energy band diagram indicates an electron transfer from the conduction band to dissolved oxygen, forming O2 · radicals, responsible of the AMX degradation. The AMX concentration was followed by high performance liquid chromatography. A conversion of 92% is recorded in AMX solution (50 mg L−1) within 4 h under solar light and the kinetic obeys to a first order model with a rate constant of 7.73 × 10−3 min−1.

Shape of the acoustic gravitational wave power spectrum from a first order phase transition

We present results from large-scale numerical simulations of a first order thermal phase transition in the early Universe, in order to explore the shape of the acoustic gravitational wave and the velocity power spectra. We compare the results with the predictions of the recently proposed sound shell model. For the gravitational wave power spectrum, we find that the predicted k−3 behavior, where k is the wave number, emerges clearly for detonations. The power spectra from deflagrations show similar features, but exhibit a steeper high-k decay and an extra feature not accounted for in the model. There are two independent length scales: the mean bubble separation and the thickness of the sound shell around the expanding bubble of the low temperature phase. It is the sound shell thickness which sets the position of the peak of the power spectrum. The low wave number behavior of the velocity power spectrum is consistent with a causal k3, except for the thinnest sound shell, where it is steeper. We present parameters for a simple broken power law fit to the gravitational wave power spectrum for wall speeds well away from the speed of sound where this form can be usefully applied. We examine the prospects for the detection, showing that a LISA-like mission has the sensitivity to detect a gravitational wave signal from sound waves with an RMS fluid velocity of about 0.05c, produced from bubbles with a mean separation of about 10−2 of the Hubble radius. The shape of the gravitational wave power spectrum depends on the bubble wall speed, and it may be possible to estimate the wall speed, and constrain other phase transition parameters, with an accurate measurement of a stochastic gravitational wave background.

Critical Role of the Spacer Length of Gemini Surfactants on the Formation of Ionic Liquid Crystals and Thermotropic Behavior.

Numerous reports have shown that the self-assembling properties of 12-s-12 bis(quaternary ammonium) gemini surfactants in aqueous solution are significantly influenced by s, the number of methylene groups in the covalent spacer. However, the role played by s on the phase behavior of the single compounds has not been investigated in a similarly systematic way. Here, we report on the thermotropic phase behavior of the anhydrous compounds with s = 2-6, 8, 10, and 12, resorting to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). All of the compounds show a stepwise melting behavior, decomposing at 200 °C. As the spacer length increases, nonmonotonic trends are observed for the thermodynamic parameters of the thermotropic phase transitions, mesophase formation, and solid-state d00l spacings. In particular, the number and type of mesophases (ordered smectic phases and/or fluid smectic liquid crystals) depend critically on s. Further, upon heating molecules with s < 8 decompose before the liquid phase, while those with long spacers, s = 8-12, reach the isotropization (clearing) temperature, hence forming both ionic liquid crystals and ionic liquid phases. We demonstrate that the melting behavior and type of ionic mesophases formed by gemini molecules can be usefully manipulated by a simple structural parameter like the length of the covalent linker.

Dielectric properties of magnetic-ferroelectric CoO–NaNO2–porous glass nanocomposite

Dielectric properties of the nanostructured multiferroic composite on the basis of silicate porous glass simultaneously filled with ferromagnetic (cobalt oxide CoO) and ferroelectric (sodium nitrite) materials have been investigated in wide temperature (270–570 K) and frequency (10–1–107 Hz) ranges. The mean diameter of pores in the matrix is 7 ± 1 nm. The magnetic material particles are synthesized directly in the pores of the glass matrix and occupy about 10% of the pore volume. The porous glass is well wetted with NaNO2. The latter easily infiltrates into the glass and occupies 90% of the remaining unfilled pore volume. The dielectric response of matrices filled with both the components together and with each component separately is studied. An analysis of the obtained data makes it possible to reveal the contributions of individual components into the dielectric response of the composite and the influence of the confined geometry on their dielectric properties. It is found that the incorporation of CoO nanoparticles leads to an order of magnitude increase in the dielectric permittivity and electrical conductivity of the two-component composite in comparison with these values for the composite filled solely with sodium nitrite and to a decrease in the activation energy over the entire studied temperature range. These studies are of interest not only as a preliminary investigation prior to the study of the effect of a magnetic field on the dielectric properties of the synthesized composite, but are of independent physical interest as well, since they allow one to determine the influence of the confined geometry on the dielectric properties of magnetic metal oxides and on the of their phase transition parameters.

Phase transitions in molecular crystals of n-alkanes: Tri-, tetra-, and pentacosane

Phase transitions in normal alkanes, such as tricosane (C23H48), tetracosane (C24H50), and pentacosane (C25H52), were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The elimination of some procedural errors provided the possibility to obtain true values for the thermodynamic parameters of phase transitions and ascertain their nature. The comparative analysis of heat capacity jumps was performed on the basis of the theory of diffuse first-order phase transitions.

Human Meibum Age, Lipid–Lipid Interactions and Lipid Saturation in Meibum from Infants

Tear stability decreases with increasing age and the same signs of instability are exacerbated with dry eye. Meibum lipid compositional changes with age provide insights into the biomolecules responsible for tear film instability. Meibum was collected from 69 normal donors ranging in age from 0.6 to 68 years of age. Infrared spectroscopy was used to measure meibum lipid phase transition parameters. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to measure lipid saturation. Increasing human meibum lipid hydrocarbon chain unsaturation with age was related to a decrease in hydrocarbon chain order, cooperativity, and in the phase transition temperature. The change in these parameters was most dramatic between 1 and 20 years of age. Meibum was catalytically saturated to determine the effect of saturation on meibum lipid phase transition parameters. Hydrocarbon chain saturation was directly related to lipid order, phase transition temperature, cooperativity, changes in enthalpy and entropy, and could account for the changes in the lipid phase transition parameters observed with age. Unsaturation could contribute to decreased tear film stability with age.

Long-time efficacy of the surface code in the presence of a super-Ohmic environment

We study the long-time evolution of a quantum memory coupled to a bosonic environment on which quantum error correction (QEC) is performed using the surface code. The memory's evolution encompasses $N$ QEC cycles, each of them yielding a non-error syndrome. This assumption makes our analysis independent of the recovery process. We map the expression for the time evolution of the memory onto the partition function of an equivalent statistical mechanical spin system. In the superohmic dissipation case the long-time evolution of the memory has the same behavior as the time evolution for just one QEC cycle. For this case we find analytical expressions for the critical parameters of the order-disorder phase transition of an equivalent spin system. These critical parameters determine the threshold value for the system-environment coupling below which it is possible to preserve the memory's state.

Investigation of charge and discharge regimes of nanomodified heat-accumulating materials

Charge/discharge regimes of nanomodified paraffins have been studied. The nanomodification of paraffin was carried out by using the “Taunit” series nanomaterials with different morphological parameters under ultrasonic treatment. Comparative studies of thermophysical parameters (thermal conductivity and heat capacity) have been conducted for the prepared samples. Under charge/discharge regimes, the effect of “tracking thermal contact” manifests. The thermal conductivity increases to 0.48, 0.42 and 0.36 W/moС in case of CNM-MD, CNM-M and CNM, relative to the initial thermal conductivity of 0.25 w/moС. It has been established that the extreme on the thermal dependency graph depends on heat capacity ((57, 63 and 72 oС for CNM, CNM-M and CNM-MD correspondingly). Modification of paraffin with carbon nanotubes allows controlling the phase-transition parameters, which allows obtaining a variety of temperature dependencies of heat capacity, thermal conductivity and physical-mechanical characteristics by combining different ratios of the “Taunit” series nanotubes and physical influences such as thermal fields and ultrasound. The heat-accumulating materials prepared in such a way allow achieving optimized operation of the heat accumulator under different temperature regimes.

Anomalous phase diagrams in simplest plasma model

A new first-order phase transition of gas-liquid type emerges in a modified one-component plasma model with uniformly compressible background. Structure and parameters of this phase transition strongly depend on the value of charge number Z. Under particular values of Z the model shows completely unusual topology of phase diagram. The similar anomalies have been recently observed in more complicated thermodynamic models and even real matter. Thus, deep investigation of the phase diagram properties based on simplified models can help to understand the nature of the phenomenon in more complicated situation. In this study we have improved our previous calculations and utilized more complicated model components equation of state provided by G. Chabrier and A.Y. Potekhin [Phys. Rev. E 58, 4941 (1998)].

In Depth Spatially Inhomogeneous Phase Transition in Epitaxial MnAs Film on GaAs(001).

Most studies on MnAs material in its bulk form have been focused on its temperature-dependent structural phase transition accompanied by a magnetic one. Magnetostructural phase transition parameters in thin MnAs films grown on substrates present however some differences from the bulk behavior, and local studies become mandatory for a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved within the transition. Up to now, only surface techniques have been carried out, while the transition is a three-dimensional phenomenon. We therefore developed an original nanometer scale methodology using electron holography to investigate the phase transition in an epitaxial MnAs thin film on GaAs(001) from the cross-section view. Using quantitative magnetic maps recorded at the nanometer scale as a function of the temperature, our work provides a direct in situ observation of the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of the transition in the layer depth and brings new insights on the fundamental transition mechanisms.

Dynamical formation of center domains in quark-gluon plasma

We study the formation of domain structures due to spontaneous breakdown of center symmetry at high temperatures in quenched QCD. We develop a phenomenological model for the explicit propagation of the Polyakov loop as the relevant order parameter of the deconfinement phase transition. The surface tension in the equation of motion is fit in comparison with lattice QCD data. Results give insight into the dynamical formation of center domains as well as the formation of energy bands along domain walls and let us estimate the required time to form such structures above the critical temperature.

The Power of Side-Information in Subgraph Detection

In this paper, we tackle the problem of hidden community detection. We consider belief propagation (BP) applied to the problem of detecting a hidden Erdős-Renyi (ER) graph embedded in a larger and sparser ER graph, in the presence of side-information. We derive two related algorithms based on BP to perform subgraph detection in the presence of two kinds of side-information. The first variant of side-information consists of a set of nodes, called cues, known to be from the subgraph. The second variant of side-information consists of a set of nodes that are cues with a given probability. It was shown in past works that BP without side-information fails to detect the subgraph correctly when a so-called effective signal-to-noise ratio parameter falls below a threshold. In contrast, in the presence of nontrivial side-information, we show that the BP algorithm achieves asymptotically zero error for any value of a suitably defined phase-transition parameter. We validate our results on synthetic datasets and a few real world networks.

Hot magnetized nuclear matter: Thermodynamic and saturation properties

We have used a realistic nuclear potential, AV18, and a many body technique, the lowest order constraint variational (LOCV) approach, to calculate the properties of hot magnetized nuclear matter. By investigating the free energy, spin polarization parameter, and symmetry energy, we have studied the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the saturation properties of magnetized nuclear matter. In addition, we have calculated the equation of state of magnetized nuclear matter at different temperatures and magnetic fields. It was found that the flashing temperature of nuclear matter decreases by increasing the magnetic field. In addition, we have studied the effect of the magnetic field on liquid gas phase transition of nuclear matter. The liquid gas coexistence curves, the order parameter of the liquid gas phase transition, and the properties of critical point at different magnetic fields have been calculated.

The combined effects of nitrates on multibilayer lipid membranes: Thermodynamic effects

Model multibilayer membranes based on L-α-dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine containing nitrates of silver, sodium, potassium, and copper as AgNO3–NaNO3, AgNO3–KNO3, and AgNO3–Cu(NO3)2 pairs were investigated. In each system studied the molar fraction of nitrates relative to the lipid was kept unchanged at 0.35, whereas the molar fraction of silver nitrate (x Ag) was varied from 0.0 tо 1.0 within the pair. Thermodynamic parameters of the main phase transition and pre-transition of the model membranes were determined using differential scanning calorimetry. Positive deviations from additivity as a function of x Ag for a number of these parameters were detected, including changes in the main phase transition and the pre-transition temperatures of up to 0.5 and 2.7°C, respectively; the deviation for hysteresis and half-width of the main phase transition reached up to 30%. The physicochemical mechanisms of competitive interactions between cations in membranes composed of L-α-dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine are discussed.

Uniaxial mechanical stresses and their influence on the parameters of the ferroelectric phase transition in pressure-treated barium titanate

ABSTRACTThe dependence of the E(TO) line in Raman spectrum of a BaTiO3 powder on applied uniaxial pressure up to 14 GPa are obtained and the values of residual mechanical stresses are evaluated. The second harmonic generation technique is used to obtain the width and temperature of the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition in the powder treated by uniaxial pressures. The interrelations between the phase transition width, temperatures, and residual mechanical stresses are established. These interrelations differ from expectations based on known hydrostatic pressure-induced effects in BaTiO3.

Temperature‐Induced Phase Transition Characterization of Responsive Polymer Brushes Grafted onto Nanoparticles

Temperature‐induced phase transition parameters of responsive free polymer and brushes onto nanoparticles are measured using high‐resolution magic‐angle sample spinning (HRMAS) NMR spectroscopy. To this purpose, a two‐state statistical model of temperature dependence of thermodynamic observables is developed and applied to obtain parameters which characterize the process of temperature‐induced phase transition of stimuli‐sensitive polymers. In this investigation the thermodynamic observable is the integral intensity of the 1H HRMAS NMR spectrum peaks and the derived thermodynamic parameters are transition temperature and transition entropy. This approach is applied to investigate the dependence of temperature‐induced coil‐to‐globule transition of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide), (PNIPAm), asymmetric end functionalized with benzyl and thiol groups (Bn–PNIPAm–SH) on molecular weight in the range 3600–30 000 g mol–1 in aqueous solutions. The characteristics of the phase transition represented by transition temperature, and transition entropy are compared to that of Bn–PNIPAm–SH brushes onto gold nanorods in the same range of molecular weight. The method used for measuring the characteristics of phase transition is based on transverse magnetization relaxation (T2) spin‐echo enhance editing of the integral intensities of the 1H HRMAS NMR spectra. This NMR observable reflects changes in transverse relaxation times as an indicative of the polymer chains conformations and dynamics reached in the process of temperature‐induced phase transition. image

Quantum coherence and quantum phase transition in the XY model with staggered Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction

We investigate the properties of geometric quantum coherence in the XY spin-1/2 chain with staggered Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction via the quantum renormalization-group approach. It is shown that the geometric quantum coherence and its coherence susceptibility are effective to detect the quantum phase transition. In the thermodynamic limit, the geometric quantum coherence exhibits a sudden jump. The coherence susceptibilities versus the anisotropy parameter and the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction are infinite and vanishing, respectively, illustrating the distinct roles of the anisotropy parameter and the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction in quantum phase transition. Moreover, we also explore the finite-size scaling behaviors of the coherence susceptibilities. For a finite-size chain, the coherence susceptibility versus the phase-transition parameter is always maximal at the critical point, indicating the dramatic quantum fluctuation. Besides, we show that the correlation length can be revealed by the scaling exponent for the coherence susceptibility versus the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction.

Geometrical clusterization and deconfinement phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics

A novel approach to identify the geometrical (anti)clusters formed by the Polyakov loops of the same sign and to study their properties in the lattice SU(2) gluodynamics is developed. The (anti)cluster size distributions are analyzed for the lattice coupling constant β ∈ 2 [2:3115; 3]. The found distributions are similar to the ones existing in 2- and 3-dimensional Ising systems. Using the suggested approach, we explain the phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics at β = 2.52 as a transition between two liquids during which one of the liquid droplets (the largest cluster of a certain Polyakov loop sign) experiences a condensation, while another droplet (the next to the largest cluster of opposite Polyakov loop sign) evaporates. The clusters of smaller sizes form two accompanying gases, which behave oppositely to their liquids. The liquid drop formula is used to analyze the distributions of the gas (anti)clusters and to determine their bulk, surface and topological parts of free energy. Surprisingly, even the monomer multiplicities are reproduced with high quality within such an approach. The behavior of surface tension of gaseous (anti)clusters is studied. It is shown that this quantity can serve as an order parameter of the deconfinement phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics. Moreover, the critical exponent β of surface tension coefficient of gaseous clusters is found in the upper vicinity of critical temperature. Its value coincides with the one found for 3-dimensional Ising model within error bars. The Fisher topological exponent τ of (anti)clusters is found to have the same value 1:806±0:008, which agrees with an exactly solvable model of the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition and disagrees with the Fisher droplet model, which may evidence for the fact that the SU(2) gluodynamics and the model are in the same universality class.

Geometrical clusterization of Polyakjov loops in SU(2) lattice gluodynamics

The liquid droplet formula is applied to an analysis of the properties of geometrical (anti)clusters formed in SU(2) gluodynamics by the Polyakov loops of the same sign. Using this approach, we explain the phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics as a transition between two liquids during which one of the liquid droplets (the largest cluster of a certain Polyakov loop sign) experiences a condensation, while the droplet of another liquid (the next to the largest cluster of the opposite sign of Polyakov loop) evaporates. The clusters of smaller sizes form two accompanying gases, which behave oppositely to their liquids. The liquid droplet formula is used to analyze the size distributions of the gas (anti)clusters. The fit of these distributions allows us to extract the temperature dependence of surface tension and the value of Fisher topological exponent τ for both kinds of gaseous clusters. It is shown that the surface tension coefficient of gaseous (anti)clusters can serve as an order parameter of the deconfinement phase transition in SU(2) gluodynamics. The Fisher topological exponent τ of (anti)clusters is found to have the same value 1.806 ± 0.008. This value disagrees with the famous Fisher droplet model, but it agrees well with an exactly solvable model of the nuclear liquid-gas phase transition. This finding may evidence for the fact that the SU(2) gluodynamics and this exactly solvable model of nuclear liquid-gas phase transition are in the same universality class.

Diagonal stationary points of the bethe functional

We investigate stationary points of the Bethe functional for the Ising model on a $2$-dimensional lattice. Such stationary points are also fixed points of message passing algorithms. In the absence of an external field, by symmetry reasons one expects the fixed points to have constant means at all sites. This is shown not to be the case. There is a critical value of the coupling parameter which is equal to the phase transition parameter on the computation tree, see [ 13 ], above which fixed points appear with means that are variable though constant on diagonals of the lattice and hence the term “diagonal stationary points”. A rigorous analytic proof of their existence is presented. Furthermore, computer-obtained examples of diagonal stationary points which are local maxima of the Bethe functional and hence stable equilibria for message passing are shown. The smallest such example was found on the \begin{document} $100× 100$ \end{document} lattice.