MnAs exhibits a first-order phase transition from a ferromagnetic, high-spin metal hexagonal phase to a paramagnetic, lower-spin insulator orthorhombic phase at T(C)=313 K. Here, we report the results of neutron diffraction experiments showing that an external magnetic field, B, stabilizes the hexagonal phase above T(C). The phase transformation is reversible and constitutes the first demonstra...

BaTiO3 appears in cubic and hexagonal variants, both of which are centrosymmetric. Samples of cubic BaTiO3 are known to exhibit breaking of the centric symmetry locally and globally. It has been proposed that the local symmetry breaking originates in polar regions, the precursors of the ferroelectric phase. Origins of the macroscopic symmetry breaking, which are not well understood, have been p...

Using classical molecular dynamics with a more reliable reactive LCBOPII potential, we have performed a detailed study on the direct graphite-to-diamond phase transition. Our results reveal a new so-called "wave-like buckling and slipping" mechanism, which controls the transformation from hexagonal graphite to cubic diamond. Based on this mechanism, we have explained how polycrystalline cubic d...

A new strategy of synthesizing hexagonal upconversion NaYF(4) at low temperature (down to 130 °C) based on Ti(4+) doping-induced cubic-to-hexagonal phase transition in a liquid-solid-solution reaction system is offered.

We have investigated the distributions of individually isolated and hydrophilically functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (p-SWNTs) in the Pluronic L121-water system at the reverse hexagonal phase using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and contrast-matched small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements. As the p-SWNT-L121-water system is transitioned from the lamellar phase to th...

We present a theoretical analysis of the phase behavior of solutions containing DNA, cationic lipids, and nonionic (helper) lipids. Our model allows for five possible structures, treated as incompressible macroscopic phases: two lipid-DNA composite (lipoplex) phases, namely, the lamellar (L(alpha)(C)) and hexagonal (H(II)(C)) complexes; two binary (cationic/neutral) lipid phases, that is, the b...

A challenge of hybrid perovskite solar cells is device instability, which calls for an understanding of the perovskite structural stability and phase transitions. Using neutron diffraction and first-principles calculations on formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3), we show that the entropy contribution to the Gibbs free energy caused by isotropic rotations of the FA+ cation plays a crucial role in ...

We report on an experimental study of the self-organization and phase behavior of hairy-rod pi -conjugated branched side-chain polyfluorene, poly[9,9-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-fluorene-2,7-diyl]-i.e., poly[2,7-(9,9-bis(2-ethylhexyl)fluorene] (PF2/6) -as a function of molecular weight (M(n)) . The results have been compared to those of phenomenological theory. Samples for which M(n) =3-147 kg/mol were u...

The polymorphic phase behavior of 1-palmitoyl-2-lyso-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine dispersions in excess water has been studied as a function of temperature and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) concentration, using proton dipolar-decoupled 31P NMR spectroscopy and turbidity measurements. The phase behavior was found to depend on both lipid concentration and PEG concentration, and most of the NMR exper...