A series of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorocomplex salts (C(x)MImAF(6), x = 14, 16 and 18, A = P, As, Sb, Nb and Ta) have been characterized by thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction and polarized optical microscopy. A liquid crystalline mesophase is observed for all the C(16)MIm and C(18)MIm salts. The C(14)MIm(+) cation gives a liquid crystalline mesophase only with PF(6)(-). The temperat...

We introduce a non-parity-time-symmetric three-layer structure, consisting of a gain medium layer sandwiched between two phase-change medium layers for switching of the direction of reflectionless light propagation. We show that for this structure unidirectional reflectionlessness in the forward direction can be switched to unidirectional reflectionlessness in the backward direction at the opti...

The high-pressure behaviors of nitrogen-rich 1H-tetrazole (CH2N4) have been investigated by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman scattering up to 75 GPa. A first crystalline-to-crystalline phase transition is observed and identified above ~3 GPa with a large volume collapse (∼18% at 4.4 GPa) from phase I to phase II. The new phase II forms a dimer-like structure, belonging to P...

A hydrothermal method for preparation of nano-size zirconia has been studied to optimize the effective parameters (precursor concentration, temperature and time) using response surface methodology (RSM). The synthesized zirconia samples were characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses to identify mean nano...

Ni ferrite crystalline material is synthesized using a sol-gel method at two different temperatures. The vibrational and stretching modes, crystalline phase, size distribution and morphology of the products are investigated via Raman back-scattering and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, XRD and FESEM, respectively. Vibrational modes of spinel ferrite are observed at Raman and FTIR...

a hydrothermal method for preparation of nano-size zirconia has been studied to optimize the effective parameters (precursor concentration, temperature and time) using response surface methodology (rsm). the synthesized zirconia samples were characterized through x-ray diffraction (xrd), scanning electron microscope (sem) and transmission electron microscopy (tem) analyses to identify mean nano...

We have successfully developed an ethylene glycol mediated solution phase method for synthesizing highly crystalline Bi(2)Te(3) nanotubes using Te nanowires as the in situ templates; our work demonstrates the generic feature of a solution phase mediated Kirkendall effect for the synthesis of not only hollow nanoparticles but also highly crystalline tubular structures.

Long-range order and phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) systems-such as magnetism, superconductivity, and crystallinity-have been important research topics for decades. The issue of 2D crystalline order has reemerged recently, with the development of exfoliated atomic crystals. Understanding the dimensional limit of crystalline phases, with different types of bonding and synthetic techni...

The stability hierarchy between different phases of a chemical compound can be accurately reproduced in a topological phase diagram. This type of phase diagrams may appear to be the result of simple extrapolations, however, experimental complications quickly increase in the case of crystalline trimorphism (and higher order polymorphism). To ensure the accurate positioning of stable phase domain...

We report herein studies on the liquid crystalline behavior of a series of supramolecular materials that contain different ratios of two complementary symmetrically-substituted alkoxy-bis(phenylethynyl)benzene AAand BB-type monomers. One monomer has thymine units placed at either end of the rigid mesogenic core, while the other has N-(4-methoxybenzoyl)-adenine units placed on the ends. Differen...