Low color visibility and poor mechanical strength of polystyrene (PS) photonic crystal films have been the main shortcomings for the potential applications in paints or displays. This paper presents a simple method to fabricate PS/MWCNTs (multi-walled carbon nanotubes) composite photonic crystal films with enhanced color visibility and mechanical strength. First, MWCNTs was modified through rad...

A microwave-ionothermal strategy was developed for in situ synthesis of CNTs threaded TiO2 single crystal with a tunable percentage of surface exposed (001) active facets. The CNTs were used as microwave antennas to create local "super hot" dots to induce Ti(3+) adsorption and hydrolysis, thereby leading to a good assembly of (001) facets exposed single crystalline TiO2 threaded by the CNTs in ...

We have studied the optical properties of electrically switched holographic gratings fabricated using polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) materials. We have found that the PDLC mixture can be used to control the diffractive properties of the composite gratings, including the anisotropy of the grating. 2000 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (050.0050) Diffraction and gratings, (050.733...

The reflection spectra of composite materials on a base of grooved silicon and grooved silicon infiltrated with nematic liquid crystal (LC) have been calculated using the optimal parameters of a grooved silicon matrix suitable for the infrared range. The grooved silicon structures with different lattice constants (A=16, 12, 8 and 4 μm) have been designed and prepared. An important parameter of ...

Rb-IV is the stable high-pressure phase of rubidium between 16 and 21 GPa. The structure of Rb-IV has long been known to be complex, but it is only recently that it has been solved as being an incommensurate host-guest composite structure, comprising a tetragonal host framework containing chains of ”guest” atoms that form structures incommensurate with the host along their common caxis. While s...

Crack initiation and propagation is a common concern for molecular composites such as plastic bonded explosives (PBXs) and pharmaceutical tablets. Under compressive stresses, cracks form at contacts between crystals and propagate along crystal-binder interfaces, causing composite failure. To investigate this process, crystal-binder interfaces have been characterised and their mechanical propert...

Wood is a natural composite material with a complex multi-scale structure. Its stiffness is mainly due to crystalline cellulose fibrils reinforcing the cell walls. In order to quantify the contribution of cellulose to wood elastic properties in both tension and compression, the change in cellulose (004) lattice spacing (cellulose crystal strain) was measured by X-ray diffraction during a bendin...

Experimental results indicating the existence of the high magnetic field Wigner Crystal have been available for a number of years. While variational wavefunctions have demonstrated the instability of the Laughlin liquid to a Wigner Crystal at sufficiently small filling, calculations of the excitation gaps have been hampered by the strong correlations. Recently a new Hamiltonian formulation of t...

Articles you may be interested in Dynamic response of a polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal Electro-optics of polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal displays Appl. Reversible optical control of transmittance in polymer/liquid crystal composite films by photoinduced phase transition J. Polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystal (BPLC) comprising fluorinated compounds with high r...

Stable hydrophobic nanocomposites of magnetic nanoparticles and clay are prepared by the self-assembly of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles on surfaces of exfoliated clay platelets. Due to the attractive interaction between hydrophobic groups, oleic acid coated nanoparticles are strongly attached to the surface of cetyl trimethylammonium cation coated clay platelets in organic media. Crystal stru...