Disordered phases, structural

In this section we review several studies of phase transitions in adsorbed layers. Phase transitions in adsorbed (2D) fluids and in adsorbed layers of molecules are studied with a combination of path integral Monte Carlo, Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (GEMC), and finite size scaling techniques. Phase diagrams of fluids with internal quantum states are analyzed. Adsorbed layers of H2 molecules at a full monolayer coverage in the /3 X /3 structure have a higher transition temperature to the disordered phase compared to the system with the heavier D2 molecules this effect is... 

Lattice models for bulk mixtures have mostly been designed to describe features which are characteristic of systems with low amphiphile content. In particular, models for ternary oil/water/amphiphile systems are challenged to reproduce the reduction of the interfacial tension between water and oil in the presence of amphiphiles, and the existence of a structured disordered phase (a microemulsion) which coexists with an oil-rich and a water-rich phase. We recall that a structured phase is one in which correlation functions show oscillating behavior. Ordered lamellar phases have also been studied, but they are much more influenced by lattice artefacts here than in the case of the chain models. 

The example illustrates how Monte Carlo studies of lattice models can deal with questions which reach far beyond the sheer calculation of phase diagrams. The reason why our particular problem could be studied with such success Hes of course in the fact that it touches a rather fundamental aspect of the physics of amphiphilic systems—the interplay between structure and wetting behavior. In fact, the results should be universal and apply to all systems where structured, disordered phases coexist with non-struc-tured phases. It is this universal character of many issues in surfactant physics which makes these systems so attractive for theoretical physicists. 

The strength of the Cu-0 bond will be lower on the Cu(lll) face than on the Cu(100) and Cu(110).593 Indeed, the Cu-0 stretching frequency in UHV is lowest on the (111) face and only a disordered oxygen structure is observed.596 These results suggest that a specific Pourbaix pH -E phase diagram is needed to describe the behavior of each low-index face of Cu. 

FIGURE 5.10 (a) Scientific representation of the three-phase structure of a dry ionomer, consisting of cation clusters, lamellae, and disordered regions. (From Cowie, J.M.G., Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Modern Materials, Intertext, London, 1973.)... 

Investigation of the differences in crystal packing between (431) and (426) from comparison of their respective X-ray structures, revealed that (431) was more tightly packed than (442), reflected in their respective melting points of 235 and 170 °C. It was postulated that the absence of in vivo activity for (431) may be explained by the resultant reduction in water solubility and dissolution rate compared with (426). The comparatively high calculated polar surface area of (431) (122.5A ) compared with (426) (89.3 A ) was also proposed as a factor influencing the marked difference in bioavailability between the two related compounds. Compound (426) (SLV-319) is currently being developed with Bristol-Myers Squibb for the potential treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders. Phase I trials for obesity were started in April 2004. Earlier Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia and psychosis, which commenced in April 2002, appear to have been abandoned. 

The sigma phases are hard and brittle at below their Debye temperatures, but have some plasticity at higher temperatures. Thus there is some covalent bonding in them, and their glide planes are puckered, making it difficult for dislocations to move in them until they become partially disordered. Their structures are too complex to allow realistic hardness values to be calculated for them. Their shear moduli indicate their relative hardnesses. 

An A-B diblock copolymer is a polymer consisting of a sequence of A-type monomers chemically joined to a sequence of B-type monomers. Even a small amount of incompatibility (difference in interactions) between monomers A and monomers B can induce phase transitions. However, A-homopolymer and B-homopolymer are chemically joined in a diblock therefore a system of diblocks cannot undergo a macroscopic phase separation. Instead a number of order-disorder phase transitions take place in the system between the isotropic phase and spatially ordered phases in which A-rich and B-rich domains, of the size of a diblock copolymer, are periodically arranged in lamellar, hexagonal, body-centered cubic (bcc), and the double gyroid structures. The covalent bond joining the blocks rests at the interface between A-rich and B-rich domains. 

The situation in the solid state is generally more complex. Several examples of binary systems were seen in which, in the solid state, a number of phases (intermediate and terminal) are formed. See for instance Figs 2.18-2.21. Both stoichiometric phases (compounds) and variable composition phases (solid solutions) may be considered and, as for their structures, both fully ordered or more or less completely disordered phases. This variety of types is characteristic for the solid alloys. After a few comments on liquid alloys, particular attention will therefore be dedicated in the following paragraphs to the description and classification of solid intermetallic phases. 

In the previous chapter we looked at some questions concerning solid intermetallic phases both terminal (that is solubility fields which include one of the components) and intermediate. Particularly we have seen, in several alloy systems, the formation in the solid state of intermetallic compounds or, more generally, intermetallic phases. A few general and introductory remarks about these phases have been presented by means of Figs. 2.2-2.4, in which structural schemes of ordered and disordered phases have been suggested. On the other hand we have seen that in binary (and multi-component) metal systems, several crystalline phases (terminal and intermediate, stable and also metastable) may occur. 

Starch phase transitions occur in a wide temperature range. The phase transition process starts at temperatures as low as 35-40 °C, depending on the type of starch. In contrast to what was previously believed, it is now understood that amylose and/or amorphous phases also play significant roles in the phase transition process (Ratnayake and Jackson, 2007 Vermeylen et ah, 2006). Theories that describe gelatinization and phase transition in terms of crystallite melting, therefore, are unlikely to adequately explain the phenomena. In summary, it is evident that starch gelatinization is not an absolute result of crystallite melting. Hence, it should not be considered a simple order-to-disorder phase transition of starch structures. 

Experiments at high pressure have shown that the P-T phase diagram of butadiene is comparatively simple. The crystal phase I is separated from the liquid phase by an orientationally disordered phase II stable in a narrow range of pressure and temperature. The strucmre of phase I is not known, but the analyses of the infrared and Raman spectra have suggested a monoclinic structure with two molecules per unit cell as the most likely [428]. At room temperature, butadiene is stable in the liquid phase at pressures up to 0.7 GPa. At this pressure a reaction starts as revealed by the growth of new infrared bands (see the upper panel of Fig. 25). After several days a product is recovered, and the infrared spectrum identifies it as 4-vinylcyclohexene. No traces of the other dimers can be detected, and only traces of a polymer are present. If we increase the pressure to 1 GPa, the dimerization rate increases but the amount of polymer... 

N. Hanada, S. Orimo, H. Fujii, Hydriding properties of ordered-/disordered-Mg-based ternary Laves phase structures, J. Alloys Compd. 356-357 (2003) 429-432. 

Zhu L, Chen Y, Zhang AQ et al. (1999) Phase structures and morphologies determined by competitions among self-organization, crystallization, and vitrification in a disordered poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene diblock copolymer. Phys Rev B Condens Matter 60 10022-10031... 

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