research

Recent experiments reveal that a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) probe tip can generate a highly localized strain field in a graphene drumhead, which in turn leads to pseudomagnetic fields in the graphene that can spatially confine graphene charge carriers in a way similar to a lithographically defined quantum dot (QD). While these experimental findings are intriguing, their further implementation in nanoelectronic devices hinges upon the knowledge of key underpinning parameters, which still remain elusive.

Silicon is a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its enormous theoretical energy density. Fracture during electrochemical cycling has limited the practical viability of silicon electrodes, but recent studies indicate that fracture can be prevented by taking advantage of lithiation-induced plasticity. In this paper, we provide experimental insight into the nature of plasticity in amorphous Li_xSi thin films. To do so, we vary the rate of lithiation of amorphous silicon thin films and simultaneously measure stresses.

A short overview of micromechanical models of hierarchical materials (hybrid composites, biomaterials, fractal materials, etc.) is given. Several examples of the modeling of strength and damage in hierarchical materials are summarized, among them, 3D FE model of hybrid composites with nanoengineered matrix, fiber bundle model of UD composites with hierarchically clustered fibers and 3D multilevel model of wood considered as a gradient, cellular material with layered composite cell walls.

Can a torque induce longitudinal motion of an elastic rod?

See the explanation and an example of use of the 'torsional gun' at http://www.ing.unitn.it/~bigoni/torsional_locomotion.html

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High-performance stretchable electronics have to utilize high-quality inorganic electronic materials such as silicon, oxide or nitride dielectrics, and metals. These inorganic materials usually crack or yield at very small intrinsic strains, for example, 1%, whereas bio-integrated electronics are expected to at least match the stretchability of bio-tissues (20%) and deployable structure health monitoring networks are expected to expand from wafer scale (several centimeters) to cover macroscopic structures (several meters).

In a pure liquid, molecules touch one another but change neighbors frequently.  External forces cause the liquid to change shape by viscous flow.  Thermal agitation causes  molecules to undergo self-diffusion.  The two phenomena--viscous flow and self-diffusion--often result from a single rate-limiting process:  molecules change neighbors.  This simple picture is amply confirmed by the Stokes-Einstein relation, which links the viscosity and self-diffusivity for many liquids over wide ranges of temperature.

Soft Matters, (2014) Advance article