Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 19, 2025
08:55
Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
8.6K
Mesostructured Dodecagonal Quasicrystal: the Interplay Between Temperature Regulation and Kinetic Structural
Quanzheng Deng1, Huang Fang2, Xueliang Zhang1,3
1School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai, 200092, P. R. China.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|June 1, 2025
Summary
Researchers discovered a new dodecagonal quasicrystal formation pathway in silica mesoporous crystals. This pathway involves a continuous structural transition, offering new insights into soft matter quasicrystal formation.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Crystallography
Background:
- Quasicrystals exhibit unique properties but their mesostructural formation mechanisms are not well understood.
- Understanding quasicrystal formation is key to harnessing their potential in various applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the formation mechanism of dodecagonal quasicrystals in silica mesoporous crystals.
- To investigate the influence of reaction temperature on structure formation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized cationic surfactants as soft templates and organosilane as a co-structure directing agent.
- Employed varying reaction temperatures and time-interval experiments to observe structural evolution.
- Analyzed structural transitions from lamellar configurations to dodecagonal tiling.
Main Results:
- Achieved diverse structures including disordered, dodecagonal quasicrystals, A15, and 2D hexagonal phases by adjusting reaction temperature.
- Observed a continuous structural transition from lamellar to dodecagonal tiling, deviating from traditional nucleation-growth models.
- Identified the formation mechanism as an interplay of thermodynamic and kinetic factors, balancing interfacial curvature effects.
Conclusions:
- Reported a novel formation pathway for dodecagonal quasicrystals in silica mesoporous systems.
- Demonstrated that temperature control can dictate the resulting mesostructure.
- Provided new insights into the formation and structural regulation of soft matter quasicrystals.
Related Concept Videos
02:39Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
13.3K
Heating a crystalline solid increases the average energy of its atoms, molecules, or ions, and the solid gets hotter. At some point, the added energy becomes large enough to partially overcome the forces holding the molecules or ions of the solid in their fixed positions, and the solid begins the process of transitioning to the liquid state or melting. At this point, the temperature of the solid stops rising, despite the continual input of heat, and it remains constant until all of the solid is...
13.3K
01:12Temperature Dependent Deformation
201
In a nonhomogeneous rod made up of steel and brass, restrained at both ends and subjected to a temperature change, several steps are involved in calculating the stress and compressive load. Due to the problem's static indeterminacy, one end support is disconnected, allowing the rod to experience the temperature change freely. Next, an unknown force is applied at the free end, triggering deformations in the rod's steel and brass portions. These deformations are then calculated and added...
201
02:31Phase Transitions
20.4K
Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to...
20.4K
01:20Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
3.5K
In convection, thermal energy is carried by the large-scale flow of matter. Ocean currents and large-scale atmospheric circulation, which result from the buoyancy of warm air and water, transfer hot air from the tropics toward the poles and cold air from the poles toward the tropics. The Earth’s rotation interacts with those flows, causing the observed eastward flow of air in the temperate zones. Convection dominates heat transfer by air, and the amount of available space for the airflow...
3.5K
01:14Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
598
Heat transfer between the human body and its environment occurs through four main mechanisms: conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation.
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant...
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant...
598
01:11Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium
7.3K
Heat and temperature are essential concepts for everyone every day. The study of heat and temperature is part of an area of physics known as thermodynamics. It is not always easy to distinguish heat and temperature.
The concept of temperature has evolved from the common concepts of hot and cold. The scientific definition of temperature explains more than just our sense of hot and cold. Temperature is operationally defined as the quantity measured with a thermometer. Furthermore, temperature is...
The concept of temperature has evolved from the common concepts of hot and cold. The scientific definition of temperature explains more than just our sense of hot and cold. Temperature is operationally defined as the quantity measured with a thermometer. Furthermore, temperature is...
7.3K