Crystals, Volume 14, Issue 4

Nanhong agate has attracted public attention as the most distinctive gemstone in China. Owing to the limited data on Nanhong agates from a new production area in northeastern Yunnan, this paper presents the first data from gemological studies on thes...

Understanding trends in the formation of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layer in Al/Fe bimetallic composites can aid in significantly improving their mechanical properties. However, it is currently challenging to predict IMC layer formation during...

This research analyzed the mechanisms of work and modified a colorimetric nanosensor to make it more cost-effective for the detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in water. The base nanosensors modified herein rely on a competitive binding detection...

Since methods for reducing macromolecule entanglements have been developed, it has become possible to better understand the impact of polymer chain entanglement on the crystallization process. The article presents basic information about the disentan...

Point defects induced by doping rare earth elements (RE) (Nd and Er) into a magnesium oxide host were investigated via classical atomistic simulations utilising the General Utility Lattice Program (GULP). Formation and association energies were calcu...

This article reports on the recent mining and production status of ruby in Longido, Tanzania. Faceted-grade rubies and their matrix from Longido Area, Tanzania, were investigated by standard gemological testing, including FTIR, UV-VIS, Raman spectra,...

The effects of rare earth erbium (Er) micro-additions on the microstructures and mechanical properties of 2024 aluminum alloy were investigated. The microstructures and fracture surfaces of specimens prepared via high-energy ball milling, cold isosta...

Heavy metals are pollutants that pose a risk to living systems due to their high toxicity and ability to accumulate and contaminate. This study proposes an alternative approach to the static adsorption of Ni(II) from aqueous media using Sarkanda gras...

A series of lithium niobate crystals co-doped with uranium and indium was successfully grown by the modified vertical Bridgman method for the first time. With increasing In³⁺ ion doping concentration, the segregation coefficient of uranium and indium...

Coal gangue and aluminum ash emerge as quintessential constituents within the ambit of coal-derived solid waste and industrial residue, respectively. Leveraging coal gangue as a primary substrate and aluminum ash as an adjunct aluminum source, molecu...

The demand for Li-ion batteries has increased because of their extensive use in vehicles and portable electronic devices. This increasing demand implies greater interaction between batteries and humans, making safety a paramount concern. Although tra...

Highly indium-rich group-III nitrides are attracting attention for advancing our capacity to create highly effective optical emitters at extended visible/IR wavelengths or for enhancing bandgap engineering possibilities within the group-III nitride m...

The crystallization conditions from the solution play an important role in determining the morphology, phase composition, and photovoltaic properties of perovskite films. Post-processing of the obtained films can have a crucial role in increasing the...

Micromagnetic computations were performed to predict the magnetisation maps in thin elliptically shaped nanoparticles under a variable external magnetic field. Two materials were compared as the constituents of the nanoparticles: permalloy as an exam...

In this study, we report the mechanochemical synthesis of praziquantel hemihydrate in the presence of five solvents with different water miscibility. The commercially available praziquantel Form A (a racemic anhydrate structure) was ground in the pre...

The current work is based on investigating the influence of different technological conditions of electron-beam welding on the microstructure and mechanical properties of joints between Ti6Al4V and Al6082-T6 dissimilar alloys. The plates were in all...

We present a theoretical investigation on the wide-band-gap semiconductor WO${ }_3$ in its room-temperature monoclinic structure. We carried out density functional theory and GGA-1/2 calculations on the bulk phase and the most stable (001) surface of...

A dense and smooth aluminium nitride thin film grown on a silicon (111) substrates using pulsed metal–organic chemical vapor deposition is presented. The influence of the pulsed cycle numbers on the surface morphology and crystalline quality of...

Partial replacement of Fe by Co is an effective method to increase Curie temperature (T_C), which improves the thermal stability of magnetic properties in Nd₂Fe₁₄B-based permanent magnets. The correlation between Fe substitution and magnetic propertie...

Antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic (AF/F) systems have been extensively investigated due to the importance that interfacial exchange coupling effects have in the development of magnetic storage technologies. Recently, these systems have garnered interes...

The structural, wettability, and optical characteristics of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films were studied with the objective of understanding the impact of deposition power and deposition temperature. Thin films were deposited using a radio...

The S-(4-pentylphenyl) 4-(pentyloxy)benzothioate, forming the nematic phase, is investigated by X-ray diffraction in temperatures between 263 K and 365 K, with the support of differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy. The mi...

SnO₂-based gas sensors have been widely synthesized and used for the detection of various hazardous gases. However, the use of doped SnO₂ in sensing applications has recently attracted increased interest due to the formation of a synergistic effect b...

This article details a method for preparing cermet matrix composites via Fast hot pressing (FHP) sintering technology and emphasizes their potential use in extremely high-temperature settings. The material primarily consists of NiCr alloy, Cr₃C₂, and...

This work proposes and examines the feasibility of next-generation 0.3 THz phase shifters realized with liquid crystals (LCs) as tunable dielectrics coaxially filled in the transmission line. The classic coaxial transmission line topology is robust t...

A series of nanocrystalline iron oxide samples (M1–M5) which differ from each other in average crystallite size (from 26 to 37 nm) was studied. The raw material was nanocrystalline iron with an average crystallite size equal to 21 nm promoted w...

Novel tetragonal (P4₂/mnm) boron pnictides BX (X = N, P, As, Sb, Bi) with chromium boride (crb) topology exhibiting a square B2X2 motif with resulting edge- and corner-sharing tetrahedra were predicted from crystal chemistry and extensively character...

Intrinsically fluorescent liquid crystals are highly sought after for a variety of applications. Most of the measurements of photo-physical properties of liquid crystals are made in dilute solutions, which is mainly due to the relative ease of both t...

Besides a well-adapted structure, proteins often require a specific dynamical flexibility to undergo conformational changes in order to carry out their function. The latter dynamics can be directly measured by quasielastic neutron scattering as demon...

A systematic study was conducted on the impact of annealing treatments on the microstructure and properties of cold-rolled Ti₅₀Ni₄₇Fe₃ alloys using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, and an electroni...

The effects of oxygen content on the microstructure and creep properties of the FGH96 superalloy were investigated. When oxygen content increased from 135 ppm to 341 ppm, the prior particle boundary (PPB) rose from degree 2 to degree 3, the size of t...

Nickel-based superalloys exhibit pronounced elastic anisotropy and, hence, the local grain orientation strongly affects the stress and strain distribution in the material under mechanical loadings. Therefore, the crack initiation and failure behaviou...

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a monolithic material with programmable three-dimensional (3D) morphing modes stemming from their designable non-uniform molecular orientations (or director). However, the shape morphing mode is generally fixed wh...

According to statistics, 80% of failed components in mechanical equipment are caused by various types of wear and corrosion. Therefore, in order to reduce material loss, research on wear-resistant materials is urgent. In order to solve the difficulty...

A support vector regression model for predictions of the thermoelectric power factor of half-Heusler phases was implemented based on elemental features of ions. The training subset was composed of 53 hH phases with 18 valence electrons. The target va...

Surface texturing, which has recently garnered increased attention, involves modifying the surface texture of materials to enhance their tribology. Various methods have been developed for surface texturing. Laser surface texturing (LST) has attracted...

This study investigates the impact of the surface characteristics and the inner close-to-surface characteristics of die-cast Al-Si-Cu alloy on the anodizing process under steady-state voltage and current modes. Samples of industrial-pressure die-cast...

Due to outstanding mechanical properties [...]

Since the discovery of the first ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) in the chiral smectic C (SmC*) phase, ferroelectricity in liquid crystals has attracted much attention due to not only the fundamental interest but also the applications. This review...

It is demonstrated for 11 different combinations of organic solutes and solvents that the supersaturation dependence of homogeneous organic crystal nucleation rates from solution can be predicted from the solubility, bar a single empirical rate const...

This article investigates the environmentally friendly synthesis and characterization of carbon dots (CDs) derived from soybean biomass, in conjunction with their composites containing potassium chloride (KCl) or zeolite. By using an environmentally...

The vapochromic properties of [Pt(tpy)Cl](PF₆) crystals in the presence of acetonitrile and its effect on the crystal structure as well as the fluorescence spectrum of this complex have already been studied in the past. We synthesized nanocrystals of...

Consideration of sapphire shaped crystals as the material for manufacturing of medical instruments expands the opportunities of various approaches for diagnostics, exposure and treatment. Due to physical, mechanical and chemical properties of sapphir...

Significant columnar grains usually occur in the metallurgical microstructure of laser additive manufacturing, and plastic deformation introduced into additive manufacturing can significantly refine grain size. Due to the high deformation resistance...

We herein investigate the scattering of orthogonal counterpropagating waves and one-way propagating bulk waves in discrete acoustic superlattices subjected to a scattering potential applied to one of the superlattice unit cells. We demonstrate theore...

The crystal structure of 3,5-bistrifluoromethylhydrocinnamic acid [systematic name: 3-[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]propanoic acid], C₁₁H₈F₆O₂, has been determined and described. The structure was subject to the Hirshfeld surface-analysis and CE-B3...

This paper investigates pseudo-polymorphism in 2-pyridylmethoxy derivatives of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene (PyC4), p-tert-butyldihomooxa-calix[4]arenes (PyHOC4), and p-tert-butylhexahomotrioxacalix[3]arenes (PyHO3C3), presenting 11 crystal structures w...

LuBO₃ crystallizes in the calcite type (CaCO₃) structure and is a widely applied inorganic host for luminescent materials and scintillators. Even though many scientific works have been published concerning the optical properties of rare-earth-doped L...

Hafnium carbide (HfC) is a refractory compound known for its exceptional mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. This compound has gained significant attention in materials science and engineering due to its high melting point, extreme hardne...

The inherent nonpolarity of tetragonal lysozyme crystals excludes a ferroelectricity response. Herein, we present a demonstration of achieving measurable ferroelectricity in tetragonal lysozyme crystals through C₆₀ doping. Ferroelectric characterizat...