Effect of architecture disorder on the elastic response of two-dimensional lattice materials.

We examine how disordering joint position influences the linear elastic behavior of lattice materials via numerical simulations in two-dimensional beam networks. Three distinct initial crystalline geometries are selected as representative of mechanically isotropic materials with low connectivity, mechanically isotropic materials with high connectivity, and mechanically anisotropic materials with intermediate connectivity. Introducing disorder generates spatial fluctuations in the elasticity tensor at the local (joint) scale. Proper coarse-graining reveals a well-defined continuum-level scale elasticity tensor. Increasing disorder aids in making initially anisotropic materials more isotropic. The disorder impact on the material stiffness depends on the lattice connectivity: Increasing the disorder softens lattices with high connectivity and stiffens those with low connectivity, without modifying the scaling between elastic modulus and density (linear scaling for high connectivity and cubic scaling for low connectivity). Introducing disorder in lattices with intermediate fixed connectivity reveals both scaling: the linear scaling occurs for low density, the cubic one at high density, and the crossover density increases with disorder. Contrary to classical formulations, this work demonstrates that connectivity is not the sole parameter governing elastic modulus scaling. It offers a promising route to access novel mechanical properties in lattice materials via disordering the architectures.

Role of particle aggregation in the structure of dried colloidal silica layers.

The process of colloidal drying gives way to particle self-assembly in numerous fields including photonics or biotechnology. Yet, the mechanisms and conditions driving the final particle arrangement in dry colloidal layers remain elusive. Here, we examine how the drying rate selects the nanostructure of thick dried layers in four different suspensions of silica nanospheres. Depending on particle size and dispersity, either an amorphous arrangement, a crystalline arrangement, or a rate-dependent amorphous-to-crystalline transition occurs at the drying surface. Amorphous arrangements are observed in the two most polydisperse suspensions while crystallinity occurs when dispersity is lower. Counter-intuitively in the latter case, a higher drying rate favors ordering of the particles. To complement these measurements and to take stock of the bulk properties of the layer, tests on the layer porosity were undertaken. For all suspensions studied herein, faster drying yields denser dry layers. Crystalline surface arrangement implies large bulk volume fraction (∼0.65) whereas amorphous arrangements can be observed in layers with either low (down to ∼0.53) or high (∼0.65) volume fraction. Lastly, we demonstrate via targeted additional experiments and SAXS measurements, that the packing structure of the layers is mainly driven by the formation of aggregates and their subsequent packing, and not by the competition between Brownian diffusion and convection. This highlights that a second dimensionless ratio in addition to the Peclet number should be taken into account, namely the aggregation over evaporation timescale.

Highly porous layers of silica nanospheres sintered by drying: scaling up of the elastic properties of the beads to the macroscopic mechanical properties.

Layers obtained by drying a colloidal dispersion of silica spheres are found to be a good benchmark to test the elastic behaviour of porous media, in the challenging case of high porosities and nano-sized microstructures. Classically used for these systems, Kendall's approach explicitly considers the effect of surface adhesive forces onto the contact area between the particles. This approach provides the Young's modulus using a single adjustable parameter (the adhesion energy) but provides no further information on the tensorial nature and possible anisotropy of elasticity. On the other hand, homogenization approaches (e.g. rule of mixtures, and Eshelby, Mori-Tanaka and self-consistent schemes), based on continuum mechanics and asymptotic analysis, provide the stiffness tensor from the knowledge of the porosity and the elastic constants of the beads. Herein, the self-consistent scheme accurately predicts both bulk and shear moduli, with no adjustable parameter, provided the porosity is less than 35%, for layers composed of particles as small as 15 nm in diameter. Conversely, Kendall's approach is found to predict the Young's modulus over the full porosity range. Moreover, the adhesion energy in Kendall's model has to be adjusted to a value of the order of the fracture energy of the particle material. This suggests that sintering during drying leads to the formation of covalent siloxane bonds between the particles.

Adsorbate Screening of Surface Charge of Microscopic Ferroelectric Domains in Sol-Gel PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 Thin Films.

We present a study of adsorbate screening of surface charge in microscopic ferroelectric domains in a sol-gel grown PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin film. Low-energy and photoemission electron microscopies were employed to characterize the temperature dependence of surface charge and polarization of ferroelectric domains written by atomic force microscopy. We study the role of charged adsorbates in screening of polarization-bound charges. We demonstrate that full-field electron microscopy is suitable for the determination of ferroelectric system properties such as the Curie temperature.