Publications related to Ni-Al2O3 nacre-like composites through hot-pressing of freeze-cast foams

Organic matters, but inorganic matters too: column examination of elevated mercury sorption on low organic matter aquifer material using concentrations and stable isotope ratios

Sorption of mercury (Hg) in soils is suggested to be predominantly associated with organic matter (OM). However, there is a growing collection of research that suggests that clay minerals and oxides are also important solid phases for the sorption of solu ...

2024

Two-dimensional quasi-static delamination in composite laminates under Mode-I and Mode-II conditions

Congzhe Wang

Fiber-polymer composites consist of a polymer matrix and reinforcing fibers made of various materials. These composites exhibit exceptional properties, such as a high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance, which has led to their incre ...

EPFL2024

Modeling friction and wear using an adaptive discrete-continuum coupling

Manon Eugénie Voisin--Leprince

When two objects slide against each other, wear and friction occur at their interface. The accumulation of wear forms what is commonly referred to as a ``third-body''. Understanding third-body evolution has significant applications in industry, where contr ...

EPFL2024

Microbial hydrogen sinks in the sand-bentonite backfill material for the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste

Rizlan Bernier-Latmani, Manon Frutschi, Niels Burzan, Aislinn Ann Boylan, Nicolas Louis Maurice Jacquemin, Simiao Wang, Camille Aude Rolland

The activity of subsurface microorganisms can be harnessed for engineering projects. For instance, the Swiss radioactive waste repository design can take advantage of indigenous microorganisms to tackle the issue of a hydrogen gas (H2) phase pressure build ...

Frontiers Media SA2024

An adaptive phase field approach to 3D internal crack growth in rocks

Tao Xu, Michael Heap, Alexandra Roma Larisa Kushnir

Modeling the 3D internal crack under compression entails complex fracture mechanics (mode I-II-III fracture), resulting in substantial computational costs and challenges in characterizing fracture morphology characterization for Phase Field Method (PFM) si ...

2024

Numerical investigation of two-dimensional Mode-II delamination in composite laminates

Thomas Keller, Anastasios Vassilopoulos, Congzhe Wang

Existing standards for delamination tests on composite materials typically employ one-dimensional (1D) beam specimens. However, such specimens may not represent real delamination scenarios in composite structures, where cracks tend to propagate in two dime ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2024

Methods for high-throughput synthesis and screening of peptide libraries

Zsolt Bognár

Macrocycles provide an attractive modality for drug development but the identification of ligands to targets of interest is hindered by the lack of large macrocyclic compound libraries for high-throughput screening. A strategy to efficiently synthesize lar ...

EPFL2024

Field-controlled multicritical behavior and emergent universality in fully frustrated quantum magnets

Bruce Normand

Phase transitions in condensed matter are a source of exotic emergent properties. We study the fully frustrated bilayer Heisenberg antiferromagnet to demonstrate that an applied magnetic field creates a previously unknown emergent criticality. The quantum ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Frustrated magnets in the limit of infinite dimensions: Dynamics and disorder-free glass transition

Achille Mauri

We study the statistical mechanics and the equilibrium dynamics of a system of classical Heisenberg spins with frustrated interactions on a d -dimensional simple hypercubic lattice, in the limit of infinite dimensionality d -> infinity . In the analysis we ...

Amer Physical Soc2024

Non-targeted facilitation of primary sludge anaerobic fermentation by micro-aeration and the simultaneous nutrients transformations

Mohammed Mouhib, Lin Li, Qiang He, Chenxi Liu

Anaerobic fermentation is a widely used technology for resource recovery from municipal sludge (e.g., primary sludge). Micro-aeration is an emerging strategy which can be incorporated into this technology. However, the effect of micro-aeration on the anaer ...

Elsevier Science Sa2024

Pyroelectricity in poled all-organic polar polynorbornene/polydimethylsiloxane-based stretchable electrets

Frank Nüesch, Francis Owusu

Pyroelectricity in a recently developed all-organic composite electret with a polar polynorbornene-based filler and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix has been studied with the help of thermal and dielectric techniques. Measurement of the pyroelectric p co ...

Royal Society of Chemistry2024

Evaluation of Interface and Residual Strain of NiTi Layer Deposited on NiTiX Substrate by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Elyas Ghafoori, Christian Leinenbach, Irene Ferretto, Mahbod Golrang, Mahshid Memarian

This study investigates the microstructure and properties of functionally graded NiTi alloy bilayers. The NiTi layer is printed by laser powder bed fusion on a NiTiX (where X is Hf or Cu) substrate prepared by vacuum arc remelting. Specimens produced with ...

Wiley-V C H Verlag Gmbh2024

Sinter-Resistant Nickel Catalyst for Lignin Hydrogenolysis Achieved by Liquid Phase Atomic Layer Deposition of Alumina

Jeremy Luterbacher, Farzaneh Talebkeikhah, Songlan Sun

Lignin hydrogenolysis is a key step in the sustainable production of renewable bio-based chemicals and fuels. Heterogeneous metal catalysts have led to high yields but they rapidly deactivate, notably due to nanoparticle sintering and carbonaceous deposit ...

2023

Modeling the mechanics and rheology of porous and granular media: an elastoplastic continuum approach

Lars Kristoffer Uhlen Blatny

The complex mechanics of porous and granular media play a significant role in various industrial processes and natural phenomena. As an example, understanding the mechanics of how failure occurs, localizes and propagates in porous brittle solids under vari ...

EPFL2023

Mechanism of Reduction of Aqueous U(V)-dpaea and Solid-Phase U(VI)-dpaea Complexes: The Role of Multiheme c-Type Cytochromes

Marinella Mazzanti, Rizlan Bernier-Latmani, Karin Lederballe Meibom, Radmila Faizova, Margaux Camille Andréa Molinas

The biological reduction of soluble U(VI) complexes to form immobile U(IV) species has been proposed to remediate contaminated sites. It is well established that multiheme c-type cytochromes (MHCs) are key mediators of electron transfer to aqueous phase U( ...

2023

Direct Observation of the Phase Transition in C60 Fullerene

Chengcheng Yan

In the third study, the order-disorder phase transition of single-crystal C60 is studied using time-resolved electron microscopy. Solid C60 undergoes a first-order phase transition upon heating to 260 K. This is a structural transition from the low-tempera ...

EPFL Infoscience2023

Fractal Analysis of Four Xerogels Based on TEGylated Phenothiazine and Chitosan

Maria-Alexandra Paun

The present article describes novel massive materials (in the solid phase) based on TEGylated phenothiazine and chitosan that possess great capability to recover mercury ions from constituent aqueous solutions. These were produced by chitosan hydrogelation ...

MDPI2023

Percolation and phase behavior in cellulose nanocrystal suspensions from nonlinear rheological analysis

Tiffany Abitbol

We examine the influence of surface charge on the percolation, gel-point and phase behavior of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) suspensions in relation to their nonlinear rheological material response. Desulfation decreases CNC surface charge density which lead ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2023

In Situ and Time-Resolved Transmission Electron Microscopy of Nanoscale Processes

Chengcheng Yan

Observing the fast dynamics of nanoscale systems is crucial in order to understand and ultimately control their behavior. Characterizing these dynamic processes requires techniques with atomic spatial resolution and a temporal resolution that matches the t ...

EPFL2023

Twisting instabilities in elastic ribbons with inhomogeneous pre-stress: A macroscopic analog of thermodynamic phase transition

Pedro Miguel Nunes Pereira de Almeida Reis, Michael Christopher Gomez

We study elastic ribbons subject to large, tensile pre-stress confined to a central region within the cross-section. These ribbons can buckle spontaneously to form helical shapes, featuring regions of alternating chirality (phases) that are separated by so ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2023