Tag Archives: surface energy
Why do quasicrystals exist?
Featured image: An example of zellij tilework in the Al Attarine Madrasa in Fes, Morocco (2012), with complex geometric patterns on the lower walls and a band of calligraphy above. Caption and credit: just_a_cheeseburger (CC BY) ‘Quasi’ means almost. It’s … Continue reading
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Tagged crystallography, Dan Shechtman, density functional theory, DFT-FE, enthalpy, entropy, finite element analysis, fivefold symmetry, graphics processing unit, Linus Carl Pauling, nucleation, phase diagram, quasicrystals, scandium-zinc, surface energy, translational symmetry, unit cell, ytterbium-cadmium
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Boron nitride, tougher than it looks
During World War I, a British aeronautical engineer named A.A. Griffith noticed something odd about glass. He found that the atomic bonds in glass needed 10,000 megapascals of stress to break apart – but a macroscopic mass of glass could … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged boron nitride, crack deflection, elastic energy, fracture mechanics, free energy, graphene, Griffith's law, hexagonal boron nitride, monolayer graphene, monolayer h-BN, sphalerite, surface energy, tensile strength, wearable electronics, wurtzite
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