Experimental realization of one dimensional helium.

As the spatial dimension is lowered, locally stabilizing interactions are reduced, leading to the emergence of strongly fluctuating phases of matter without classical analogues. Here we report on the experimental observation of a one dimensional quantum liquid of 4He using nanoengineering by confining it within a porous material preplated with a noble gas to enhance dimensional reduction. The resulting excitations of the confined 4He are qualitatively different than bulk superfluid helium, and can be analyzed in terms of a mobile impurity allowing for the characterization of the emergent quantum liquid beyond the Luttinger liquid paradigm. The low dimensional helium system offers the possibility of tuning via pressure-from weakly interacting, all the way to the super Tonks-Girardeau gas of strongly interacting hard-core particles.

Shape and size of highly concentrated micelles in CTAB/NaSal solutions by Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS).

Highly concentrated micelles in CTAB/NaSal solutions with a fixed salt/surfactant ratio of 0.6 have been studied using Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) as a function of temperature and concentration. A worm-like chain model analysis of the SANS data using a combination of a cylindrical form factors for the polydisperse micellar length, circular cross-sectional radius with Gaussian polydispersity, and the structure factor based on a random phase approximation (RPA) suggests that these micelle solutions have a worm-like micellar structure that is independent of the concentration and temperature. The size of the micelle decreases monotonically with increasing temperature and increases with concentration. These observations indicate that large micelles are formed at low temperature and begin to break up to form smaller micelles with increasing temperature.

Quantitative characterization of vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube arrays using small angle X-ray scattering.

We have used small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to quantitatively characterize the morphology of vertically aligned (VA) multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) arrays. We examined the extent of alignment of MWCNTs in terms of order parameter by analyzing SAXS intensity as a function of azimuthal angle. The SAXS measurements at different heights of CNT arrays from the substrate reveal two distinct morphologies and increasing alignment. We are able to quantitatively characterize a real variation in CNT diameters of the VA-MWCNTs through model fitting of the SAXS spectra. It found that the average CNT diameter increases with increasing distance from the substrate.

Interaction of single water molecules with silanols in mesoporous silica.

Deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering measurements of water confined in mesoporous silica have been carried out. The experiment has been performed at room temperature on dry and on hydrated samples in order to investigate the interaction between the protons and the silanol groups of the confining surface. With this aim we could control the hydration of the pores in such a way as to adsorb 3.0 water molecules per nm(2), corresponding to a 1 to 1 ratio with the silanol groups of the surface. DINS measurements directly measure the mean kinetic energy and the momentum distribution of the protons. A detailed analysis of the hydrated sample has been performed in order to separate the contributions of the protons in the system, allowing us to determine the arrangement of water molecules on the silanol groups. We find that the hydrogen bond of the water proton with the oxygen of the silanol group is much stronger than the hydrogen bonds of bulk water.

Structural evolution of the dihydrate to anhydrate crystalline transition of trehalose as measured by wide-angle X-ray scattering.

Wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements were performed to record structural changes during the transition from trehalose dihydrate to crystalline anhydrous alpha-trehalose. The results show that large dihydrate crystals rearrange into smaller sized alpha crystals; from the peak widths we calculate a crystallite size of typically approximately 40 trehalose molecules. We find that the dehydration probably takes place in a two-step process with different time scales for both the water removal step and the molecule rearrangement step. This suggests that there is crystal rearrangement in the dry state some 60 degrees C below the dry glass transition temperature of trehalose, which is unusual for a relatively large and strongly interacting molecule.

Monolayer sorption of neon in mesoporous silica glass as monitored by wide-angle x-ray scattering.

We report measurements of the x-ray scattering intensity as mesoporous silica glasses are filled with neon. The intensity of the first peak in the liquidlike diffraction pattern increases nonlinearly with mass adsorbed. We outline a simple model assuming that the major coherent contribution to the first peak in the scattering function S(Q) is due to interference from nearest-neighbor scatterers. This allows us to demonstrate an approach for surface area determination which does not rely on thermodynamic models -- and is therefore complementary to existing methods. We also suggest that the overestimation of surface area by the traditional Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method may be resolved by using the capillary, and not the bulk, condensation pressure as the reference pressure p(0). Furthermore, the alternative analysis offers an insight into the atomic structure of monatomic sorption, which may be of use for further studies on materials with different surface properties.