This thesis explores the fascinating properties of domain walls in ferroelectric materials. Domain walls can be used as model systems to study fundamental aspects of interface physics, such as crackling noise, with implications extending to a broad variety of systems, from material fracture and earthquakes to solar flares and collective decision making. Ferroelectric domain walls also show functional properties absent from the domains themselves, such as enhanced conduction leading to the tantalizing possibility of reconfigurable nanoelectronic circuitry where domain walls are active components. This work discusses the crackling physics of domain walls in thin films of Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3, as well as links between the local conductivity of domain walls and nanoscale geometrical distortions due to defects, and discusses unusual polarization textures with rotational components at crossings of ferroelastic twin domains. The results presented in this thesis have important implications for the experimental study of crackling systems.

Gellan Gum as a Biomedical Polymer details key topics and fundamental aspects of gellan gum and its biomedical applications in drug delivery, proteins and peptides delivery, cell delivery, tissue engineering, wound dressings and enzyme immobilizations in developing high quality products. Sections introduce gellan gum, its source, production and gelation mechanism, discuss biomedical materials, and provides ways it can be used for biomedical applications. The book also examines the used of gellan gum as pharmaceutical excipients for drug delivery. Future developments and challenges round out the book’s coverage. With contributions for an international group of experts, this book is a useful reference for scientists, researchers and those in industry engaged in biomedical product development using natural polysaccharides.

The 6th volume of Green Chemical Processing considers sustainable chemistry in the context of innovative and emerging technologies, explaining how they can support the "greening" of industry processes. The American Chemical Society's 12 Principles of Green Chemistry are woven throughout this text as well as the series to which this book belongs.

Based on "The Virtual Conference on Chemistry and its Applications (VCCA-2020) - Research and Innovations in Chemical Sciences: Paving the Way Forward" held in August 2020 and organized by the Computational Chemistry Group of the University of Mauritius. The chapters reflect a wide range of fundamental and applied research in the chemical sciences and interdisciplinary subjects.

This book covers the recent research on nanomaterials and nanotechnology based on the hybridization of graphene with other nanoparticles. With their simple synthesis, nanoscale dimensions, high aspect ratio, mechanical, electrical and thermal properties, graphene and its hybridized materials have witnessed a great interest, and the chapters in this book cover the spectrum of research from the preparation and synthesis of novel nanocomposites to their potential use in aeronautic, automative, energy and environmental applications. Written by respected researchers from both industry and academia, this book is of interest to researchers and students working on nanomaterials.

Since its inception in 1966, the series of numbered volumes known as "Semiconductors and Semimetals" has distinguished itself through the careful selection of well-known authors, editors, and contributors. The "Willardson and Beer" Series, as it is widely known, has succeeded in publishing numerous landmark volumes and chapters. Not only did many of these volumes make an impact at the time of their publication, but they continue to be well-cited years after their original release. Recently, Professor Eicke R. Weber of the University of California at Berkeley joined as a co-editor of the series. Professor Weber, a well-known expert in the field of semiconductor materials, will further contribute to continuing the series' tradition of publishing timely, highly relevant, and long-impacting volumes. Some of the recent volumes, such as "Hydrogen in Semiconductors, Imperfections in III/V Materials, Epitaxial Microstructures, High-Speed Heterostructure Devices, Oxygen in Silicon, " and others promise that this tradition will be maintained and even expanded. Reflecting the truly interdisciplinary nature of the field that the series covers, the volumes in "Semiconductors and Semimetals" have been and will continue to be of great interest to physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers in modern industry.
Written and edited by internationally renowned expertsRelevant to a wide readership: physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers in academia, scientific laboratories and modern industry

The book provides an up-to-date account of the various techniques of fabrication & functionalization of electrospun nanofibers as well as recent advancements. An overview of the advanced applications of such techniques in different areas is also presented. Both experimental and theoretical approaches related to electrospun nanofibers are covered along with a discussion on the inherent properties of electrospun nanofibers. Therefore, this book provides a unique resource not only to established researchers but also newcomers starting out in this field.

This book provides a representative selection of the most relevant, innovative, and useful mathematical methods and models applied to the analysis and characterization of composites and their behaviour on micro-, meso-, and macroscale. It establishes the fundamentals for meaningful and accurate theoretical and computer modelling of these materials in the future. Although the book is primarily concerned with fibre-reinforced composites, which have ever-increasing applications in fields such as aerospace, many of the results presented can be applied to other kinds of composites. The topics covered include: scaling and homogenization procedures in composite structures, thin plate and wave solutions in anisotropic materials, laminated structures, instabilities, fracture and damage analysis of composites, and highly efficient methods for simulation of composites manufacturing. The results presented are useful in the design, fabrication, testing, and industrial applications of composite components and structures. The book is written by well-known experts in different areas of applied mathematics, physics, and composite engineering and is an essential source of reference for graduate and doctoral students, as well as researchers. It is also suitable for non-experts in composites who wish to have an overview of both the mathematical methods and models used in this area and the related open problems requiring further research.

This thesis makes significant advances to the understanding of bottlebrush polymers. While bottlebrushes have received much attention due to the recent discovery of their unprecedented properties, including supersoftness, ultra-low viscosity, and hyperelasticity, this thesis is the first fundamental investigation at the molecular level that comprises structure and dynamics. Neutron scattering experiments, detailed within, reveal spherical or cylindrical shapes, instead of a random coil conformation. Another highlight is the analysis of the fast dynamics at the sub nm-length scale. The combination of three neutron spectrometers and the development of a new analysis technique enabled the calculation of the mean-square displacement over seven orders of magnitude in time scale. This unprecedented result can be applied to a broad class of samples, including polymers and other materials. The thesis is accessible to scientists from other fields, provides the reader with easily understandable guidelines for applying this analysis to other materials, and has the potential to make a significant impact on the analysis of neutron scattering data.

This book comprises the proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Microscopy Conference (APMC12) focusing on emerging opportunities and challenges in the field of materials sciences, life sciences and microscopy techniques. The contents of this volume include papers on aberration corrected TEM & STEM, SEM - FIB, ion beam microscopy, electron diffraction & crystallography, microscopy and imaging associated with bio-nanotechnology, medical applications, host-pathogen interaction, etc. This book will be beneficial to researchers, educators, and practitioners alike.

Programming has become a significant part of connecting theoretical development and scientific application computation. Fluid dynamics provide an important asset in experimentation and theoretical analysis. Analysis and Applications of Lattice Boltzmann Simulations provides emerging research on the efficient and standard implementations of simulation methods on current and upcoming parallel architectures. While highlighting topics such as hardware accelerators, numerical analysis, and sparse geometries, this publication explores the techniques of specific simulators as well as the multiple extensions and various uses. This book is a vital resource for engineers, professionals, researchers, academics, and students seeking current research on computational fluid dynamics, high-performance computing, and numerical and flow simulations.

This book presents the emerging regime of zero refractive index photonics, involving metamaterials that exhibit effectively zero refractive index. Metamaterials are artificial structures whose optical properties can be tailored at will. With metamaterials, intriguing and spellbinding phenomena like negative refraction and electromagnetic cloaking could be realized, which otherwise seem unnatural or straight out of science fiction. Zero index metamaterials are also seen as a means of boosting nonlinear properties and are believed to have strong prospects for being useful in nonlinear optical applications. In summary, this book highlights almost everything currently available on zero index metamaterials and is useful for professionally interested and motivated readers.

The progress of civilization can be, in part, attributed to their ability to employ metallurgy. This book is an introduction to multiple facets of physical metallurgy, materials science, and engineering. As all metals are crystalline in structure, it focuses attention on these structures and how the formation of these crystals are responsible for certain aspects of the material's chemical and physical behaviour. Concepts in Physical Metallurgy also discusses the mechanical properties of metals, the theory of alloys, and physical metallurgy of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.

This book examines carbon-based nanocomposite materials and their application in various environmental fields, such as wastewater treatment, and air and soil remediation. Featuring illustrations, and tables summarizing the latest research, it gathers up-to-date information on the application of carbon nanocomposites in the removal of environmental pollutants from different sources. Given its scope, the book is a valuable textbook for research students, and a useful handbook and reference resource for researchers, academics and industrial scientists working in the field of environmental pollutants and their safe removal.

This book presents a state-of-the-art overview of the major aspects involved in the science, technology and applications of ceramics, glasses and glass-ceramics. After providing an historical perspective of the development and use of ceramics and glasses along the Silk Road, the theoretical background and fabrication techniques of such materials are described and discussed. A special focus is dedicated to emerging high-tech applications in various fields, including medicine, energy, optics and photonics, sensors, sustainability and circular economy. The chapters are written by leading experts in their respective fields and highlight the contemporary challenges associated to each topic. This book will serve as a valuable reference for both early-stage and skilled researchers as well as industry professionals interested in the broad field of glasses and ceramics.

Semiconductors and Semimetals has distinguished itself through the careful selection of well-known authors, editors, and contributors. Originally widely known as the "Willardson and Beer" Series, it has succeeded in publishing numerous landmark volumes and chapters. The series publishes timely, highly relevant volumes intended for long-term impact and reflecting the truly interdisciplinary nature of the field. The volumes in Semiconductors and Semimetals have been and will continue to be of great interest to physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers in academia, scientific laboratories and modern industry.
Written and edited by internationally renowned expertsRelevant to a wide readership: physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers in academia, scientific laboratories and modern industry

This book looks at advanced nanocomposites, introducing long-awaited concepts towards bridging the gap between nanostructured optical materials and next-generation imaging systems. It investigates nanocomposites as bulk optical materials and highlights the immense potential they hold for real-world optical elements and systems, such as smartphone cameras. It covers the full spectrum of nanocomposite optical materials from their fundamental properties to analytical modeling and detailed application examples. This book also provides an in-depth discussion of the role these new materials play in the development of broadband flat optics - diffractive optical elements used for enhancing high-end broadband imaging systems. Written by an industry expert, this book seamlessly connects fundamental research and real-world applications. It is the ideal guide both for optical engineers working towards integrating new technologies, and researchers involved with fundamental research on optical materials.

Based on "The Virtual Conference on Chemistry and its Applications (VCCA-2020) - Research and Innovations in Chemical Sciences: Paving the Way Forward" held in August 2020 and organized by the Computational Chemistry Group of the University of Mauritius. The chapters reflect a wide range of fundamental and applied research in the chemical sciences and interdisciplinary subjects.

This collection presents papers from a symposium on extraction of rare metals as well as rare extraction processing techniques used in metal production. It covers metals essential for critical modern technologies including electronics, electric motors, generators, energy storage systems, and specialty alloys. Rare metals are the main building blocks of many emerging critical technologies and have been receiving significant attention in recent years. Much research in academia and industry is devoted to finding novel techniques to extract critical and rare metals from primary and secondary sources. The technologies that rely on critical metals are dominating the world, and finding a way to extract and supply them effectively is highly desirable and beneficial. Rapid development of these technologies entails fast advancement of the resource and processing industry for their building materials. Authors from academia and industry exchange knowledge on developing, operating, and advancing extractive and processing technologies. Contributions cover rare-earth elements (magnets, catalysts, phosphors, and others), energy storage materials (lithium, cobalt, vanadium, graphite), alloy elements (scandium, niobium, titanium), and materials for electronics (gallium, germanium, indium, gold, silver). The contributions also cover various processing techniques in mineral beneficiation, hydrometallurgy, separation and purification, pyrometallurgy, electrometallurgy, supercritical fluid extraction, and recycling (batteries, magnets, electrical and electronic equipment).