Magnetic signature of chiral phonons revealed by neutron spectroscopy in ferrimagnetic FeZnMoO

Bao, S.*; Liao, J.*; Huang, Z.*; Shangguan, Y.*; Ma, Z.*; Zhang, B.*; Cheng, S.*; Xu, H.*; Song, Z.*; Dong, S.*; et al.

Physical Review Letters, 136(9), p.096502_1 - 096502_8, 2026/03

https://doi.org/10.1103/pq5m-32wj

Residual stress relief effect in gradient structural steel and remaining life evaluation under stochastic fatigue loads

Qin, T. Y.*; Hu, F. F.*; Xu, P. G.; Zhang, R.*; Su, Y. H.; Ao, N.*; Li, Z. W.*; Shinohara, Takenao; Shobu, Takahisa; Wu, S. C.*

International Journal of Fatigue, 202, p.109233_1 - 109233_16, 2026/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2025.109233

Effect of surface tension and gas-liquid density ratio on the wave height and interfacial shear stress in annular flows

Zhang, H.*; Umehara, Yutaro*; Horiguchi, Naoki; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Mori, Shoji*

Proceedings of 12th International Conference of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (FFHMT 2025), P. 222_1, 2025/07

https://doi.org/10.11159/ffhmt25.222

In the past decades, the liquid film characteristics of annular flow, such as film thickness and wave height, have been studied extensively. However, most of experimental data and analyses available in previous studies are limited to the air-water annular flows under near-atmospheric conditions. Thus, the variation in surface tension and gas-liquid density ratio is also limited, and their effects on the characteristics of annular flow are not well-understood. The objective of this study is to clarify the effect of surface tension and gas-liquid density ratio on the wave height and interfacial shear stress in annular flows. We conducted experiments for gas-liquid annular flows and measured the time-varying liquid film thickness. Using water and ethanol as working liquids, whereas nitrogen and HFC134a gas as working gases, we varied the surface tension range from 30.7 to 67.4 mN/m and density ratio range from 27 to 434. The accuracy of sensors for the measurement using the conductance probe method is 5%. By post-processing for the measurement data, liquid film thicknesses (base, average, and maximum film thickness) and wave height were estimated. As the experimental results, the data of both the maximum film thickness and the height of disturbance wave converged on a single curve when they plotted for the interfacial shear stress. The reason was considered that the shape of the disturbance wave is decided by the balance between the surface tension and the interfacial shear stress. With additional analysis based on a potential method, a direct relationship between the height of disturbance wave and interfacial shear stress was clarified. These findings enhance the understanding of annular flow dynamics and contribute to improving the two-phase flow modelling.

Ordered graphane nanoribbons synthesized via high-pressure diels-alder polymerization of 2,2'-bipyrazine

Li, F.*; Tang, X.*; Fei, Y.*; Zhang, J.*; Liu, J.*; Lang, P.*; Che, G.*; Zhao, Z.*; Zheng, Y.*; Fang, Y.*; et al.

Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147(17), p.14054 - 14059, 2025/04

https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c03116

We synthesized a crystalline graphane nanoribbon (GANR) via pressure-induced polymerization of 2,2'-bipyrazine (BPZ). By performing Rietveld refinement of in situ neutron diffraction data, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectra, and theoretical calculation, we found that BPZ experienced Diels-Alder polymerization between the stacked aromatic rings, and formed extended boat-GANR structures with exceptional long-range order. The unreacted -C=N- groups bridge the two ends of the boat, and ready for further functionalization. The GANR has a bandgap of 2.25 eV, with booming photoelectric response (/ =18.8). Our work highlights that the high-pressure topochemical polymerization is a promising method for the precise synthesis of graphane with specific structure and desired properties.

Solid-state Alder-ene reaction of 1-hexene under high pressure

Xu, J.*; Lang, P.*; Liang, S.*; Zhang, J.*; Fei, Y.*; Wang, Y.*; Gao, D.*; Hattori, Takanori; Abe, Jun*; Dong, X.*; et al.

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters (Internet), 16(10), p.2445 - 2451, 2025/03

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c03696

The Alder-ene reaction is a chemical reaction between an alkene with an allylic hydrogen, and it provides an efficient method to construct the C-C bond. Traditionally, this reaction requires catalysts, high temperatures, or photocatalysis. In this study, we reported a high-pressure-induced solid-state Alder-ene reaction of 1-hexene at room temperature without a catalyst. 1-Hexene crystallizes at 4.3 GPa and polymerizes at 18 GPa, forming olefins. By exploring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we discovered that 1-hexene generates dimeric products through the Alder-ene reaction under high pressures. The in situ neutron diffraction shows that the reaction process did not obey the topochemical rule. A six-membered ring transition state including one C-H bond and two alkene bonds was evidenced by the theoretical calculation, whose energy obviously decreased when compressed to 20 GPa. Our work offers a novel and promising method to realize the Alder-ene reaction at room temperature without a catalyst, expanding the application of this important reaction.

High-pressure polymerization of phenol toward degree-4 carbon nanothread

Yang, X.*; Che, G.*; Wang, Y.*; Zhang, P.*; Tang, X.*; Lang, P.*; Gao, D.*; Wang, X.*; Wang, Y.*; Hattori, Takanori; et al.

Nano Letters, 25(3), p.1028 - 1035, 2025/01

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c04895

Saturated sp-carbon nanothreads (CNTh) have garnered significant interest due to their predicted high Young's modulus and thermal conductivity. While the incorporation of heteroatoms into the central ring has been shown to influence the formation of CNTh and yield chemically homogeneous products, the impact of pendant groups on the polymerization process remains underexplored. In this study, we investigate the pressure-induced polymerization of phenol, revealing two phase transitions occurring below 0.5 and 4 GPa. Above 20 GPa, phenol polymerizes into degree-4 CNThs featuring hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. Hydrogen transfer of hydroxyl groups was found to hinder the formation of degree-6 nanothreads. Our findings highlight the crucial role of the hydroxyl group in halting further intracolumn polymerization and offer valuable insights for future mechanism research and nanomaterial synthesis.

Anomalous dislocation response to deformation strain in CrFeCoNiPd high-entropy alloys with nanoscale chemical fluctuations

Ying, H.*; Yang, X.*; He, H.*; Yan, A.*; An, K.*; Ke, Y.*; Wu, Z.*; Tang, S.*; Zhang, Z.*; Dong, H.*; et al.

Scripta Materialia, 250, p.116181_1 - 116181_7, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2024.116181

Gradient residual strain measurement procedure in surface impacted railway steel axles by using neutron scattering

Zhou, L.*; Zhang, H.*; Qin, T. Y.*; Hu, F. F.*; Xu, P. G.; Ao, N.*; Su, Y. H.; He, L. H.*; Li, X. H.*; Zhang, J. R.*; et al.

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 55(7), p.2175 - 2185, 2024/07

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-024-07352-5

Dual nanoprecipitation and nanoscale chemical heterogeneity in a secondary hardening steel for ultrahigh strength and large uniform elongation

Wang, S.*; Wang, J.*; Zhang, S.*; Wei, D.*; Chen, Y.*; Rong, X.*; Gong, W.; Harjo, S.; Liu, X.*; Jiao, Z.*; et al.

Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 185, p.245 - 258, 2024/06

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2023.10.048

Direct observations of dynamic and reverse transformation of Ti-6Al-4V alloy and pure titanium

Guo, B.*; Chen, H.*; Chong, Y.*; Mao, W.; Harjo, S.; Gong, W.; Zhang, Z.*; Jonas, J. J.*; Tsuji, Nobuhiro*

Acta Materialia, 268, p.119780_1 - 119780_11, 2024/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2024.119780