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Nucleating Agents
In thermodynamics, nucleation is the first step in the formation of either a new thermodynamic phase or structure via self-assembly or self-organization within a substance or mixture. Nucleation is typically defined to be the process that determines how long an observer has to wait before the new phase or self-organized structure appears. For example, if a volume of water is cooled (at atmospheric pressure) significantly below 0°C, it will tend to freeze into ice, but volumes of water cooled only a few degrees below 0°C often stay completely free of ice for long periods (supercooling). At these conditions, nucleation of ice is either slow or does not occur at all. However, at lower temperatures nucleation is fast, and ice crystals appear after little or no delay. Nucleation is a common mechanism which generates first-order phase transitions, and it is the start of the process of forming a new thermodynamic phase. In contrast, new phases at continuous phase transitions start to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics, which convey a quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical quantity, physical quantities but may be explained in terms of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics. Thermodynamics applies to various topics in science and engineering, especially physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering, as well as other complex fields such as meteorology. Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the thermodynamic efficiency, efficiency of early steam engines, particularly through the work of French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, Sadi Carnot (1824) who believed that engine efficiency was the key that could help France win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supercooled
Supercooling, also known as undercooling, is the process of lowering the temperature of a liquid below its freezing point without it becoming a solid. Per the established international definition, supercooling means ''‘cooling a substance below the normal freezing point without solidification’.'' IIR International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.php ASHRAE Terminology, https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/free-resources/ashrae-terminology While it can be achieved by different physical means, the postponed solidification is most often due to the absence of seed crystals or nuclei around which a crystal structure can form. The supercooling of water can be achieved without any special techniques other than chemical demineralization, down to . Supercooled water can occur naturally, for example in the atmosphere, animals or plants. This phenomenon was first identified in 1724 by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, while developing Fahrenheit scale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spinodal Decomposition
Spinodal decomposition is a mechanism by which a single thermodynamic Phase (matter), phase spontaneously separates into two phases (without nucleation). Decomposition occurs when there is no Thermodynamics, thermodynamic barrier to phase separation. As a result, phase separation via decomposition does not require the nucleation events resulting from thermodynamic fluctuations, which normally trigger phase separation. Spinodal decomposition is observed when mixtures of metals or polymers separate into two co-existing phases, each rich in one species and poor in the other. When the two phases emerge in approximately equal proportion (each occupying about the same volume or area), characteristic intertwined structures are formed that gradually coarsen (see animation). The dynamics of spinodal decomposition is commonly modeled using the Cahn–Hilliard equation. Spinodal decomposition is fundamentally different from nucleation and growth. When there is a nucleation barrier to the form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colloids
A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid, while others extend the definition to include substances like aerosols and gels. The term colloidal suspension refers unambiguously to the overall mixture (although a narrower sense of the word '' suspension'' is distinguished from colloids by larger particle size). A colloid has a dispersed phase (the suspended particles) and a continuous phase (the medium of suspension). The dispersed phase particles have a diameter of approximately 1 nanometre to 1 micrometre. Some colloids are translucent because of the Tyndall effect, which is the scattering of light by particles in the colloid. Other colloids may be opaque or have a slight color. Colloidal suspensions are the subject of interface and colloid science. This field of study began in 1845 by Francesco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermodynamic Equilibrium
Thermodynamic equilibrium is a notion of thermodynamics with axiomatic status referring to an internal state of a single thermodynamic system, or a relation between several thermodynamic systems connected by more or less permeable or impermeable walls. In thermodynamic equilibrium, there are no net macroscopic flows of mass nor of energy within a system or between systems. In a system that is in its own state of internal thermodynamic equilibrium, not only is there an absence of macroscopic change, but there is an “absence of any ''tendency'' toward change on a macroscopic scale.” Systems in mutual thermodynamic equilibrium are simultaneously in mutual thermal, mechanical, chemical, and radiative equilibria. Systems can be in one kind of mutual equilibrium, while not in others. In thermodynamic equilibrium, all kinds of equilibrium hold at once and indefinitely, unless disturbed by a thermodynamic operation. In a macroscopic equilibrium, perfectly or almost perfectly ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold Nanoparticle
Colloidal gold is a sol or colloidal suspension of nanoparticles of gold in a fluid, usually water. The colloid is coloured usually either wine red (for spherical particles less than 100 nm) or blue-purple (for larger spherical particles or nanorods). Due to their optical, electronic, and molecular-recognition properties, gold nanoparticles are the subject of substantial research, with many potential or promised applications in a wide variety of areas, including electron microscopy, electronics, nanotechnology, materials science, and biomedicine. The properties of colloidal gold nanoparticles, and thus their potential applications, depend strongly upon their size and shape. For example, rodlike particles have both a transverse and longitudinal absorption peak, and anisotropy of the shape affects their self-assembly. History Used since ancient times as a method of staining glass, colloidal gold was used in the 4th-century Lycurgus Cup, which changes color dependi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Activation Energy
In the Arrhenius model of reaction rates, activation energy is the minimum amount of energy that must be available to reactants for a chemical reaction to occur. The activation energy (''E''a) of a reaction is measured in kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol) or kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol). Activation energy can be thought of as a magnitude of the potential barrier (sometimes called the energy barrier) separating minima of the potential energy surface pertaining to the initial and final thermodynamic state. For a chemical reaction to proceed at a reasonable rate, the temperature of the system should be high enough such that there exists an appreciable number of molecules with translational energy equal to or greater than the activation energy. The term "activation energy" was introduced in 1889 by the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius. Other uses Although less commonly used, activation energy also applies to nuclear reactions and various other physical phenomena. Temperature ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gibbs Free Energy
In thermodynamics, the Gibbs free energy (or Gibbs energy as the recommended name; symbol is a thermodynamic potential that can be used to calculate the maximum amount of Work (thermodynamics), work, other than Work (thermodynamics)#Pressure–volume work, pressure–volume work, that may be performed by a closed system, thermodynamically closed system at constant temperature and pressure. It also provides a necessary condition for processes such as chemical reactions that may occur under these conditions. The Gibbs free energy is expressed as G(p,T) = U + pV - TS = H - TS where: * U is the internal energy of the system * H is the enthalpy of the system * S is the entropy of the system * T is the temperature of the system * V is the volume of the system * p is the pressure of the system (which must be equal to that of the surroundings for mechanical equilibrium). The Gibbs free energy change (, measured in joules in International System of Units, SI) is the ''maximum'' amount of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surface Tension
Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Surface tension (physics), tension is what allows objects with a higher density than water such as razor blades and insects (e.g. Gerridae, water striders) to float on a water surface without becoming even partly submerged. At liquid–air interfaces, surface tension results from the greater attraction of liquid molecules to each other (due to Cohesion (chemistry), cohesion) than to the molecules in the air (due to adhesion). There are two primary mechanisms in play. One is an inward force on the surface molecules causing the liquid to contract. Second is a tangential force parallel to the surface of the liquid. This ''tangential'' force is generally referred to as the surface tension. The net effect is the liquid behaves as if its surface were covered with a stretched elastic membrane. But this analogy must not be taken too far as the tension in an elastic membrane i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microtubule Nucleation
In cell biology, microtubule nucleation is the event that initiates '' de novo'' formation of microtubules (MTs). These filaments of the cytoskeleton typically form through polymerization of α- and β-tubulin dimers, the basic building blocks of the microtubule, which initially interact to nucleate a seed from which the filament elongates. Microtubule nucleation occurs spontaneously ''in vitro'', with solutions of purified tubulin giving rise to full-length polymers. The tubulin dimers that make up the polymers have an intrinsic capacity to self-aggregate and assemble into cylindrical tubes, provided there is an adequate supply of GTP. The kinetics barriers of such a process, however, mean that the rate at which microtubules spontaneously nucleate is relatively low. Role of γ-tubulin and the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC) ''In vivo'', cells get around this kinetic barrier by using various proteins to aid microtubule nucleation. The primary pathway by which microtubule nuclea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microtubules
Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells. Microtubules can be as long as 50 micrometres, as wide as 23 to 27 nm and have an inner diameter between 11 and 15 nm. They are formed by the polymerization of a dimer of two globular proteins, alpha and beta tubulin into protofilaments that can then associate laterally to form a hollow tube, the microtubule. The most common form of a microtubule consists of 13 protofilaments in the tubular arrangement. Microtubules play an important role in a number of cellular processes. They are involved in maintaining the structure of the cell and, together with microfilaments and intermediate filaments, they form the cytoskeleton. They also make up the internal structure of cilia and flagella. They provide platforms for intracellular transport and are involved in a variety of cellular processes, including the movement of secretory vesicles, organel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation (including easily getting lost), mood swings, loss of motivation, self-neglect, and behavioral issues. As a person's condition declines, they often withdraw from family and society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. Although the speed of progression can vary, the average life expectancy following diagnosis is three to twelve years. The causes of Alzheimer's disease remain poorly understood. There are many environmental and genetic risk factors associated with its development. The strongest genetic risk factor is from an allele of apolipoprotein E. Other risk factors include a history of head injury, clinical depression, and high blood pressure. The progression of the di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
