Plastic deformation of metals is generally a function of the strain. Recently, both phenomenological and dislocation-based strain gradient plasticity laws were proposed after strain gradients were experimentally found to affect the plastic deformation of the metal. A strain gradient plasticity law is developed on the basis of molecular theory of yield for glassy polymers. A strain gradient plasticity modulus with temperature and molecular dependence is proposed and related to indentation hardness. The physics of the strain gradient plasticity in glassy polymer is then discussed in relation to the modulus.

New segmented polyurethanes containing phospholipid moieties in the main chains and long-chain alkyl groups in the side chains were synthesized. The soft segments used in this study were poly(butadiene), poly(isoprene), hydrogenated poly(isoprene), and poly(1,6-hexyl-1,2-ethylcarbonate) diol. The hard segments of these polyurethanes were 4,4′-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate, bis[2-(2-hydroxyethyldimethylammonio)ethyl]2-cetyl- 1,3-propanediphosphate, and 1,4-butanediol. The blood compatibilities of the new polymers were evaluated by platelet-rich plasma contact studies and viewed by scanning electron microscopy using medical grade BioSpan® and nonphospholipid polyurethane as references. These new materials have good surfaces in terms of platelet adhesion, and the morphology of adhered platelets undergoes a relatively low degree of variation.

Negative ion states for Li atoms are found in graphite nanoclusters heavily doped with lithium using a semiempirical calculational method. These calculations identify a quasi-stable site for a negative Li ion near the terminated hydrogen atoms, and this site becomes very stable in the presence of the Coulomb interaction between Li ions. The total charge transfer from Li ions to the graphite clusters does not depend on the number of Li atoms per cluster but rather on the relative geometries of the Li atoms on the cluster. The relationship of these findings to the findings in the 7Li nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and to the performance of Li secondary batteries is discussed.

Fracture modes in a model glass–polymer coating–substrate system indented with hard spheres are investigated. The large modulus mismatch between the glass and polymer results in distinctive transverse fracture modes within the brittle coating: exaggerated circumferential (C) ring cracks that initiate at the upper coating surface well outside the contact (as opposed to the near-contact Hertzian cone fractures observed in monolithic brittle materials); median–radial (M) cracks that initiate at the lower surface (i.e., at the substrate interface) on median planes containing the contact axis. Bonding between the coating and substrate is sufficiently strong as to preclude delamination in our system. The transparency of the constituent materials usefully enables in situ identification and quantification of the two transverse fracture modes during contact. The morphologies of the cracks and the corresponding critical indentation loads for initiation are measured over a broad range of coating thicknesses (20 mm to 5.6 mm), on coatings with like surface flaw states, here ensured by a prebonding abrasion treatment. There is a well-defined, broad intermediate range where the indented coating responds more like a flexing plate than a Hertzian contact, and where the M and C cracks initiate in close correspondence with a simple critical stress criterion, i.e., when the maximum tensile stresses exceed the bulk strength of the (abraded) glass. In this intermediate range the M cracks generally form first—only when the flaws on the lower surface are removed (by etching) do the C cracks form first. Finite element modeling is used to evaluate the critical stresses at crack initiation and the surface locations of the crack origins. Departures from the critical stress condition occur at the extremes of very thick coatings (monolith limit) and very thin coatings (thin-film limit), where stress gradients over the flaw dimension are large. Implications of the results concerning practical coating systems are considered.

Nanocrystalline powders of various compositions in the Al2O3–MgO binary system were synthesized using a novel “auto ignition” process. The respective nitrates were used as starting materials and urea as fuel. Thermodynamic calculations of the adiabatic temperatures were performed for various compositions from Al2O3-rich to the MgO-rich side of the phase diagram. The combustion temperatures of the different compositions were also determined experimentally. The as-synthesized powders were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As a result of processing, spinel, alumina, magnesia, and solid solutions/ nanocomposites thereof formed. Grain sizes and the lattice parameter were calculated based on XRD results. Where appropriate, the lattice parameter versus the composition of these solid solutions satisfied Vegard's law. Spinel grains were in the 13–20 nm range, alumina grains were 30–40 nm, and MgO grains were 2–28 nm. The grain sizes calculated from XRD results were in good agreement with the TEM results.