The existing methods of synthesis of thermoelectric (TE) materials remain constrained to multi-step processes that are time and energy intensive. Here we demonstrate that essentially all compound thermoelectrics can be synthesized in a single-phase form at a minimal cost and on the timescale of seconds using a combustion process called self-propagating high-temperature synthesis. We illustrate ...

A new ortho-rhom-bic polymorph of terephthalaldehyde, C(8)H(6)O(2), with a melting point of 372 K, has been obtained by recrystallization from ethanol. At room temperature, the crystals transform into the well known monoclinic form, with a melting point of 389 K. The crystal structure of the monoclinic form involves C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, but no such bonds are observed in the orthorhombic form. ...

Density functional molecular dynamical simulations have been performed on Ga17 and Ga13 clusters to understand the recently observed higher-than-bulk melting temperatures in small gallium clusters [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 215508 (2003)]]. The specific-heat curve, calculated with the multiple-histogram technique, shows the melting temperature to be well above the bulk melting point of 303 K, viz., ...

The collective dynamics of liquid gallium close to the melting point has been studied using inelastic x-ray scattering to probe length scales smaller than the size of the first coordination shell. Although the structural properties of this partially covalent liquid strongly deviate from a simple hard-sphere model, the dynamics, as reflected in the quasielastic scattering, are beautifully descri...

We show that the recombination kinetics of two-dimensional electrons with acceptor bound holes is a sensitive probe of the local spatial structure of the electronic system. Using the time resolved magnetoluminescence, we extract the regime of the electron Wigner solid and establish its local configuration consistent with the triangular lattice model. Up to the melting point, the amplitude of th...

The melting behavior of Ge nanocrystals embedded within SiO2 is evaluated using in situ transmission electron microscopy. The observed melting-point hysteresis is large (+/-17%) and nearly symmetric about the bulk melting point. This hysteresis is modeled successfully using classical nucleation theory without the need to invoke epitaxy.

The melting parameter Gamma(m) of a classical one-component plasma is estimated using a relation between the melting temperature, density, shear modulus, and a crystal coordination number that follows from our model of dislocation-mediated melting. We obtain gamma(m)=172+/-35, in good agreement with the results of numerous Monte Carlo calculations.

The structures of enantiopure S,S-1,2-dicyclohexylethane-1,2-diol and its racemic compound (rac-S,S-1,2-dicyclohexylethane-1,2-diol) have been determined at 295 and 173 K. The crystals of the enantiopure material are more than 4% denser than the crystals of the racemic compound, but the melting points indicate that the crystals of the less dense racemic compound are considerably more stable tha...

Boreholes drilled to the bottom of ice stream B in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet reveal that the base of the ice stream is at the melting point and the basal water pressure is within about 1.6 bars of the ice overburden pressure. These conditions allow the rapid ice streaming motion to occur by basal sliding or by shear deformation of unconsolidated sediments that underlie the ice in a layer at ...