Adam Clark

Surface-dependence of Interfacial Binding Strength Between Zinc Oxide and Graphene

There is an increasing interest in hybrid materials with impacts such as improving structural integrity of known and commonly used materials. Recent experiments have suggested that the adhesion of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires with carbon fibers can significantly improve interfacial shear and tensile strength of fiber reinforced polymer composites. We have carried out a systematic study of the interaction between ZnO and graphene based on density functional theory, with a focus on the effect of the surface orientation and termination of ZnO. The interaction has been explored through varying both the orientation and binding sites of the interacting surfaces. The calculated binding strength shows a strong dependence on the surface orientation and termination of ZnO, which can be explained from the difference in electronegativity of Zn and O, and the induced charge redistribution owing to the in-plane and out-of-plane dipole moment of the oxide surface.

Re-measurement of the S33(α,p)Cl36 cross section for early solar system nuclide enrichment

Short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) with half-lives less than 100 Myr are known to have existed around the time of the formation of the solar system around 4.5 billion years ago. Understanding the production sources for SLRs is important for improving our understanding of processes taking place just after solar system formation as well as their timescales. Early solar system models rely heavily on calculations from nuclear theory due to a lack of experimental data for the nuclear reactions taking place. In 2013, Bowers et al. measured

Activity measurement of Fe60 through the decay of Co60m and confirmation of its half-life

{}^{36}

Re-measurement of the

Cl production cross sections via the

{}^{33}

{}^{33}

S(

S(

\alpha

\alpha

,p)

,p) reaction and reported cross sections that were systematically higher than predicted by Hauser-Feshbach codes. Soon after, a paper by Peter Mohr highlighted the challenges the new data would pose to current nuclear theory if verified. The

{}^{36}

{}^{33}

Cl cross section for Early solar system enrichment

S(