We report on the existence of two different regimes in one-step Ag-seeded InP nanowire growth. The vapor–liquid–solid-mechanism is present at larger In precursor flows and temperatures, ∼500 °C, yielding high aspect ratio and pure wurtzite InP nanowires with a semi-spherical metal particle at the thin apex. Periodic diameter oscillations can be achieved under extreme In supersaturations at this temperature range, showing the presence of a liquid catalyst. However, under lower temperatures and In precursor flows, large diameter InP nanowires with mixed wurtzite/zincblende segments are obtained, similarly to In-assisted growth. Chemical composition analysis suggest that In-rich droplet formation is catalyzed at the substrate surface via Ag nanoparticles; this process might be facilitated by the sulfur contamination detected in these nanoparticles. Furthermore, part of the original Ag nanoparticle remains solid and is embedded inside the actual catalyst, providing an in situ method to switch growth mechanisms upon changing In precursor flow. Nevertheless, our Ag-seeded InP nanowires exhibit overall optical emission spectra consistent with the observed structural properties and similar to Au-catalyzed InP nanowires. We thus show that Ag nanoparticles may be a suitable replacement for Au in InP nanowire growth.

Breast cancer ranks among the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide and bears the highest mortality rate. As an integral component of cancer treatment, mastectomy entails the complete removal of the affected breast. Typically, breast reconstruction, involving the use of silicone implants (augmentation mammaplasty), is employed to address the aftermath of mastectomy. To mitigate postoperative risks associated with mammaplasty, such as capsular contracture or bacterial infections, the functionalization of breast implants with coatings of cyclodextrin polymers as drug delivery systems represents an excellent alternative. In this context, our work focuses on the application of a mathematical model for simulating drug release from breast implants coated with cyclodextrin polymers. The proposed model considers a unidirectional diffusion process following Fick’s second law, which was solved using the orthogonal collocation method, a numerical technique employed to approximate solutions for ordinary and partial differential equations. We conducted simulations to obtain release profiles for three therapeutic molecules: pirfenidone, used for preventing capsular contracture; rose Bengal, an anticancer agent; and the antimicrobial peptide KR-12. Furthermore, we calculated the diffusion profiles of these drugs through the cyclodextrin polymers, determining parameters related to diffusivity, solute solid–liquid partition coefficients, and the Sherwood number. Finally, integrating these parameters in COMSOL multiphysics simulations, the unidirectional diffusion mathematical model was validated.

Cobalt and its alloys are essential in many advanced technologies and understanding their mechanical properties at the nanoscale is crucial for designing next-generation materials. In this work, an angular-dependent potential for cobalt was developed by fitting to a reference data set of atomic forces, energies, and stress tensors derived from first-principles density functional theory calculations. The potential’s performance was systematically evaluated against experimental data and two established classical potentialsan embedded-atom method potential and a modified embedded-atom method potentialacross a range of structural, mechanical, thermal, and defect properties for both HCP and FCC phases, as well as the liquid state. The ADP model demonstrates a favorable balance between accuracy and computational cost, exhibiting a mean absolute percentage error of 6.3% for mechanical and elastic properties. Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of nanoindentation on the (0001) basal plane of HCP cobalt were performed to investigate the atomistic mechanisms of plastic deformation. The simulations reveal that plasticity initiates with the nucleation of -type dislocations on basal planes, followed by the activation of pyramidal slip and a localized, reversible HCP-to-FCC phase transformation under high pressure. The critical shear stress for dislocation nucleation was found to decrease with increasing indenter radius, converging to a value of (13.7 ± 0.6) GPa.