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The formation of our Solar System and planetary defense strategies are among the priorities to be investigated in the next years by the space science community. As in-situ missions to small bodies (as comets and asteroids) are options to conduct these investigations, this paper proposes a combination of methodologies to produce low-cost transfers to near-earth asteroids (NEAs). Low-cost trajectories derived from retrograde periodic orbits around $${L}_{1}$$ L 1 are taken as a starting point for the escape of the Earth-Moon system and, as the vehicle exits the sphere of influence of Earth, the deployment of an adjustable solar sail guarantees the interception of the target in a predetermined position and time of flight. Different sail loadings (164, 61 and 30 g/m2) are tested and a case study to the NEA 65,803 Didymos is presented. The results show economies in the velocity increments required by the mission up to 8.48%, although a longer time of flight might be needed depending on the sail loading.

New forms of carbon-based materials have received great attention, and the developed materials have found many applications in nanotechnology. Interesting novel carbon structures include the carbon peapods, which are comprised of fullerenes encapsulated within carbon nanotubes. Peapod-like nanostructures have been successfully synthesized, and have been used in optical modulation devices, transistors, solar cells, and in other devices. However, the mechanical properties of these structures are not completely elucidated. In this work, we investigated, using fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, the deformation of carbon peapods under high-strain rate conditions, which are achieved by shooting the peapods at ultrasonic velocities against a rigid substrate. Our results show that carbon peapods experience large deformation at impact, and undergo multiple fracture pathways, depending primarily on the relative orientation between the peapod and the substrate, and the impact velocity. Observed outcomes include fullerene ejection, carbon nanotube fracture, fullerene, and nanotube coalescence, as well as the formation of amorphous carbon structures.

Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMS) possess locally minimized surface area under the constraint of periodic boundary conditions. Different families of surfaces were obtained with different topologies satisfying such conditions. Examples of such families include Primitive (P), Gyroid (G) and Diamond (D) surfaces. From a purely mathematical subject, TPMS have been recently found in materials science as optimal geometries for structural applications. Proposed by Mackay and Terrones in 1991, schwarzites are 3D crystalline porous carbon nanocrystals exhibiting a TPMS-like surface topology. Although their complex topology poses serious limitations on their synthesis with conventional nanoscale fabrication methods, such as Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), schwarzites can be fabricated by Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques, such as 3D Printing. In this work, we used an optimized atomic model of a schwarzite structure from the D family (D8bal) to generate a surface mesh that was subsequently used for 3D-printing through Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). This D schwarzite was 3D-printed with thermoplastic PolyLactic Acid (PLA) polymer filaments. Mechanical properties under uniaxial compression were investigated for both the atomic model and the 3D-printed one. Fully atomistic Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were also carried out to investigate the uniaxial compression behavior of the D8bal atomic model. Mechanical testings were performed on the 3D-printed schwarzite where the deformation mechanisms were found to be similar to those observed in MD simulations. These results are suggestive of a scale-independent mechanical behavior that is dominated by structural topology.

This special issue of the European Journal of Physics: Special Topics entitled Celestial Mechanics in the XXIst Century published a set of 15 papers aiming to put in perspective the main problems that are being addressed by the researchers in this area. Our goal is to draw attention to the challenges that they represent so that new approaches may be conceived to foster better and more effective solutions of them. In particular, it is shown points related to a new type of creep tide theory, studies related to the risk of collision of space vehicles with space debris, motion near NEAs, strategies to avoid a collision of an asteroid with the Earth and decay of small satellites in the atmosphere of the Earth are included, since they are hot topics of current research.

With the advent of graphene, the most studied of all two-dimensional materials, many inorganic analogues have been synthesized and are being exploited for novel applications. Several approaches have been used to obtain large-grain, high-quality materials. Naturally occurring ores, for example, are the best precursors for obtaining highly ordered and large-grain atomic layers by exfoliation. Here, we demonstrate a new two-dimensional material ‘hematene’ obtained from natural iron ore hematite (α-Fe2O3), which is isolated by means of liquid exfoliation. The two-dimensional morphology of hematene is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Magnetic measurements together with density functional theory calculations confirm the ferromagnetic order in hematene while its parent form exhibits antiferromagnetic order. When loaded on titania nanotube arrays, hematene exhibits enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity. Our study indicates that photogenerated electrons can be transferred from hematene to titania despite a band alignment unfavourable for charge transfer.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:36:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-07-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) The production of large-area interfaces and the use of scalable methods to build up designed nanostructures generating advanced functional properties are of high interest for many materials science applications. Nevertheless, large-area coverage remains a major problem even for pristine graphene, and here we present a hybrid, composite graphene-like material soluble in water that can be exploited in many areas such as energy storage, electrodes fabrication, selective membranes and biosensing. Graphene oxide (GO) was produced by the traditional Hummers’ method being further reduced in the presence of poly(styrene sulfonate) sodium salt (PSS), thus creating stable reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanoplatelets wrapped by PSS (GPSS). Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to further clarify the interactions between PSS molecules and rGO nanoplatelets, with calculations supported by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. The intermolecular forces between rGO nanoplatelets and PSS lead to the formation of a hybrid material (GPSS) stabilized by van der Waals forces, allowing the fabrication of high-quality layer-by-layer (LbL) films with poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH). Raman and electrical characterizations corroborated the successful modifications in the electronic structures from GO to GPSS after the chemical treatment, resulting in (PAH/GPSS) LbL films four orders of magnitude more conductive than (PAH/GO). POSMAT – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista Universidade Federal de São Carlos – DFQM Faculdade de Engenharia de Sorocaba – FACENS Applied Physics Department State University of Campinas UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista Centro Universitário Central Paulista – UNICEP Instituto de Física de São Carlos – USP POSMAT – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista FAPESP: 2010/13033-6 FAPESP: 2012/01484-9 FAPESP: 2015/14703-9 FAPESP: 2016/00023-9 FAPESP: 2016/12340-9

Graphene-based membranes have been investigated as promising candidates for water filtration and gas separation applications. Experimental evidences have shown that graphene oxide can be impermeable to liquids, vapors and gases, while allowing a fast permeation of water molecules. This phenomenon has been attributed to the formation of a network of nano capillaries that allow nearly frictionless water flow while blocking other molecules by steric hindrance effects. It is supposed that water molecules are transported through the percolated two-dimensional channels formed between graphene-based sheets. Although these channels allow fast water permeation in such materials, the flow rates are strongly dependent on how the membranes are fabricated. Also, some fundamental issues regarding the nanoscale mechanisms of water permeation are still not fully understood and their interpretation remains controversial. In this work, we have investigated the dynamics of water permeation through pristine graphene and graphene oxide model membranes that have strong impact on water/alcohol separation. We have carried out fully atomistic classical molecular dynamics simulations of systems composed of multiple layered graphene-based sheets into contact with a pure water reservoir under controlled thermodynamics conditions (e. g., by varying temperature and pressure values). We have systematically analysed how the transport dynamics of the confined nanofluids depend on the interlayer distances and the role of the oxide functional groups. Our results show the water flux is much more effective for graphene than for graphene oxide membranes. These results can be attributed to the H-bonds formation between oxide functional groups and water, which traps the water molecules and precludes ultrafast water transport through the nanochannels.

Transition metal dichalcogenides are 2D structures with remarkable electronic, chemical, optical and mechanical properties. Monolayer and crystal properties of these structures have been extensively investigated, but a detailed understanding of the properties of their few-layer structures are still missing. In this work we investigated the mechanical differences between monolayer and multilayer WSe2 and MoSe2, through fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations (MD). It was observed that single layer WSe2/MoSe2 deposited on silicon substrates have larger friction coefficients than 2, 3 and 4 layered structures. For all considered cases it is always easier to peel off and/or to fracture MoSe2 structures. These results suggest that the interactions between first layer and substrate are stronger than interlayer interactions themselves. Similar findings have been reported for other nanomaterials and it has been speculated whether this is a universal-like behavior for 2D layered materials. We have also analyzed fracture patterns. Our results show that fracture is chirality dependent with crack propagation preferentially perpendicular to W(Mo)-Se bonds and faster for zig-zag-like defects.

Low-density, highly porous graphene/graphene oxide (GO) based-foams have shown high performance in energy absorption applications, even under high compressive deformations. In general, foams are very effective as energy dissipative materials and have been widely used in many areas such as automotive, aerospace and biomedical industries. In the case of graphene-based foams, the good mechanical properties are mainly attributed to the intrinsic graphene and/or GO electronic and mechanical properties. Despite the attractive physical properties of graphene/GO based-foams, their structural and thermal stabilities are still a problem for some applications. For instance, they are easily degraded when placed in flowing solutions, either by the collapsing of their layers or just by structural disintegration into small pieces. Recently, a new and scalable synthetic approach to produce low-density 3D macroscopic GO structure interconnected with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymeric chains (pGO) was proposed. A controlled amount of PDMS is infused into the freeze-dried foam resulting into a very rigid structure with improved mechanical properties, such as tensile plasticity and toughness. The PDMS wets the graphene oxide sheets and acts like a glue bonding PDMS and GO sheets. In order to obtain further insights on mechanisms behind the enhanced mechanical pGO response we carried out fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Based on MD results, we build up a structural model that can explain the experimentally observed mechanical behavior.

The behavior of nanostructures under high strain-rate conditions has been object of interest in recent years. For instance, recent experimental investigations showed that at high velocity impacts carbon nanotubes can unzip resulting into graphene nanoribbons. Carbon nanoscrolls (CNS) are among the structures whose high impact behavior has not yet been investigated. CNS are graphene membranes rolled up into papyrus-like structures. Their unique open-ended topology leads to properties not found in close-ended structures, such as nanotubes. Here we report a fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics study on the behavior of CNS colliding at high velocities against solid targets. Our results show that the velocity and scroll axis orientation are key parameters to determine the resulting formed nanostructures after impact. The relative orientation of the scroll open ends and the substrate is also very important. We observed that for appropriate velocities and orientations, the nanoscrolls can experience large structural deformations and large-scale fractures. We have also observed unscrolling (scrolls going back to planar or quasi-planar graphene membranes), unzip resulting into nanoribbons, and significant reconstructions from breaking and/or formation of new chemical bonds. Another interesting result was that if the CNS impact the substrate with their open ends, for certain velocities, fused scroll walls were observed.

Recent studies on graphene hydrogenation processes showed that hydrogenation occurs via island growing domains, however how the substrate can affect the hydrogenation dynamics and/or pattern formation has not been yet properly investigated. In this work we have addressed these issues through fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations. We investigated the structural and dynamical aspects of the hydrogenation of graphene membranes (one-side hydrogenation, the so called graphone structure) on different substrates (graphene, few-layers graphene, graphite and platinum). Our results also show that the observed hydrogenation rates are very sensitive to the substrate type. For all investigated cases, the largest fraction of hydrogenated carbon atoms was for platinum substrates. Our results also show that a significant number of randomly distributed H clusters are formed during the early stages of the hydrogenation process, regardless of the type of substrate. These results suggest that, similarly to graphane formation, large perfect graphone-like domains are unlikely to be formed. These findings are especially important since experiments have showed that cluster formation influences the electronic transport properties in hydrogenated graphene.

Celestial mechanics is one of the most ancient science. It is dedicated to the study of the motion of planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other celestial bodies. It probably started when humans discovered that some special stars differentiate from the others in the sense that they move on the celestial sphere. Currently, it is responsible for successfully guiding spaceships to distant objects in our solar system aiming to explore them. As an introduction to this Focus Issue in Celestial Mechanics, we make here a historical overview of developments in this area and present the articles that comprise this special issue.

Multipotent adult resident cardiac stem cells (CSCs) were first identified by the expression of c-kit, the stem cell factor receptor. However, in the adult myocardium c-kit alone cannot distinguish CSCs from other c-kit-expressing (c-kitpos) cells. The adult heart indeed contains a heterogeneous mixture of c-kitpos cells, mainly composed of mast and endothelial/progenitor cells. This heterogeneity of cardiac c-kitpos cells has generated confusion and controversy about the existence and role of CSCs in the adult heart. Here, to unravel CSC identity within the heterogeneous c-kit-expressing cardiac cell population, c-kitpos cardiac cells were separated through CD45-positive or -negative sorting followed by c-kitpos sorting. The blood/endothelial lineage-committed (Lineagepos) CD45pos c-kitpos cardiac cells were compared to CD45 neg (Lineage neg /Lin neg) c-kitpos cardiac cells for stemness and myogenic properties in vitro and in vivo. The majority (∼90%) of the resident c-kitpos cardiac cells are blood/endothelial lineage-committed CD45pos CD31pos c-kitpos cells. In contrast, the Lin neg CD45 neg c-kitpos cardiac cell cohort, which represents >1/210% of the total c-kitpos cells, contain all the cardiac cells with the properties of adult multipotent CSCs. These characteristics are absent from the c-kit neg and the blood/endothelial lineage-committed c-kitpos cardiac cells. Single Lin neg c-kitpos cell-derived clones, which represent only 1-2% of total c-kitpos myocardial cells, when stimulated with TGF-β/Wnt molecules, acquire full transcriptome and protein expression, sarcomere organisation, spontaneous contraction and electrophysiological properties of differentiated cardiomyocytes (CMs). Genetically tagged cloned progeny of one Lin neg c-kitpos cell when injected into the infarcted myocardium, results in significant regeneration of new CMs, arterioles and capillaries, derived from the injected cells. The CSC's myogenic regenerative capacity is dependent on commitment to the CM lineage through activation of the SMAD2 pathway. Such regeneration was not apparent when blood/endothelial lineage-committed c-kitpos cardiac cells were injected. Thus, among the cardiac c-kitpos cell cohort only a very small fraction has the phenotype and the differentiation/regenerative potential characteristics of true multipotent CSCs.