Exceptional Microscale Plasticity in Amorphous Aluminum Oxide at Room Temperature.

Oxide glasses are an elementary group of materials in modern society, but brittleness limits their wider usability at room temperature. As an exception to the rule, amorphous aluminum oxide (a-Al O ) is a rare diatomic glassy material exhibiting significant nanoscale plasticity at room temperature. Here, it is shown experimentally that the room temperature plasticity of a-Al O extends to the microscale and high strain rates using in situ micropillar compression.

Multistage Reversible Photomodulation and Hardening of Hydrazone-Containing Polymers.

The glass transition temperature () of a series of polyacrylate- and polymethacrylate-based polymers having bistable hydrazone photoswitches as pendants increases upon photoisomerization. The ensuing photohardening of the polymeric network was corroborated using nanoindentation measurements. The bistability of the switch allowed us to lock-in and sustain multiple values in the same polymeric material as a function of the hydrazone switch's / isomer ratio, even at elevated temperatures.