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Now showing 1 - 10 of 30
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    Towards the better: Intrinsic property amelioration in bulk metallic glasses
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Sarac, Baran; Zhang, Long; Kosiba, Konrad; Pauly, Simon; Stoica, Mihai; Eckert, Jürgen
    Tailoring the intrinsic length-scale effects in bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) via post-heat treatment necessitates a systematic analyzing strategy. Although various achievements were made in the past years to structurally enhance the properties of different BMG alloys, the influence of short-term sub-glass transition annealing on the relaxation kinetics is still not fully covered. Here, we aim for unraveling the connection between the physical, (thermo)mechanical and structural changes as a function of selected pre-annealing temperatures and time scales with an in-house developed Cu46Zr44Al8Hf2 based BMG alloy. The controlled formation of nanocrystals below 50 nm with homogenous distribution inside the matrix phase via thermal treatment increase the material’s resistance to strain softening by almost an order of magnitude. The present work determines the design aspects of metallic glasses with enhanced mechanical properties via nanostructural modifications, while postulating a counter-argument to the intrinsic property degradation accounted for long-term annealing.
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    SEI-component formation on sub 5 nm sized silicon nanoparticles in Li-ion batteries: The role of electrode preparation, FEC addition and binders
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) Jaumann, Tony; Balach, Juan; Klose, Markus; Oswald, Steffen; Langklotz, Ulrike; Michaelis, Alexander; Eckert, Jürgen; Giebeler, Lars
    Silicon is a promising negative electrode for secondary lithium-based batteries, but the electrochemical reversibility of particularly nanostructured silicon electrodes drastically depends on their interfacial characteristics, commonly known as the solid electrolyte interface (SEI). The beneficial origin of certain electrolyte additives or different binders is still discussed controversially owing to the challenging peculiarities of interfacial post-mortem investigations of electrodes. In this work, we address the common difficulties of SEI investigations of porous silicon/carbon nanostructures and study the addition of a fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as a stabilizing additive as well as the use of two different binders, carboxymethyl cellulose/styrene-butadiene rubber (CMC/SBR) and polyacrylic acid (PAA), for the SEI formation. The electrode is composed of silicon nanocrystallites below 5 nm diameter allowing a detailed investigation of interfacial characteristics of silicon owing to the high surface area. We first performed galvanostatic long-term cycling (400 times) and carried out comprehensive ex situ characterization of the cycled nanocrystalline silicon electrodes with XRD, EDXS, TEM and XPS. We modified the preparation of the electrode for post-mortem characterization to distinguish between electrolyte components and the actual SEI. The impact of the FEC additive and two different binders on the interfacial layer is studied and the occurrence of diverse compounds, in particular LiF, Li2O and phosphates, is discussed. These results help to understand general issues in SEI formation and to pave the way for the development of advanced electrolytes allowing for a long-term performance of nanostructured Si-based electrodes.
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    Thickness dependent exchange bias in martensitic epitaxial Ni-Mn-Sn thin films
    (New York : American Institute of Physics, 2013) Behler, Anna; Teichert, Niclas; Dutta, Biswanath; Waske, Anja; Hickel, Tilmann; Auge, Alexander; Hütten, Andreas; Eckert, Jürgen
    A thickness dependent exchange bias in the low temperature martensitic state of epitaxial Ni-Mn-Sn thin films is found. The effect can be retained down to very small thicknesses. For a Ni50Mn32Sn18 thin film, which does not undergo a martensitic transformation, no exchange bias is observed. Our results suggest that a significant interplay between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic regions, which is the origin for exchange bias, is only present in the martensite. The finding is supported by ab initio calculations showing that the antiferromagnetic order is stabilized in the phase.
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    High-mobility graphene on liquid p-block elements by ultra-low-loss CVD growth
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2013) Wang, Jiao; Zeng, Mengqi; Tan, Lifang; Dai, Boya; Deng, Yuan; Rümmeli, Mark; Xu, Haitao; Li, Zishen; Wang, Sheng; Peng, Lianmao; Eckert, Jürgen; Fu, Lei
    The high-quality and low-cost of the graphene preparation method decide whether graphene is put into the applications finally. Enormous efforts have been devoted to understand and optimize the CVD process of graphene over various d-block transition metals (e.g. Cu, Ni and Pt). Here we report the growth of uniform high-quality single-layer, single-crystalline graphene flakes and their continuous films over p-block elements (e.g. Ga) liquid films using ambient-pressure chemical vapor deposition. The graphene shows high crystalline quality with electron mobility reaching levels as high as 7400 cm2 V−1s−1 under ambient conditions. Our employed growth strategy is ultra-low-loss. Only trace amounts of Ga are consumed in the production and transfer of the graphene and expensive film deposition or vacuum systems are not needed. We believe that our research will open up new territory in the field of graphene growth and thus promote its practical application.
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    Local melting to design strong and plastically deformable bulk metallic glass composites
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2017) Qin, Yue-Sheng; Han, Xiao-Liang; Song, Kai-Kai; Tian, Yu-Hao; Peng, Chuan-Xiao; Wang, Li; Sun, Bao-An; Wang, Gang; Kaban, Ivan; Eckert, Jürgen
    Recently, CuZr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) composites reinforced by the TRIP (transformation-induced plasticity) effect have been explored in attempt to accomplish an optimal of trade-off between strength and ductility. However, the design of such BMG composites with advanced mechanical properties still remains a big challenge for materials engineering. In this work, we proposed a technique of instantaneously and locally arc-melting BMG plate to artificially induce the precipitation of B2 crystals in the glassy matrix and then to tune mechanical properties. Through adjusting local melting process parameters (i.e. input powers, local melting positions, and distances between the electrode and amorphous plate), the size, volume fraction, and distribution of B2 crystals were well tailored and the corresponding formation mechanism was clearly clarified. The resultant BMG composites exhibit large compressive plasticity and high strength together with obvious work-hardening ability. This compelling approach could be of great significance for the steady development of metastable CuZr-based alloys with excellent mechanical properties.
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    Ti/Al multi-layered sheets: Accumulative roll bonding (Part A)
    (Basel : MDPI, 2016) Romberg, Jan; Freudenberger, Jens; Bauder, Hansjörg; Plattner, Georg; Krug, Hans; Holländer, Frank; Scharnweber, Juliane; Eschke, Andy; Kühn, Uta; Klauß, Hansjörg; Oertel, Carl-Georg; Skrotzki, Werner; Eckert, Jürgen; Schultz, Ludwig
    Co-deformation of Al and Ti by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) with intermediate heat treatments is utilized to prepare multi-layered Ti/Al sheets. These sheets show a high specific strength due to the activation of various hardening mechanisms imposed during deformation, such as: hardening by grain refinement, work hardening and phase boundary hardening. The latter is even enhanced by the confinement of the layers during deformation. The evolution of the microstructure with a special focus on grain refinement and structural integrity is traced, and the correlation to the mechanical properties is shown.
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    Non-isothermal kinetic analysis of the crystallization of metallic glasses using the master curve method
    (Basel : MDPI, 2011) Torrens-Serra, Joan; Venkataraman, Shankar; Stoica, Mihai; Kuehn, Uta; Roth, Stefan; Eckert, Jürgen
    The non-isothermal transformation rate curves of metallic glasses are analyzed with the Master Curve method grounded in the Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami theory. The method is applied to the study of two different metallic glasses determining the activation energy of the transformation and the experimental kinetic function that is analyzed using Avrami kinetics. The analysis of the crystallization of Cu47Ti33Zr11Ni8Si1 metallic glassy powders gives Ea = 3.8 eV, in good agreement with the calculation by other methods, and a transformation initiated by an accelerating nucleation and diffusion-controlled growth. The other studied alloy is a Nanoperm-type Fe77Nb7B15Cu1 metallic glass with a primary crystallization of bcc-Fe. An activation energy of Ea = 5.7 eV is obtained from the Master Curve analysis. It is shown that the use of Avrami kinetics is not able to explain the crystallization mechanisms in this alloy giving an Avrami exponent of n = 1.
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    In-situ quasi-instantaneous e-beam driven catalyst-free formation of crystalline aluminum borate nanowires
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Gonzalez-Martinez, Ignacio G.; Gemming, Thomas; Mendes, Rafael; Bachmatiuk, Alicja; Bezugly, Viktor; Kunstmann, Jens; Eckert, Jürgen; Cuniberti, Gianaurelio; Rümmeli, Mark H.
    The catalyst-assisted nucleation and growth mechanisms for many kinds of nanowires and nanotubes are pretty well understood. At times, though, 1D nanostructures form without a catalyst and the argued growth modes have inconsistencies. One such example is the catalyst-free growth of aluminium borate nanowires. Here we develop an in-situ catalyst-free room temperature growth route for aluminium nanowires using the electron beam in a transmission electron microscope. We provide strong experimental evidence that supports a formation process that can be viewed as a phase transition in which the generation of free-volume induced by the electron beam irradiation enhances the atomic mobility within the precursor material. The enhanced atomic mobility and specific features of the crystal structure of Al5BO9 drive the atomic rearrangement that results in the large scale formation of highly crystalline aluminium borate nanowires. The whole formation process can be completed within fractions of a second. Our developed growth mechanism might also be extended to describe the catalyst-free formation of other nanowires.
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    Mechanical and structural investigation of porous bulk metallic glasses
    (Basel : MDPI, 2015) Wu, Dianyu; Song, Kaikai; Cao, Chongde; Li, Ran; Wang, Gang; Wu, Yuan; Wan, Feng; Ding, Fuli; Shi, Yue; Bai, Xiaojun; Kaban, Ivan; Eckert, Jürgen
    The intrinsic properties of advanced alloy systems can be altered by changing their microstructural features. Here, we present a highly efficient method to produce and characterize structures with systematically-designed pores embedded inside. The fabrication stage involves a combination of photolithography and deep reactive ion etching of a Si template replicated using the concept of thermoplastic forming. Pt- and Zr-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) were evaluated through uniaxial tensile test, followed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) fractographic and shear band analysis. Compositional investigation of the fracture surface performed via energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), as well as Auger spectroscopy (AES) shows a moderate amount of interdiffusion (5 at.% maximum) of the constituent elements between the deformed and undeformed regions. Furthermore, length-scale effects on the mechanical behavior of porous BMGs were explored through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, where shear band formation is observed for a material width of 18 nm.
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    Deformation at ambient and high temperature of in situ Laves phases-ferrite composites
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2014) Donnadieu, Patricia; Pohlmann, Carsten; Scudino, Sergio; Blandin, Jean-Jacques; Surreddi, Kumar Babu; Eckert, Jürgen
    The mechanical behavior of a Fe80Zr10Cr10 alloy has been studied at ambient and high temperature. This Fe80Zr10Cr10 alloy, whoose microstructure is formed by alternate lamellae of Laves phase and ferrite, constitutes a very simple example of an in situ CMA phase composite. The role of the Laves phase type was investigated in a previous study while the present work focuses on the influence of the microstructure length scale owing to a series of alloys cast at different cooling rates that display microstructures with Laves phase lamellae width ranging from ∼50 nm to ∼150 nm. Room temperature compression tests have revealed a very high strength (up to 2 GPa) combined with a very high ductility (up to 35%). Both strength and ductility increase with reduction of the lamella width. High temperature compression tests have shown that a high strength (900 MPa) is maintained up to 873 K. Microstructural study of the deformed samples suggests that the confinement of dislocations in the ferrite lamellae is responsible for strengthening at both ambient and high temperature. The microstructure scale in addition to CMA phase structural features stands then as a key parameter for optimization of mechanical properties of CMA in situ composites.