2019, Turalska, P., Sobczak, N., Bruzda, G., Kaban, I., Mattern, N.

The sessile drop method combined with contact heating procedure was applied for the investigation of high-temperature interaction between liquid Gd and Y2O3 substrate. Real-time behavior of Gd sample in flowing inert gas (Ar) atmosphere upon heating to and at temperature of 1362 °C was recorded using high-speed high-resolution CCD camera. The results evidenced that molten Gd wets Y2O3 substrate (the contact angle θ < 90°) immediately after melting of metal sample observed at T = 1324 °C (Tm = 1312 °C). During the first 3 min of the sessile drop test, the contact angle dropped from θ = 52° to θ = 24° and then stabilized at the final value of θf * = 33°. The solidified Gd/Y2O3 couple was subjected to structural characterization using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with x-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The results evidenced that the wettability in the Gd/Y2O3 system has a reactive nature and the leading mechanism of the interaction between liquid Gd and Y2O3 is the dissolution of the ceramic in the liquid metal responsible for the formation of a deep crater in the substrate under the drop. Therefore, the final contact angle θf*, estimated from the side-view drop image, should be considered as an apparent value, compared to the more reliable value of θf = 70° measured on the cross section of the solidified couple. © 2019, The Author(s).

2000, Gedan-Smolka, Michaela, Meier Haack, Jochen, Lehmann, Frank, Grundke, Karina, Uhlmann, Petra, Wulf, Martin

[no abstract available]

2020, Turalska, P., Homa, M., Sobczak, N., Gazda, A., Wierzbicka-Miernik, A., Kaban, I.

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was applied to determine the critical temperatures of phase transformations in the Gd40Ti30Zr30 alloy (wt%). The comparative measurements were carried out using three types of measuring devices at a temperature RT- 1650°C in the same flowing gas (Ar, 99.9992%) but applying different testing procedures, which allowed obtaining dissimilar oxygen contents in the surrounding atmosphere. The high temperature interaction and reactivity taking place between molten alloy samples and ZrO2 container during DSC tests were evaluated by structural analysis of the resulting interfaces using alloy samples solidified inside the ZrO2 containers. The conducted research has demonstrated methodological difficulties accompanying measurements of the thermophysical properties of Gd-rich alloys by the container-assisted DSC method, particularly when the tests are performed in flowing argon atmosphere with significantly reduced oxygen content. Under non-oxidizing conditions, the degradation of ZrO2 container can take place during DSC testing because the selected Gd40Ti30Zr30 alloy reacts with the ZrO2 to form a continuous interfacial reaction product layer. Under slightly oxidizing conditions, the gadolinium oxide formed in situ on the alloy surface, plays the role of a barrier for direct contact between molten alloy and container and thus may suppress or even prevent the degradation of the container and its subsequent strong bonding with the holder.

2019, Rosenthal, Uwe

Active species for synthetic and catalytic applications are formed from well defined complexes or mixtures of compounds. For group 4 metallocenes, three pathways for the formation of the reactive complex fragment [Cp′2M] are known: (i) reductive mixtures and well defined complexes which are able to form the metallocene fragments either by (ii) addition or (iii) substitution reactions. In this account for each of theses systems (i)–(iii) a prominent example will be discussed in detail, (i) the Negishi reagent Cp2ZrCl2/n-BuLi, (ii) bis(η5 : η1-pentafulvene) complexes and (iii) metallocene bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene complexes, to show the advantages and the disadvantages for each of these methods for synthetic applications. This account summarizes some main advantages of group 4 metallocene bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene complexes as metallocene generating agents over other synthetically used systems. For each of the special purposes, all described systems have advantages as well as disadvantages. The aim of this overview is to help synthetic chemists in selecting the most effective system on the basis of [Cp′2M] (M=Ti, Zr) for synthetic or catalytic puposes. ©2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.