EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

In this lecture is made a brief route though the technology that has been the umbrella of all my academic life: powder metallurgy (PM). There are three main reasons to use this technology as an alternative to many others: 1) is a cost saving technology compared with alternative processes, 2) sometimes is a captive way to produce a part or a material and, 3) by the PM route is possible to...

Unproper disposal of non-biodegradable plastics and their accumulation on environment triggers the known white pollution. In turn, agrifood waste is a global concern since high foodstuffs amount ends as non-valued waste. To overcome these issues, ecology concepts as green manufacturing/circular economy are being pursued. Therefore, plastics with improved biodegradability, physicochemical, and...

Nanomaterials are important for a wide range of applications because of their unique properties, which are strongly connected to their three-dimensional (3D) structure. Electron tomography has therefore been used in an increasing number of studies. However, the increasing complexity of nanomaterials has driven the development of even more advanced 3D characterization techniques, which will be...

The search for more effective as well as novel functional materials, such as heterogeneous catalysts, would benefit when we could bridge the molecular world with the macroscopic world, which involves materials performance.

Such detailed information can be obtained if we would have access to a very powerful camera probing the dynamics of a functional material when it is at work. By shooting...

Networks formed of natural nano-fibrils are an appealing approach to integrate the advantages of nano-scale fibers with sustainable raw materials. Whereas cellulose nanofibrils are already widely applied, nanofibrillated chitin is lagging behind this development. Chitin is commonly derived from crustaceans, necessitating harsh and prolonged chemical and mechanical processes for the isolation...

Copper and its alloys play an elementary role in industrial applications due to their excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. In the field of electromobility, plugs made of copper materials are used as connecting elements between the charging station and the vehicle. Another example is the application of precipitation-strengthened copper alloys, e.g., CuCr1Zr and CuNi2SiCr, for...

High Silicon Strengthened Ductile Irons (HSiSDI) with 3.5, 4.2 and 4.5 % wt. silicon contents were produced in Y-blocks with different geometries to investigate the effects of silicon and solidification rate on microstructure integrity and tensile mechanical properties. With increasing silicon the strength of the HSiSDs increased, while the ductility decreased progressively, with an abrupt...

A detailed study is presented comparing the deformation mechanisms operating at service temperatures in the Ni-based disc alloy RR1000 during monotonic tensile, high stress creep and fatigue conditions. By using bright field conventional and scanning transmission electron microscopy to observe tests interrupted at low strain, it was possible to follow the sequence of events and highlight the...

Controlling magnetic properties by tuning carrier concentration is a key feature of diluted ferromagnetic semiconductors, giving possibilities for multifunctional spintronic devices. Here, the evidence of the long-range magnetic order in V-doped WSe2 semiconductors will be presented. The magnetic domains of the long-range ferromagnetic order are observed by magnetic force microscopy at room...

The interaction between precipitation and deformation in aluminium alloys can profoundly affect microstructure and hence properties. Deformation is observed generally to have an accelerating effect on the precipitate evolution processes of nucleation, growth, and coarsening. This acceleration is due to the interaction of deformation induced defects, such as dislocations and vacancies, with...

Biodegradable implants constitute a new generation of biomedical materials that are being developed to assist the tissue healing processes and gradually corrode and degrade in-vivo after their function is being fulfilled. Among others, Fe-based alloys show promising mechanical properties such as ductility and high ultimate strength. However, the corrosion rate of those implants is relatively...

Highly filled particulate metal-dielectric nanocomposites films have unique functional properties with hosts of applications. To explore collective interactions between the particles, we control the particle separation on the nm scale by employing vapor phase deposition, which is a scalable approach permitting, inter alia, excellent control of the filling factor. For polymer films, we have...

Recent work indicates that HVOF thermal spraying WC-Co coatings have been used to enhance the wear resistance of various engineering components in a variety of industrial environments. In the present work WC-Co powder containing Cr particles in an amount of 10% was deposited on ductile cast iron with high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spray coating technique. An investigation was conducted...

Efficient joining materials and characterization techniques are of critical importance for the integration of ceramics in high performance structures.
This talk will overview several issues occurring when measuring the shear strength of joined ceramics and ways to overcome them.
An important topic relevant to the use of joined ceramics and composites to themselves or to other materials is...

Chronic bone infection is considered one of the most problematic biofilm-related infections with high morbidity and mortality rates, prolonged hospitalization and costly health care expenses [1]. Nanomedicine has entered into this scenario by bringing new approaches to develop new therapies to enhance the standards used today [2,3]. The scientific efforts are mainly focused on the design of...

The range of materials used for additively manufactured products is currently still very limited, as the materials often cannot be transferred to this new production technology or cannot compete with conventionally manufactured products in terms of properties. On the other hand, however, additive manufacturing such as laser powder-bed fusion (LPBF) offers completely new degrees of freedom for...

The equiatomic CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy (HEA), also named Cantor alloy, was generally considered to be a stable disordered FCC solid solution. Indeed, this alloy was reported multiple times to solidify in this state and remains so after cold forming operations and recrystallization heat treatments. However, it was later discovered that secondary phases precipitate in the Cantor alloy when...

Thermodynamic properties of phases and phase equilibria are the key to the analysis of pyrometallurgical processes and they enable to describe the limiting boundary conditions for metallurgical processes. The raw materials basis of non-ferrous metals needs an effective control of slag fluxing due to the unavoidable fact that the targeted metal values of, e.g., copper, nickel, lead and tin will...

Fatigue properties of tool steels and ductile irons are a concern in many of its applications, and the two materials may in some applications be competitor selections. In many cases are long life endurance a requirement, and it may even be as high life lengths as ranging up in the Very High Cycle Fatigue (VHCF) regime, i.e. above 107 load cycles. Tool steels are mostly used with a martensitic...

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is an ultrapure form of cellulose nanofibres with mechanical properties exceeding those of both Kevlar and E-glass fibres. A single BC nanofibre has an estimated Young’s modulus of 160 GPa, which makes it a promising reinforcement for biocomposites. In this work, the focus lies on reinforcing impact modified (IM) acrylic to increase its impact strength while...

High temperature and total strain controlled low cycle fatigue tests for smooth and notched specimen were carried out for the nickel base superalloy Rene80. Two different material batches were tested, where smooth specimen with a preferential grain orientation distribution showed distinct higher lifetimes compared to smooth specimen made of material with random grain orientation. However, for...

Precipitation hardening is the key of the mechanical properties for 6xxx series Aluminium alloys. The precipitation sequence is complex and dependent of the alloy composition, particularly on the Mg/Si ratio. A compositionally-graded alloy is obtained with high-temperature compaction using Spark Plasma Sintering on Al-Si and Al-Mg model alloys atomised powders. The different stages of the...

In the quantum Hall (QH) regime, charge carriers flow in one dimensional quantum Hall edge channels (QHECs) and are topologically protected against backscattering. Due to its intrinsic two-dimensionality and the massless nature of its charge carriers, graphene constitutes a fascinating platform for studying QH effect. However, graphene edges are known to strongly harm the topological...

Even trace amounts of impurity atoms can greatly influence the structural and functional properties of Materials. Applications of this effect range from doping of semiconductors to strengthening of alloys. One important research topic for these applications is the temperature dependent bulk diffusion of impurity atoms in their host lattice. While this has been studied in great detail using...

With the growing industrial application of laser-based powder bed fusion (LB-PBF) there has been an increase in the amount of powder suppliers and powder grades. Despite similar atomizing technology, the quality of the powder feedstock can vary significantly between suppliers and batches in terms of powder flowability, impurities and powder surface chemistry. While high quality powder has its...

High-chromium cast irons are typically used in high demanding applications, where low production costs and wear performance are key factors. The excellent resistance of these alloys to both abrasion and erosion results from the overall microstructural features, i.e. type, morphology and distribution of hard primary and secondary carbides, along with the matrix constituents. More specifically,...

Cotton is a predominant raw material in the textile industry. One of the most demanding procedures for the textile industry is dyeing of cotton fabrics with reactive dyes, since traditional dyeing processing leads to substantial environmental impacts, through the discharge of a highly colored and saline dyebath. This can be attributed to the high electrolyte concentrations, such as sodium...

Initiated Chemical Vapor deposition (iCVD) is an original technique for the fabrication of polymeric thin films. This method relies on the radical polymerization under vacuum, which takes place on a cooled substrate. The main advantages that render iCVD a very promising method for polymer thin films deposition are the low substrate temperature, the absence of solvent, the large range of...

The main aim if this study is to investigate influence of coarse grained microstructure of a nickel-based superalloy on TMF crack growth behaviour. For this purpose, single-edge U-shaped notched (SEN) and corner crack (CC) specimens were machined and tested under out-of-phase (OP) and in-phase (IP) TMF crack growth test conditions between 400 and 750 oC in laboratory air. The loading waveform...

Interfaces govern the behaviour of all electronic devices. Herbert Kroemer coined the famous phrase “the interface is the device” in his 2000 Nobel Prize lecture, and we are still applying tremendous effort to understand interfaces in new material generations, with wide-bandgap materials being no exception. If anything, wide bandgap materials are more vulnerable to defect states purely due to...

Effective surface pretreatment is the key to long-term stable and durable bonds between different materials, e.g., used in structural bonding and coatings. Its purpose, besides a general cleaning of a joint surface, is to structure and functionalise the interface. Particularly attractive and fast, laser surface pretreatment enables simple, reproducible and waste-free processing of surfaces of...

In search of lower emissions in the transportation sector, the focus shifts to alternative energy storage systems. By switching from fossil fuels with a high gravimetric and volumetric energy density and easy storability to battery systems or hydrogen tanks, a new demand for lightweight and multifunctional designs arises. Fiber reinforced materials help to fulfill these requirements, due to...

Magnesium alloys exhibit promising properties as bone implant materials due to their biodegradability, non-toxicity and mechanical properties. Compared to steel and Ti, Mg implants can be fully re-absorbed by the human body and the mechanical properties are similar to that of the bones and do not lead to stress shielding. Porous scaffolds are ideal structures for bone regeneration as they...

In the last few years there has been an expanding concern about osteoporosis due to its constantly growing prevalence and its enormous socio-economic impact.1 As an alternative to conventional treatments, combination therapies, including gene therapy, have emerged with promising results. However, the transport and delivery of those molecules still remains a challenge.2
In this work, we...

Studies on high-entropy alloys (HEAs) mainly set off to tune the substitutional elements in the single-, dual- or multi-phase matrix, yet, the resultant mechanical properties are often not substantially improved compared to that of the traditional “low-entropy” alloys such as high-strength steels or Ti alloys. In this work, we present how we further tune the phase stability and enhance the...

In this contribution, selected key thermophysical and thermodynamical properties of Fe-C-Cr, Fe-C-Ni and Fe-C-Cr-Ni based alloys such as solidus and liquidus temperatures, peritectic transformation temperature and other phase transition temperatures, heats of fusion, specific heat capacities, enthalpies, densities, coefficient of thermal expansion, viscosity, surface tension, wettability...

The influence of the various content of the multilayered graphene (MLG) on the structural and mechanical properties of the final bulk porous silicon nitride-zirconia (Si3N4-ZrO2) based ceramics was investigated. The ceramic composites were prepared in the form of the laminated structure with different (5-30-5 wt% and 30-5-30 wt%) MLG content by hot isostatic pressing. ZrO2 particles were...

Aluminium castings often possess complex geometries with only selected surfaces machined. Thus, the overall fatigue assessment needs to cover the heterogeneously textured as-cast surfaces considering local casting process conditions as well.
Recent research activities of Pomberger and Oberreiter introduced an alternative sub-area based fatigue assessment methodology for as-cast and pore...

The interest in novel carbonaceous materials with large effective surface areas, as well as high conductivity and stability, is growing due to the downsizing of electrical devices and the demand for new low-cost materials. For those applications it is necessary to find materials with high electrical conductivity like it is the case for graphene and nitrogen doped graphene. These nanostructures...

Antimicrobial coatings that prevent the growth of biofilms are an alternative and effective way to inhibit the spread of microbial infections. The sustainable use of these polymers for the development and application of novel green methodologies remains a challenge. This work demonstrates a facile and scalable fabrication approach for the development of new water-based, stable...

Given nearly ambient temperature conditions in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), spatter accumulation is usually the main source of powder degradation. Spatter particles are normally molten/partially molten or overheated particles ejected from the melt pool and its vicinity, that are oxidized due to the presence of residual oxygen in the build chamber. Melt pool ejections are finer and have a...

In steelmaking processes, the presence of higher phosphorus concentrations in the liquid steel is generally undesired as P may affect the product quality during continuous casting, e.g. internal cracking and micro-/macrosegregation. In order to guarantee a successful process control and to precisely predict the solidification progress in the casting machine, thermodynamics of the ternary...

6XXX alloys (AlMgSi) are of great importance for the automotive industry and lightweight design. Currently, more than 100 different compositions (different levels of alloying elements, different magnesium:silicon ratios, trace elements) of the alloy 6082 are known. In this study, quench rates between 1 and 200 K/s were applied to study the effect on mechanical properties and microstructure....

Studying local variations in the Peltier [1] or Seebeck coefficient of materials is important to optimise their thermoelectric properties and to enable applications like single-material thermocouples [2]. Yet most global experiments overlook spatial divergences in the signal and the role of local variation and the internal structure. Here, we developed Scanning Thermal Gate Microscopy (STGM),...

In recent years, antimicrobial resistance has become one of the main threats to global health. This drawback lies mainly in the formation of biofilms, which are a defense mechanism of microorganisms against external aggressions, including antibiotics [1]. In addition, it has been shown in previous studies that severe infection leads to changes in factors such as vascular endothelial growth...

Oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) is a solvent-free technique, enabling growth of network polymers with stoichiometric compositions in a single processing step. Deposition proceeds via vapor-phase eliminating limitations of insufficient monomer solubilities of conjugated polymers (CPs) faced by conventional methods. Further, unlike traditional methods, oCVD accommodates mild operation...

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are a new class of materials exhibiting a superior combination of magnetic, mechanical and electrical properties. FeNiCoAlMn is a promising candidate for a soft magnet, important for applications in electrical systems such as power generation and electromagnets. However, the high entropy effect is partially true, since other thermodynamic properties can also play a...

The development of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) is challenged by the production of a homogeneous distribution of CNTs in the metal matrix and the formation of a good interface between the CNTs and the matrix. Therefore, we propose that surface modification of CNTs with a coating material such as silicon carbide that is thermally stable and wettable by the...

Twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels have been recently proposed for manufacturing biodegradable stents. Thanks to their exceptional mechanical properties, closely resembling those of the commonly used L605 Co-Cr alloy, thinner structures can finally be targeted. However, in vivo studies on Fe-based alloys reported that a compact layer of phosphates formed on the surface during...

Nano-lamellar materials with ultrahigh strengths and unusual physical properties are of technological importance for structural applications. However, these materials generally suffer from low tensile ductility, which severely limits their practical utility. In this talk, we show that markedly enhanced tensile ductility can be achieved in coherent nano-lamellar high-entropy alloys, which...

This study reports the first experimental evidence of the violation of the classical law for grain growth in twinned boron carbide ceramics. Grain-growth kinetics is drastically dependent on the presence of twin steps at the grain boundaries in B4C ceramics sintered by spark plasma sintering. The conjunction of high temperature gradients with large compressive stress when a pulse electric...

Hybrid laminates are used as a lightweight material system with high specific strength in e.g. the aerospace or wind-energy industry, where fatigue loads occur over decades of service lifetime accompanied by numerous numbers of cycles, in the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) range. Especially for safety-relevant components a thorough understanding of the fatigue behavior up to VHCF regime is...

Today steelmaking is driven by specific demands regarding material properties for high-quality applications, often involving the precise adjustment of non-metallic inclusion populations in the surrounding steel matrix. On the one hand, fine dispersed inclusions below 1 µm in size can improve the final microstructure by e.g. grain boundary pinning or by acting as nucleation sites for phase...

Low alloyed steel slabs produced by the continuous casting process can present transverse corner cracks, which cannot be repaired afterwards due to the formation of an oxide layer within the crack. Because of that, the understanding of the formation of these cracks, as well as the reproducibility of the phenomenon through laboratory tests is of great value. The present work analyzed samples...

The progressive miniaturisation of feature sizes in microelectronic devices has increased the probability of higher local power densities and consequently temperatures. Complex multi-layered metallisation schemes, often implemented in devices, can suffer from detrimental interdiffusion phenomena between adjacent layers, compromising device reliability, when subjected to such severe local...

This study is shown as an example of the potential of synchrotron X-ray refraction technique to determine the evolution of damage in brittle (microcracked) materials. The strength of X-ray refraction resides in its high detectability of features (e.g., cracks, pores) within large volumes, enabling a macroscopic characterization of the microstructure. The case study is a Zirconia-based cast...

Layered material compounds of thin metal sheets and fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) combine the advantages of the individual components. A decisive advantage is the tailor-made design by combining different compositions, material fractions and fibre orientations depending on the application and load direction. In this work the thermoplastic based hybrid laminate CAPAAL 2/1 composed of a 1.25...

The Al-6XXX alloys are widely used in automotive applications for their high strength to weight ratio. The desired properties are achieved by precipitate hardening through the process of artificial aging at elevated temperatures. However, these alloys undergo natural aging at room temperature which is undesirable, and a mechanistic understanding of the early stages of precipitation in natural...

Metallic biodegradable alloys constitute a new class of biomaterials for temporary applications. Fe-Mn-C steels are particularly attractive for the production of very thin implants, including stents, mainly due to their outstanding mechanical properties. To cut the complex geometry of stents, laser processing is considered the gold standard, even if it results in debris and slag materials on...

Mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNs) are multifunctional materials for various biomedical applications [1]. MBGNs are usually synthesized using sol-gel based strategies. Their composition and morphology (e.g., particle size, pore structure) can be conveniently tailored by tuning sol-gel processing parameters, e.g., the concentration of pore-forming templates [2]. Incorporating...

One of the promising methods of microstructure modification in surface layers is a friction stir processing (FSP). This method is based on the basic principles of friction stir welding technology (FSW) however, the FSP method, unlike FSW, is used to modify the microstructure of the materials, and not to join metal elements. The process consists in heating and plasticizing the material as a...

Recent experimental studies report that several body-centered cubic (bcc) refractory high-entropy alloys (HEAs) exhibit transition-induced plasticity (TRIP) by transforming to the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure, which would be beneficial for better ductility. On the other hand, there are also the reports of the ω phase precipitates in bcc HEAs, which would cause embrittlement. It is...

In the past decade, the industrial interest for Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) process has significantly grown and the technology is on track for full scale production. Yet some key mechanisms of the process are not fully understood. To create a new layer, the powder is deposited on a previously solidified layer. This volume of powder defines the available amount of...

By applying ion irradiation it is possible to produce materials at room temperature for which generally high temperatures are needed. If we irradiate a layer structure at the interfaces atomic mixing, or ion mixing happens and compound formation might occur as well. Previously we have shown that this method can be applied to produce SiC-rich protective nano-coatings which are applied in harsh...

Nanomaterials with well-controllable structure are of particular interest in many fields of research, and knowledge on their formation mechanism and structural evolution is essential for developing precise chemical synthesis routes. Complementing the capabilities of liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we can use X-ray ptychography, a scanning coherent diffraction imaging (CXDI)...

Borate glasses have gained attention in soft tissue applications, and especially in wound healing due to their lower chemical durability compared with the silicate glasses. The high ion release profile is expected to have a positive effect on the healing process. Boron enhances vascularization during the proliferation phase, and calcium improves hemostasis at the very beginning of the healing...

In this work, we study the advantages of two advanced sputtering techniques for the preparation of a nanostructured thin-film conductometric gas sensor. We combined tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films with other materials to achieve enhanced sensory behavior towards hydrogen. Thin films of WO3 were prepared by the HiPIMS technique and annealed in air at moderate temperature (350 °C). By tuning the...

The usage of multi material design in modern vehicles and particular in the body in white (BIW) production is steadily rising to fulfil demands of emission laws and conservation of resources. Besides the conservative joining methods for a multi material design (e.g. screws and rivets) the well-known hybrid casting with steel inserts and aluminium can be used with the advantage of reducing the...

With the continuous miniaturization and increasingly performance requirements of microelectronic devices, new materials have been integrated as the low-k SiOC:H dielectric, introduced in the interconnections. This low dielectric constant material was developed by introducing porosities, which reversely have negatively affected its mechanical properties. Thus, product reliability becomes a...

Magnesium silicide and titanium suboxides (TiOx) are considered promising thermoelectric materials to generate electricity from waste-heat thanks to their thermoelectric performance, low-cost, low-toxicity and light-weight. Nevertheless, the stability and oxidation resistance over time at temperatures higher than 500° C for Mg-silicide and 400°C for TiOx respectively, are critical issues....

Nitriding of cast iron can improve mechanical surface properties. The non-nitridable graphite, however, causes heterogeneities in the nitride layer which limit improvements in corrosion resistance usually achievable upon nitriding of other Fe-based alloys. A strategy to overcome this problem for cast iron is surface remelting to form a white-solidified surface layer and subsequent nitriding....

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) open up a new horizon for discovering un-explored mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms. Local chemical fluctuations (LCFs) in HEAs were found to have significant influences on their mechanical performance. In this letter, we briefly discuss experimental findings of formation and characterization of LCFs, as well as their effects on the deformation...

We have recently shown that proximity with a high-temperature superconductor induces unconventional superconducting correlations in graphene[1]. We will here talk about recent experiments demonstrating [2] that those correlations propagate hundreds of nanometers, allowing for the unique observation of d-wave Andreev-pair interferences in YBCO-graphene devices that behave as a Fabry-Perot...

CuNiFe alloys have shown to be promising materials in terms of manipulating magnetic properties by controlling their microstructure. Despite extensive research activities for several decades now, the relationship between the evolution of the microstructure and its magnetic properties still remains to be fully explored. In this study, we investigate a spinodally decomposed CuNiFe alloy, using...

Composition graded AlMgSi wires were achieved with a to a two-step process. A composite made of 1370AA inserted in a 6201AA tube was first cold drawn to obtain appropriate mechanical bounding and then annealed at 500°C to achieve a composition gradient along the wire diameter. These diffusion gradients were estimated by nano-hardness profiles and a good agreement with theoretical prediction...

Operando characterization of working catalysts, requiring the simultaneous measurement of catalytic performance, is crucial to identify the relevant catalyst structure/composition and how molecules interact with surfaces/interfaces. The two examples, covering nanoparticles, thin films and meso-scale aggregates, bridge the "materials and pressure gaps".
i) Area-averaging operando spectroscopy:...

The powder as raw material, either for powder bed or blown powder technologies, constitutes an important strategy in metal additive manufacturing (AM). Metal powder used for powder bed fusion AM is characterized by high surface reactivity due to the large surface area of the powder that is about 10 000 times larger than the surface if the bulk material of the same mass. This results in the...

The thermophysical properties, including viscosity, density and surface tension of some industrial blast furnace slags, industrial basic oxygen furnace slags, ladle slags and mold powders with varying compositions were measured and discussed at a temperature range between 1400 and 1700 °C using the rotating bob and maximum bubble pressure methods. The experimental investigations were supported...

Power electronic modules are integral for energy conversion in applications like renewable energy generation and transport. Sintered nanosilver die-attachments have been proposed as a more reliable and environmentally friendly alternative to solder alloy joints for emerging power electronics module designs. However, their degradation mechanisms are not as well understood. This talk is about...

Magnesium (Mg) is investigated as a powerful alternative to state-of-the-art titanium implants for temporary bone support, due to its biodegradability, biocompatibility and mechanical properties. However, certain processes occurring during Mg degradation are still unclear, in particular the relative importance of transport phenomena vs. micro-galvanic corrosion. Mechanistic and computational...

Wool aerogel created from wool waste fibers is a potentially viable eco-friendly solution to oil spill clean-ups and thermal insulating material primarily due to is naturally oleophilic nature and insulating properties. Repurposing wool waste also allow us to tackle another issue this waste poses: decreasing landfill spaces. This study aims to develop wool aerogels using wool waste fibers and...

Aluminium alloys have a wide range of applications, especially in the fields of aviation and aerospace. However, the complexity of the manufactured parts is sometimes limited when produced with conventional manufacturing processes. With the use of additive manufacturing techniques, near net-shape parts with a great structural complexity can be produced. When it comes to manufacturing...

The complex metallurgical interrelationships in the production of ductile cast iron can lead to enormous differences in graphite formation and the local microstructure by small variations during production. Artificial intelligence algorithms were used to describe graphite formation, which is influenced by a variety of parameters. By predicting the local graphite formation, measures to stabilize...

We report recent work in DNA translocation in 2D nanoslit. 2D nanoslit devices, where two crystals with atomically flat surfaces are separated by only a few nanometers, have attracted considerable attention because their tunable control over the confinement allows for the discovery of unusual transport behavior of gas, water, and ions. Here, the passage of double-stranded DNA molecules is...

This presentation will summarise our recent works on the synthesis of functional nanocomposites thin films based on metal atom clusters by a chemical solution deposition (CSD) process namely electrophoretic deposition (EPD) [1-10]. CSD processing of inorganic nanocolloidal solutions is generally acknowledged to be highly flexible in terms of precursor composition, targeted substrate and...

Porous anodizing has recently attracted great interest as a simple and inexpensive method to produce nanostructured materials. By varying the anodizing conditions, the structure of the formed porous anodic Al oxide can be tuned and subsequently functionalized, making it highly attractive for various industrial applications from nanoscale electronics and optoelectronics to template, catalysts...

The increasing global energy demand has fuelled considerable effort into improving upon current energy storage technologies to keep in step with this demand. Improving current energy storage technologies, such as lithium ion batteries (LIBs), requires insight and understanding of the fundamentals of their operation. A key component of LIBs is the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI), which...

Micromechanical behavior of the dual phase silicon stainless steel alloys during tensile testing has been studied using in-situ electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The texture development alongwith the effect of strain on the grain orientation has been studied individually for both the phases. The changes in the grain orientation have been characterized by the inverse pole figure. In...

The increasing consumption of animal-based food, caused by a growing human population, resulted in the inevitable problem of higher waste generation, in particular faeces produced by the high number of animals bred. Although manure does not have a high commercial value in itself, it causes a high environmental impact by being one of the main contributors to emission of greenhouse gases in the...

To improve the performance and efficiency of combustion engines, higher operating temperatures are required. Commonly used high temperature structural materials (e.g. Ni-base) reach their limitations beyond 1100 °C.

Refractory metals are promising substitutes due to their high melting point and their good mechanical properties at high temperatures. One major drawback of most of these metals...

Mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles generated significant attention in recent years as suitable materials for biomedical application. In this study, cerium was incorporated into mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNPs) using two different approaches. In the first approach, cerium was added to the glass system directly during the synthesis, while in the second approach cerium was...

Heat-treatable aluminium (Al) alloys obtain their strength from the nucleation of precipitates during artificial aging. The thermomechanical history of the alloy determine the type of precipitate phase that nucleate, their interface plane and their distribution. If the alloy is stored at room temperature after solution heat treatment, the hardness increases in time due to the formation of...

A Gibbs energy minimization algorithm [1] has been developed and is used for calculating phase equilibria in the quinary slag system CaO-SiO2-FeO-MgO-MnO. Assuming local equilibrium at the solid-liquid interface, the kinetics of lime dissolution in this system is simulated by means of a finite-difference diffusion model. Different initial lime particle geometries such as plates, cylinders and...

Mechanical properties of metallic material can be predicted as a function of their microstructure by constitutive laws [1]. One of the key microstructural parameters, which is often difficult to precisely characterize, is the dislocation density.

For the metallurgical community, there is a need for more representative measurements in order to better describe the mechanical behavior of such...

One of the research tasks for piezoresistive sensing and applications (e.g. healthcare monitoring, electronic skin, human–machine interfaces, and soft robotics) is the realization of efficient processing methods that allow both sensitivity at low and high strains [1]. Here we present such a processing method relying on extrusion involving thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and/or olefin block...

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) push the boundaries of high-stiffness lightweight alloy design through their exceptional chemical diversity. Specifically, refractory HEA compositions have shown great promise as their specific stiffness surpasses that of even the more advanced high-modulus steels. A common occurrence in BCC refractory HEAs is their limited ductility due to the complete or partial...

The talk brings together two areas of research: the mechanical behavior of nano-structured materials with a grain-size gradient and the plastic instability in metal alloys, known as the Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) effect. The treatment of the surface by hyper-deformation processes locally increasing the dislocation density and/or forming a fine-grained layer has proven its effectiveness in the...

The cryopreservation of biological material has been consolidating its importance in biomedical research for decades now. Its biggest end goal has been to achieve timeless whole-body preservation but current methodologies still struggle with something as simple as cryoprotectant cytotoxicity. A bio-based approach then shows the most promise in tackling a cytotoxicity problem. Thus, we studied...

Monitoring pressurized water reactors casted duplex stainless steel parts is of interest in long-term operation of nuclear power plants. It has been shown that these components are subjected to ageing when held at their operating temperature. In the long run, thermal ageing results in embrittlement due to a microstructural evolution of one of the two phases constituting duplex steels. Kinetics...

In Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), a significant amount of metallic powder is not melted by the laser beam. Costs and material yield strongly depend on the ability to reuse metal powder efficiently. However, some of the unfused powder is exposed to high temperatures during the manufacturing process in an imperfectly controlled atmosphere. Therefore, there is a need to study and understand...

Deposition of thin protective films on the cathode surface is an efficient approach to overcome interfacial degradation processes and control ionic mobility across the interface. An essential requirement of a good coating layer is that in addition to surface passivation, it will enable unimpeded ion transport between the electrode and electrolyte. To date, the rational design of such...

Mesoporous glass nanoparticles (MGNs) on the SiO2-P2O5-CaO system are receiving great research interest for bone regeneration applications. The good biological capabilities of MGNs can still be improved by doping with inorganic ions and loading with biologically active molecules. In this communication, two MGNs compositions: 79.5SiO2-2.5P2O5-18CaO (MGN-79.5) and 60SiO2-4P2O5-36CaO (MGN-60)...

Metallic programmable mechanical metamaterials implement the bioinspired functionalities, for example, adaptability enabled by logical calculations and memory, in hierarchical structured metallic materials, and create huge design space for mechanically robust and functionally smart materials for biomedical, environmental, energy-related applications. The programmability of these materials...

In the present work, the state of steelmaking slags and their dephosphorization potential is re-evaluated using a computational thermodynamics approach. The thermodynamic simulations are carried out by coupling a newly developed thermodynamic database BOFdePhos to the software package FactSage TM. The non-ideal associate solution model is used for the description of the Gibbs energy of the...

In laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF), the mechanical performance of fabricated parts are significantly improved by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) as the density increases (pores are closed) and the microstructure improves. HIP ensures consistent and defect-free material, and consequently, this high-temperature and high-pressure process is often a requirement for safety-critical aerospace...

Electron-transfer reactions are ubiquitous in chemistry, however, there are still gaps in the fundamental understanding of electron transfer at the molecular level, particularly the degree to which the nuclear dynamics that accompany the process straddle the quantum-classical boundary. We use graphene-based single-molecule transistors [1] to study the mechanism of electron transfer over a wide...

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOF), hybrid microporous crystalline materials are attractive for a large panel of applications due in part to their high specific surface area and physico-chemical stability. Recently, vapor phase-based routes were reported for the synthesis of MOF thin films. Vapour-phase process are usually preferred to obtain conformal coatings and they present a good...

Cracks in components are subjected to crack-closure-mechanisms that affect the build-up of the relevant stress intensity range threshold during cyclic loading. These mechanisms are essential for crack propagation under service loads in mechanical engineering applications. Such varying load ratios enforce an appropriate change of the long crack threshold value, thus leading to stress ratio...

Since their first mentioning in the early 2000s, the interest in high entropy alloys (HEA) as a new material class has been ever increasing. Starting with bulk materials, also thin films gained attention in the past years due to the wider flexibility in the available synthesis methods and attainable growth conditions. Among the different HEAs, alloys mainly comprising refractory metals,...

Metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging porous materials class with many applications ranging from catalysis, chemical species separation to electronics. To date, the key synthesis routes for MOFs are predominantly wet chemistry based, resulting in either isolated MOF micro- and nanocrystals or in so-called surface-coordinated MOFs via layer-by-layer assembly. For conformal coating of...

The development and utilization of metal powder for additive manufacturing processes requires deep comprehension about the complete process chain including atomization, processing and recycling of powder material. Using laser powder-bed fusion, a huge amount of the powder feedstock is left after the process. To increase the efficiency of such processes, it is essential to reuse excess...

Understanding the relationship between microstructure and properties is a necessary step for the improvement of existing materials or the development of new materials. The microstructure can be characterised using orientations maps, from which information like grain size distribution and deformation state can be extracted.

Apart from EBSD (Electron Backscattered Diffraction), a promising...

The influence of solutes and stacking fault energy on sazuration grain size after severe plastic deformation was studied recently for binary alloys, whereby the saturation grain size (ds) correlates with the solid solution strengthening contribution and not with the stacking fault energy. In this context we investigate the microstructural evolution of a series of Nickel diluted compositions...

The nowadays requirements for high-performance materials in aerospace industry pose a challenge in terms of their tooling and machining. A promising way to reduce the wear of cutting tools, thereby extending their lifetimes, is represented by the application of self-lubricating nanocomposite coatings. It has been recently shown that Ag nanoparticles dispersed in a superhard TiSiN matrix are...

In recent years advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) including dual phase (DP) and complex phase (CP) steels have been increasingly used in automotive lightweight design, as these steel grades may improve the crashworthiness without increasing the weight of car bodies. The good formability of AHSS makes them particularly suitable for deep-drawing applications. Hence, the present work...

Significant advances in the synthesis of low-dimensional materials with unique and tuneable electrical, optical and magnetic properties have led to discoveries ranging from single-photon sources to the observation of Majorana states. However, the lack of ability to precisely integrate individual nanomaterials into devices at scale limits their technological application. In this talk we will...

Fetuin is a high abundant serum glycoprotein and a major non-collagenous protein, essential for biomineralization. The inductive effect on bone formation, thus mineralization, is one of the major benefits of magnesium (Mg)-based biomaterials for orthopaedic applications. Due to the high affinity of fetuin to calcium (Ca)-salts, fetuin might have a synergistic effect with Mg-based biomaterial...

Titanium alloys oxidation leads to the simultaneous formation of an oxide layer and an oxygen-enriched layer below the oxide scale due to high solubility of oxygen in titanium. A few tenths of atomic percent of dissolved oxygen is sufficient to weaken the mechanical properties of titanium alloys. It is thus necessary to take into account the impact of this oxygen-enriched layer to predict...

From single-crystal model catalysts to nanoparticle catalysts deposited on a substrate: Operando characterization of catalytic materials has become an important research field to unravel the complexity of catalytic reactions on the atomic level at the gas-surface interface. To bridge the pressure gap between industrial applications and surface science research , an interest in...

Some bone diseases require the use of biomaterials that facilitate the natural bone regeneration processes. In this context, the use of 3D scaffolds based on mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) improved with therapeutic ions, biologically active molecules and mesenchymal cells (MSCs) is a remarkable strategy to improve bone repair. In this study, the osteogenic ability of ZnO-enriched MBG...

Typical commercial calcium silicate based mould powders (CaO-SiO₂-Al₂O₃-CaF₂) are used in casting high aluminium (Al) steels. The dissolved Al in liquid steel reacts with the mould slag during casting. In high Al alloyed steels, SiO₂ of the slag is partially reduced and high amount of alumina (Al₂O₃) up to 30 % is...

The need for a circular economy, given the ever-expanding plastics industry, cannot be contested. Their impact on the environment is one of the biggest challenges of the Millennium. This situation birthed the EU funded H2020 MSCA project C-PlaNeT (Circular Plastics Network for Training). By partnership with eight universities 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) are being trained to be a part of...

Reheating of steel slabs for further processing such as hot rolling usually takes place in gas-fired pusher furnaces. Temperatures well above 1000 °C, combined with an atmosphere containing H₂O, CO₂, and O₂, lead to substantial oxidation of most steel grades. Newly developed advanced steels often contain significant amounts of Si. This element plays a dominant...

The behavior of ceramics at the nanometer scale strongly differs from the one of the corresponding bulk material. For instance, strong plastic deformation has recently been reported in isolated nanometer-sized alumina nanoparticles or MgO nanocubes, when tested in situ in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). This plastic behavior may also occur in a powder during the compaction process,...

Natural aging of Al–Mg–Si alloys is a complex process, which is not fully understood yet. Nonetheless, it is widely known that for the EN AW6082 alloy natural aging has a negative effect. For the alloy EN AW6060, however, natural aging was assumed to have a beneficial influence on the hardening potential. Contradicting these assumptions, our studies showed that not only the type of alloy but...

Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is a powder metallurgy technique used for the elaboration of dense materials with a fine-grained microstructure [1]. In this process, a pulsed electric current and a uniaxial pressure are applied simultaneously, leading to high heating and cooling rates, thus limiting the grain growth [2]. The powder is placed into a graphite die and the pressure is applied by two...

Multifunctional materials based on a combination of permanent and degradable metals open new perspectives for medical implants combining osseo-conductivity and drug-delivery functions, which can significantly decrease the number of implants´ revision. In this work, the hybrid magnesium-titanium materials were produced via sintering and the properties of the permanent titanium component before...

Electrometallurgical extraction of metals is becoming increasingly important in the course of higher availability of renewable electricity. Submerged Arc Furnaces use the electrical resistance of the slag produced during the reduction process as their heating medium. The higher the output, which normally goes up to 100 MW today, as more complex is the control technology as more important it is...

Graphene is a monolayer of sp2-bonded carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. This material is very intensively studied nowadays due to its extraordinary properties. While graphene is nonmagnetic in itself, experimental observations show that magnetism can be induced by introduction of impurities, boundaries or defects. The properties of graphene can also be...

The equiatomic hexagonal closest-packed (hcp) high entropy alloy (HEA) YGdTbDyHo consists of rare earth elements with very similar chemical properties. Therefore, it is a suitable candidate for the investigation of the Gibbs paradox and of a possible entropy effect on mechanical behavior of alloys. To evaluate the influence of the configurational entropy, different medium entropy alloys (MEA),...

During laser Additive Manufacturing (AM), a just deposited material undergoes melt-pool dynamics and rapid solidification within a few milliseconds. Then, for the rest of the process, it undergoes cyclic re-heating and cooling in the solid-state i.e., Solid-State Thermal Cycling (SSTC), until the end of the AM process. These non-equilibrium processes result in the formation of metastable...

Many applications of glass fibres reinforced laminates (GFRP) require stable properties along many years of use, thus studies on how they will behave under the influence of weather conditions are necessary. Satisfactory would be no changes or a slight decrease in the microstructure and mechanical properties that may indicate degradation resistance of the composite material.
The aim of the...

Bioactive glasses (BGs) are well-recognized multifunctional biomaterials for bone regeneration and wound healing applications. Protein adsorption on BG surfaces plays an essential role in determining biocompatibility, cell adhesion and proliferation as well as influencing a series of cellular pathways after cell-BG contact. Understanding protein adsorption on BGs is thus necessary for...

Concrete is responsible for generating up to 10% of the world’s CO2 emissions and due to its significant mineral resource consumption, has a dramatic effect on our natural infrastructure. There is an urgent need to increase the diversity of feedstock materials suitable for the manufacture of cementitious products, which are environmentally sustainable and have longevity in supply.

The aim...

The Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) effect describing unstable plastic flow in alloys is an exceptional example of self-organization phenomena in plasticity. Its dynamics stems from the mechanism associated with nonmonotonous behavior of the strain-rate sensitivity of stress, negative in a strain-rate interval allowing for dynamic strain ageing of dislocations by solutes. If the motion of all...

Understanding the mechanisms behind chemical transformations is key to developing improved catalytic systems. In this context, operando spectroscopy has contributed significantly to advance our molecular view of many reactions at heart of the chemical industry. Here we show the application of complementary spectroscopic techniques to elucidate the mechanism of a reaction that has always...

In recent years aluminum alloy sheets have been increasingly used in the automotive industry for producing lightweight vehicles. However, the complex tribological system and the occurrence of adhesive wear makes forming of aluminum alloys challenging. In particular temperature-induced friction during deep drawing may remarkably alter the tribological system. Therefore, tribological...

In powder bed additive manufacturing technique, the powder characteristics can determine the success or the failure of the job. In the Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process is generally used spherical powder with a particular size distribution of 40-150µm. During the EBM process the powder is spread onto the platform by the rake, therefore is essential to use powders with optimal rheometric...

Diamond foils are known to be exceptionally strong yet brittle. One approach to make ceramic foils less susceptible to brittle fracture is to introduce interfaces into the material that provide pathways for crack deflection. In this study, we were able to produce strong yet tough diamond/metal laminates (DMLs) with an outstanding performance from freestanding diamond foils using a brazing...

Polarization-dependent sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy was applied to study the adsorption of carbon monoxide (CO) on the annealed and sputtered Ir(111) single crystal surfaces at various CO coverages [1]. Coverage was adjusted by varying the substrate temperature (300−575 K) and/or gas pressure (10−7 to 1.0 mbar). The cleanliness of Ir(111) was confirmed by Auger electron...

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) has attracted major interest among the Additive Manufacturing methods (AM). SLM can deliver high manufacturing quality by adjusting production parameters on a given alloy which impacts on the grain structure, phase formation, microstructure, roughness, and porosity. AM aims to achieve superior or even comparable properties to the conventionally manufactured parts....

During an alloy Additive Manufacturing (AM) process, just after the melting of feedstock, the molten material undergoes melt-pool dynamics and rapidly solidifies (typically, within a few milliseconds). Then, for the remaining build time, it undergoes multiple heating-cooling cycles in the solid-state, i.e. Solid-State Thermal Cycling (SSTC) or intrinsic heat treatment, at varying temperature...

Current state-of-the-art alloys that are used for turbine or high-temperature energy applications, are usually nickel-based (super)alloys. However, the use of these alloys has fundamental limitations such as their melting temperatures, their microstructure instability under irradiation or they limited corrosion resistance. Compositionally Complex Alloys (CCAs) represent a class of alloys that...

Despite Ti alloys are biocompatible and non-allergenic, their use in blood contact applications including stent was rarely reported, mainly due to their low strength-ductility trade-off. In this work, two strengthening strategies were investigated to achieve Ti alloys with required mechanical properties for stent applications. The first tackled the increase of oxygen content in the TWIP...

Electrodeposited chromium coatings exhibit high hardness, good wear resistance and corrosion resistance . Development of electrodeposited trivalent chromium coating Cr(III) baths becomes a new challenge for replacing the conventional Cr(VI) baths due to the hazardous character of hexavalent chromium salts. Several Cr(III) electrolytes were developed in the past , but the optimization of the...

An important aspect of formability of Al sheet material in the automotive industry is the bendability without degradation of the surface quality. So far, microstructure, texture, the distribution of primary and secondary particles as well as these properties´ homogeneity over the sheet cross section are known as factors influencing the formability of Al-sheets. Recent studies for example...

The regeneration of load-bearing bone segments is a critical need, still unmet due to the lack of bone scaffolds capable of inducing extensive osteogenesis and vascularization, and with appropriate mechanical performance. Indeed, conventional fabrication methods do not allow accurate control of compositional and structural changes, particularly during the consolidation of calcium phosphate...

An integrated framework for deformation modeling has been developed, which combines a physical state parameter-based formulation for microstructure evolution during plastic deformation processes with constitutive creep models of polycrystalline materials. The implementations of power law, Coble, Nabarro–Herring and Harper–Dorn creep and grain boundary sliding are described and their...

In practice, the frequently used technique for removing dissolved hydrogen and solid impurities from aluminium melt is blowing of inert gas. The process of aluminium refining by blowing inert gas can be performed in ladle reactors. The efficiency of refining process can be influenced by relevant boundary parameters of the degassing process. The presented paper deals with the use of numerical...

Atmospheric pressure plasma allows for the easy modification of materials surfaces for a wide range of technological applications. Coupling the aerosol injection of precursors with atmospheric pressure plasma largely extends the versatility of this kind of process; in fact solid and , in general, scarcely volatile precursors can be delivered to the plasma, extending the variety of chemical...

Tempering of nanostructured bainite has proven to be an excellent choice for components where requirements for enhance service properties at elevated temperatures are needed. Supporting secondary hardening by alloying Mo and V enables the possibilities to combine both effects: nanostructured matrix and secondary precipitation. Detailed characterization by dilatometry and phase analysis using...

In the last years 2D materials have attracted a huge attention for spintronics thanks to the amazing properties that arise when thickness approaches the single layer level and thanks to the large number of functionalities that they offer. The recent introduction of 2D materials in magnetic tunnel junctions (2D-MTJs) offers very promising properties such as atomically defined interfaces, spin...

Recycling of textiles is a major challenge because textiles, whether home or industrial, often consist of two or more materials that form an almost inseparable mixture during the manufacturing process. In the project Tex2Mat, two groups of textiles were investigated.
One group was a cotton-polyester blend for home textiles, the second group was a blend of polyamides (PA 6.6 and PA 6) of...

Injection molding of short fiber reinforced thermoplastics enables affordable production of complex geometries. Therefore, injection molded components conquer more and more the section of structural parts, especially in the automotive industry. The combination of lightweight material, efficient processing and design freedom is favorable. To increase mechanical performance and reliability deep...

Short fiber reinforced plastics are important materials in many fields of lightweight construction, especially in transport application. Their advantage is that they can be processed in a rather economic manner by the standard methods for processing of polymeric materials. Therefore, they are suitable for all kinds of industrial scale production. Nevertheless, a major challenge is the lack of...

Ti6Al4V is the most widely used material for implant applications among titanium alloys that offer unique advantages over 316L stainless steels and Co-based alloys because of its low weight and high corrosion resistance. However, various interactions between implants and the biological environment can lead to the release of Al and V ions into the body fluid and raise long-term biocompatibility...

The development of aeroengines with higher thermal efficiencies, has been facilitated by the advance in materials, notably the development of thermal barrier coatings and their testing techniques. The Small Punch Test (SPT) is a vastly used material test in industry, that is implemented to characterise mechanical behaviour of materials that are in a limited supply, such as thermal barrier...

Due to environmental, economic and regulatory aspects there is a strong need for novel strategies allowing environmentally friendly recycling of plastics and textiles. Enzymes have shown high potential especially for the step-wise recovery of building blocks from blended materials. We will show that enzymes can specifically hydrolyze and solubilize certain components of blended textiles or...

Alloy Additive Manufacturing (AM) results in the formation of metastable hierarchical microstructures due to the highly non-equilibrium processes that occur during fabrication. Currently, most experimental/modeling efforts are aimed at studying the role of melt-pool dynamics and rapid solidification on the microstructure formation during AM. We are interested in studying the microstructure...

The macroscopic properties of the polymer are closely related to the morphology of the material. On the other hand, this morphology depends on the conditions used in the synthesis step. In our work, we present the results of morphological tests of polypyrrole deposited on the surface of a steel electrode and determine their influence on the properties of the obtained materials.

As new energy efficiency regulations tighten in the building sector, the required thickness for insulation with conventional materials (glass wool, polymeric foams...) may become prohibitive. This is a strong driving force for the development of a new class of products, the Super-Insulation at Atmospheric Pressure (SIAP) materials, based on the use of silica aerogel. Silica aerogels are...

Methanol has the potential to become an important energy vector. The so-called "methanol economy" is essentially a carbon-neutral cycle consisting of two groups of reactions: Methanol synthesis from a mixture of CO, CO2, and H2, and methanol-to-hydrogen conversion reaction. Latter includes methanol decomposition (or dry dehydrogenation), partial oxidation, steam reforming, and autothermal...

Increasing interest in ICME for various steps of materials development has led to the development of various tools targeting different aspects of the Process-Structure-Property-Performance chain. When modelling Process-Structure relations of steel, the process-related details of steelmaking which influence the presence of impurities and cleanliness of the alloy are often neglected....

Spintronics has opened a new paradigm through the use of the spin variable as the vector of information and has been largely applied from hard drives read-heads to the STT-MRAMs. While very recent, the introduction of 2D materials in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs) has already shown some promising properties (atomic thickness control, diffusion barrier, spin filtering…)[1]. Graphene and the...

Alternative barrier layers have been considered to replace Ta/TaN, such as Ru and Co-based binary systems, e.g. Ru W, Ru-Mn, and Co W, in Cu interconnect metallization. The Co-W system is an interesting candidate to novel barrier materials due to its electrical and thermal properties. Co-W can function as both, the diffusion barrier and the seed layer whereon Cu can be directly electroplated,...

The demands from industry and daily live have required the development of structural materials. For example, the heat-resistant Al alloys are expected for the improved performance at higher temperatures (≥300℃) due to their lower density and reasonable cost. However, the traditional heat-resistant Al alloys (i.e., Al-Si, Al-Cu) can only sustain at 250℃ currently, because the rapid diffusion of...

The mechanical properties of commercial Al-Fe-Si alloys are influenced by the materials microstructure and microchemistry. In this work, the variation of alloying elements distribution, microstructure (e.g. grain size; dendritic arm spacing) and electrical conductivity across an AA 8079 DC-ingot were investigated. Furthermore, the effects of various experimental homogenization practices on the...

Organic semiconductors are highly relevant materials concerning future electronic devices due to their advantageous properties like high charge injection ability. Thin layers of acenes on metals like copper or silver are discussed to induce complex electronic characteristics, depending on factors like substrate metal workfunction and molecule adsorbate electron affinity. In this study the...

The polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) route is a promising way for the production of silicate-based bio-ceramic/glass-ceramic materials: through suitable heat treatment, they yield materials with a distinctive control of phase purity and microstructures. Silicone-fillers mixture can yield bio-ceramics with a well-defined crystalline phase such as Biosilicate® glass-ceramics (Na2CaSi2O6)....

The present work focuses on the fabrication and characterization of hard anodizing (HA) and plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) coatings on an Al10Si1Mg alloy manufactured via direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). The coatings were fabricated on both XY and XZ directions of the DMLS alloy. A A361 cast alloy was also treated for comparison. The hardness (H) and elastic modulus (E) of the...

The development of high entropy alloys (HEAs) and compositionally complex alloys (CCAs) have broadened the possibilities of alloy design by exploring wider regions of solid solubility. With an ever-increasing demand for high performance light weight alloys, the concepts developed within HEAs/CCAs is implemented into the design approach to alloys akin to the extensively used A357 alloy....

Light alloys based on aluminum are an exceptionally versatile class of materials. They combine low weight and corrosion resistance with adjustable material properties, tunable by alloying with other materials or by subjecting them to accurately defined temperature treatments.
A popular approach is the strengthening of alloys formed from aluminum and copper by age- or precipitation hardening:...

Although laser based powder bed fusion (LB-PBF) is a prominent additive manufacturing technique, the number of alloys that have been approved for the process remains limited. This is especially true for iron-based alloys such as low-alloy steels, where the high carbon contents of said alloys can promote cold cracking defects. In other carbon-containing iron-based alloys, preheating of the...

Industrial oil-containing wastewaters, derived from the petrochemical, pharmaceutical industries, etc., have become one of the wide-reaching environmental problems. Commonly conventional methods, such as in situ burning, etc., are used for the separation of oil from water. But high cost and low efficiency discourage the use of such conventional methods, especially for large-scale applications....

Aluminum refining is a necessary technological stage of obtaining aluminum, both primary and secondary. Currently, refining is widely used by blowing liquid metal with an inert gas using a rotor terminated with a impeller that generates fine gas bubbles which, when introduced into the bath, bring up to the surface hydrogen and non-metallic inclusions. The paper presents the results of...

Bioactive-element doped hydroxyapatite bioceramic (dHAp) powders were successfully prepared from different calcium precursors, using wet chemical precipitation method. The bioactive ions were incorporated into the hydroxyapatite crystals by adding appropriate amount of chloride salts of Mg2+, Sr2+ and Zn2+ ions into the base solution and they were co-precipitated with the calcium phosphate...

This paper deals with ductile damage nonlocal modelling of semi-crystalline polyamides using state regularized formulation towards capturing ductile damage localization (softening) while overcoming spurious mesh sensitivity in the predictive numerical simulation. The mechanical behavior is simulated through a viscoelastic viscoplastic ductile damage model (VEVPD), from which the constitutive...

Polypropylene (PP) is the world’s second most widely used commodity polymer accounting for 13% of total usage by value (23% by volume) and is employed for a huge variety of purposes including packaging, textiles, furnishings, pipes, vehicle components, electrical equipment, ropes and even banknotes. As an oil-derived polymer the downside to PP is that it is a non-sustainable resource as well...

Graphene's potential for spintronic applications has gained a lot of attention due to its gate tunability, high mobility and low intrinsic spin orbit coupling (SOC) strength. In recent works, researchers exploited these properties to propagate the electron spin up to 30 µm [1]. However, long communication...

The structural integrity of Nitinol stents is of great importance for the successful deployment and life-time service in the patients receiving stent implantation. Over years, problems caused by unknown reason keep being reported from industrial quality control and clinical operations, such as unexpected corrosion susceptibility, strut damage and incomplete self-expansion. In order to optimize...

In this study, the thermal stability of bainitic ferrite and carbon-enriched retained austenite has been studied in in two steels containing 0.6 C (wt %) and microallowed with V and Mo. For this goal, a nanobaintic microstructure was developed in both steels by a thermal treatment consisting of austinitization at 1150°C for 180 s and a bainitic transformation at 250°C for 14h. High resolution...

New challenges related to the development of sustainable transportation solutions demand innovative high performance lightweight materials, as composites. Due to its recyclability, thermoplastic matrices are preferred. In addition to the recyclability advantage, thermoplastics have higher impact strength and ductility than thermosets [1].
Polyamide 6 (PA6) produced from anionic ring opening...

Nowadays there is an increasing interest on the development of energy storage systems for electric mobility that could provide enough energy and reduce mass from vehicles. Structural supercapacitors based on composite materials are a potential alternative to satisfy both requirements. Transferring part of the energy storage responsibility towards structural elements will reduce weight from...

Molecular spintronics involving spin-state switching in first-row transition-metal organic complexes has seen rapid progress in recent decades. In particular, molecular complexes hosting Fe, Co, Ni, or Mn ions can exhibit multiple spin-states depending on a subtle balance between molecular ligand field and Coulomb interaction. However, integration of such molecules into a spin-switch device...

Stellite are Co-based alloys used as hardfacing materials of key moving-mechanisms in the primary circuit of pressurized water reactors. They exhibit a Co-Cr-rich matrix and W and Cr carbides that confer exceptional tribological properties under sliding wear conditions that no Ni- or Fe-based alloys have been able to replicate. Counterpart to Stellite efficiency is that 59Co fragments are...

In the race towards the perfect implantable material, titanium and its alloys have been subjected to a great number of different surface treatments. A fundamental step in this way is to understand how biological fluids and proteins interact with biomaterials, since the layer of adsorbed proteins strongly influences the cell-surface interfacial region. In this work, c.p. Ti and Ti6Al4V alloy...

Tempering of martensitic steels is commonly employed to improve their ductility and increase their strength by secondary precipitation. The different phenomena which occur during tempering were intensively studied and are well established in such steels. Nano-bainitic steels represent a new class of alloys, whose microstructure consists of nano-structured bainite formed at low temperature with...

The rise of in situ and in operando techniques for experiments in transmission electron microscopes has opened the door to powerful high-resolution analyses of dynamic processes at the nanoscale. To interpret the results, but also to be able to extrapolate and correlate them to macroscopic properties of a studied material, a precise knowledge of the experimental conditions is crucial....

One of the most important tissue engineering strategies is based on porous structures or scaffolds to provide a support for the growth and proliferation of cells in the damaged tissue. For bone regeneration, alumina is a suitable candidate thanks to its biocompatibility and its excellent and tunable mechanical properties. In this work, an original procedure is introduced, based on the...

Novel eco-friendly method of preparation of Al2O3-AlN (AlON) composite ceramics was investigated using Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) technique. AlON ceramics are being investigated since 1980’s for their high strength and optical properties. Traditional synthesis of AlON ceramics include reactive sintering, carbothermal synthesis or spark plasma sintering. However, these technologies fail...

The ability to study the solid/liquid interface in situ is essential to gain fundamental understanding of electrochemical processes. A poor understanding of surface chemical processes at electrodes is a key bottleneck in the development of many energy technologies -e.g. alternative battery technologies or water splitting catalysts. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) is one of the most...

Motor neuron diseases like Parkinson’s can induce severe tremors in later stages, which seriously impair the daily life of elderly patients, particularly when drug-based treatments have ceased to work. A possible way to improve the patients’ quality of life is deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatments. Here, platinum neural electrodes are implanted into the brain, providing electric pulses to...

Mixed engineering plastic wastes (MPs) at the end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) have been overlooked for decades due to their low weight fraction in automobiles and complex characteristics. These resulted in landfilling 500 kilo tonnes of ELVs plastic waste in 2017. Generally, compounding these MPs, which are the residue after the sorting process, performs poor mechanical properties and devalued...

A comprehensive model of the steel tapping process addressing the reactions in the ladle is proposed. In the model, thermodynamic equilibrium calculations are performed using thermodynamic library—ChemApp. The effective equilibrium reaction zone (EERZ) method is applied to describe the steel/slag interfacial reaction. Most of the activities, such as the additions of ferroalloys and slag...

Initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) is a solvent-free, cost efficient technique to synthesize highly conformal organic thin films from the vapor phase. The underlying free radical polymerization happens directly on the material to be coated, without additional solvents or post-reactional treatment. In our work we present the highly controllable deposition of photoswitchable copolymers...

Laser Powder bed fusion (L-PBF) has attracted a lot of interest in recent years, not only for its profound advantage of producing metallic components of complex geometries but also for the possibility of manipulating microstructures and crystallographic textures. Additionally, recent observations on wrought austenitic steels have revealed the strong dependence of the transformation induced...

95% of non-ferrous/ferrous metals and alloys are processed by strip rolling, arguably the most important metal forming process. Various models have been developed to optimize the multi-pass deformation process, yet further model advancement requires direct, accurate in-situ measurement of the full deformation and strain fields of the strip between the rolls. Standard (Local) DIC algorithms...

Additively manufactured (AM) porous metal and polymer materials were coated using thermal and plasma-enhanced (PE) Atomic Layer deposition (ALD). Structures were plates, lattice cells with a mesh size between 0.5 and 1.5 mm and random porous with a pore size between 1 and 2 mm. Applied AM methods were laser-beam powder-bed fusion (LB-PBF), material extrusion bonded by thermal reaction...

Polymer composites as high-performance materials are widely used and very specific for numerous applications. In building science, connecting and sealing joints with particle-filled thermoset polymers is a beneficial option due to its high mechanical properties and the ability to customize. It is therefore important to systematically predict the future performance depending on deviations...

Material requirements in harsh nuclear environment are highly demanding. Structural materials in nuclear reactor fixtures require a good combination of high-strength, corrosion and irradiation resistance up to about 350°C. “High entropy matrix” alloys are suspected to bring an improved resistance to irradiation damage. In the purpose of identification of novel alloys from this group that...

Laser based powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) of metals enables the fabrication of geometrically complex structures, which are difficult or impossible to manufacture with conventional subtractive processing methods. Therefore, economic advantages in terms of enhanced cutting velocities can be facilitated by implementing internal cooling channels in drills or milling cutters made of tool steel....

High production rates and short cycle times are essential for an efficient manufacturing of high-performance components made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPC). Within the framework of the project AIRPOXY, a new epoxy based vitrimer resin was developed, that is targeting at reducing costs in production and maintenance, as well as repair and operations (MRO) costs of CFRPC...

Calcium phosphate scaffolds have been widely studied in the last decades as valuable solution for bone regeneration. However, the design and preparation of large bioceramic scaffolds for load-bearing applications, provided with tailored porosity, still represents a remarkable challenge. On the other hand, their porosity, pore size distribution and interconnection strongly reflect their...

Fragmentation of cube grains during rolling is of interest because their recrystallization advantage decreases when cube is misoriented at least 10 – 15° from its exact orientation. Thus, understanding evolution of cube in-grain microtexture and finding processing conditions promoting cube splitting into subdomains is of great importance.
The influence of crystallographic orientations of...

Plastic waste currently represents a very important environmental issue, with plastic global production being over 300 Mt and the EU recycled fraction under 40%. The non-recycled plastic undergoes energy recovery in the best case, but in the worst is dispersed or landfilled.
Plastic recycling into mortar/concrete is one of the possible solutions for immobilizing plastic for long times. The...

The aim of the work is to get insight into the gas-metal-slag interactions in a bath smelting reactor, and in the settler of the flash smelting furnace (FSF). In both processes, it is important to find ways to enhance slag-metal reactions and separation by improving gas agitation and/or by finding ways to enhance droplet coalescence and, thus, settling and separation. Computational Fluid...

Transparent electronics has gained special attention during the last decade and is today well established as one of the key technologies for a wide range of device applications and is one of the most promising technologies for new electronic products with high added value, away from the traditional silicon technology.

The key components are sustainable abundant and non-toxic materials based...

The electrochemical deposition and growth of nanostructured platinum films was investigated in operando with Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering (GISAXS) - a non-destructive surface-sensitive technique for structure determination in the nm-regime. The deposition of the films was templated using hexagonal ($H_1$) lyotropic liquid crystalline phases of non-ionic surfactants, a...

The fabrication of heterostructures consisting of one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, based on top-down and bottom-up approaches, as well as their functionalization processes, have drawn much attention over the last decade. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene are the most widely studied carbon allotropes that represent the 1D and 2D nanostructures, respectively....

Optical modulators are fundamental building blocks in a large variety of modern technological applications: phase, frequency, amplitude and polarization modulators such as electro-optic (EOM) and acousto-optic modulators (AOM) are widely used in fibre optic communication systems, ultrafast spectroscopy, metrology, active Q switching/mode locking of lasers and quantum information. The research...

Solid-state batteries are intensively studied because they promise safer electrochemical storage with larger volumetric and gravimetric energy densities. One of the main scientific challenges in the cycling performance is the limited electrolyte stability, which leads to parasitic reactions that may lead to volumetric changes, contact loss, less conductive interphases and irreversible capacity...

The two types of magnetic materials most important in applications are permanent magnets and soft magnetic materials, with the latter used in in transformers, electromotors, magnetic shielding, etc. This contribution will report on the discovery of an exceptionally magnetically-soft FeCoNiPdCu high-entropy alloy and investigation of the mechanism underlying its properties. Firstly, SQUID...

Accurate simulation of finite-temperature properties of metallic alloys is often a challenge for computer-aided materials design, mostly performed with density-functional theory (DFT) calculations.
Not only it requires time-consuming molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to capture finite-temperature effects, but also questions like phase stability at different temperatures arise and become...

In the aviation industry the commercial PH15-5 steel is predominantly applied in structural parts which are subjected to strict requirements for toughness properties. Its microstructure consists of a soft martensitic matrix exhibiting a hierarchical structure consisting of so-called laths, blocks and packets. Previous work of the authors suggested that a small martensitic block size increases...

Gelatin nanofibrous scaffolds fabricated using the electrospinning technique and stabilized using chemical cross-linking [1] are characterized using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). Biomaterials like gelatin are commonly electron beam sensitive and non-conductive. Thus, high resolution SEM imaging of biomaterial samples is often challenged by charging and beam damage....

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a group of technologies suitable for producing large and/or thick parts due to high material deposition and building rates. Among many materials processed by WAAM, austenitic stainless steels, e.g. 316L, are of the most industrially relevant. The microstructure of WAAM 316L thin parts has extensively been studied, however, multiwalled WAAM 316L remains...

Production and machining of titanium alloys are difficult as it involves a complex combination of high loading and rapid temperature evolution. In addition, due to the contact between the cutting tool and the material, the temperature can locally reach 800 °C and above. Consequently, understanding the phenomena behind the phase transformation during machining is scientifically crucial toward...

The SisAl Pilot project is an EC H2020 financed collaboration between 21 partners in the (silicon and aluminum) industry, universities and research institutes. It aims to develop the low carbon SisAl process as an alternative to the traditional carbothermic silicon production process.

The SisAl process encompasses the production of silicon alloy by reducing silica (SiO2) in CaO-SiO2 slag...

The increase in the market share of electric vehicles is strongly linked to the increase in autonomy, to the reduction of costs and charging time of batteries, without forgetting to mention that the new generations of batteries will have to offer at least the same life span and safety than current batteries. Concerning the anodes of Li-ion batteries, graphite-integrated silicon composite is an...

Atomic-resolution imaging with a spherical aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is now widely used for the study of interesting, complex material systems. This is owed both to the flexibility in detecting the electrons scattered off from matter, but also to the improved efficiency in collecting spectroscopic signals. Different variants of bright and dark-field...

A recent study suggests about 20 % of the consumed energy worldwide is related to friction and 18 % of this energy can be saved. Carbon alloyed transition metal dichalcogenide coatings present a tremendous potential in domains where friction reduction is aimed. They possess exquisitely low friction coefficients in diverse environments and can self-adapt to a variety of sliding conditions. In...

The use of polymeric nanostructures in bioapplications is gaining attention due to their large surface area and biocompatible nature. The response of these nanostructures to the external stimuli can be controlled by tuning the geometry and the chemical composition of these structures. Furthermore, additional functionalities can be introduced by coating the surfaces of these nanostructures with...

Zeolites are hydrated aluminosilicate minerals with a three-dimensional open structure consisting of aluminium and silicon tetrahedra linked by shared oxygen atoms. Due to this structure, zeolites are characterized by high specific surface and cations exchange capacity making them very useful in environmental pollution remediation. Literature data have documented the synthesis of zeolite using...

The use of additive manufacturing to fabricate metallic components following design optimization as well as the full Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) paradigm, is now a consolidated reality. The ASTMF42 and ISOTC261 -defined powder bed fusion (PBF) and directed energy deposition (DED) processes are able to build metallic components using layer-upon-layer strategies, which are...

Gradients of organic materials can be found in many structures that occur in nature. Polymers thus represent an excellent choice to artificially reproduce these gradient structures in form of gradient copolymers. In this talk, we report on the preparation of such gradient copolymers synthesized as thin films using initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). The iCVD process is known for...

Abradable coatings such as AlSi-PES and AlSi-hBN enable small tip clearances in aeroengine axial compressors by reducing the severity of blade-casing interactions. However, as these abradables are typically plasma sprayed onto the internal surfaces of the casing, the precise makeup and properties of every spray batch are not well defined. This poses significant challenges regarding the...

Compared to other types of steels, maraging steels show an excellent combination of high strength and good toughness. This is achieved by precipitation of intermetallic compounds during ageing of a martensitic matrix. However, delta ferrite might be formed during processing due to non-equilibrium solidification. The present work investigates the influence of delta ferrite on the impact...

The discovery of the lithium superionic conductor Li10GeP2S12 (LGPS) has led to significant research activity on solid electrolytes for high-performance and safe solid-state batteries. LGPS exhibits a remarkably high room-temperature Li-ion conductivity of 12 mS/cm, comparable to that of the liquid electrolytes used in current Li-ion batteries. Here, we predict that nanosizing of LGPS can be...

Colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) offer the opportunity for realising novel solid state materials with tailored functionalities. By chemical synthesis, a large variety of semiconducting and metallic NCs can be realised [1] that can be used as efficient light emitters [1, 2] or in novel batteries designs [3].

Especially the inner structure and the shape of semiconducting core/shell NCs determine...

Owing to their advantageous properties such as a high hardness and good oxidation resistance, Ti(Al)SiN protective hard coatings can be used for metal cutting applications. Within this work, the microstructure of arc evaporated TiN, TiSiN and TiAlSiN coatings with low Al contents of 3 and 14 at.% was correlated with their mechanical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as scanning...

Bone is a biological nanocomposite, combining toughness and strength with a low weight. Similar to other complex composites, the hierarchical organization of mineralized tissues affects drastically their mechanical performance across different scales. The elementary building block of bone at the microscale consists of mineralized collagen fibril (MCF, each 10-300 nm in diameter) arrays...

Recently, TRIP/TWIP effects causing high ductility due to martensitic transformation (TRIP) or twinning (TWIP) during loading were found to take place in finely tuned metastable β Ti alloys. These effects, well known from steels, are present in alloys that are in the proximity to β -> α” martensitic transformation after quenching. Typically, such alloys exhibit high ductility and very...

The climate crisis and the halting of climate change require the industry to detach itself from fossil fuels, both as an energy source and as an input material in processes. The steel industry in particular is called upon in this regard, as it is a significant contributor to the current situation, accounting for ~6-8% of the anthropogenic CO2 equivalent. The presentation will focus in addition...

2D crystals like graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides are stable because of their fully saturated in-plane covalent bonds. Another way to stabilize crystals in a low-dimensional conformation is to restrict the inclusion of atoms at the crystal edges via kinetic barriers. Such systems that include for instance metal nanowires grown inside carbon nanotubes and molecular crystal in...

Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized the field of energy storage. World battery production has exploded in recent years, and demand will continue to grow in the future. However, there are fears of supply or cost problems for certain raw materials. Faced with this observation, it is therefore important to consider an alternative to the lithium-ion technology.
Among the so-called...

Duplex stainless steels (SS) comprise of both ferrite and austenite phases. The combined properties of the individual phases in austenitic-ferritic stainless steel result in excellent combination of corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, and thus they are fast replacing the conventional single-phase austenitic or ferritic stainless steels. The strength of the duplex SS can be further...

Noble gas clusters trapped between two or more graphene layers form two-dimensional noble gas crystallites that are directly observable in an atomically resolved scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). These otherwise inert atoms appear in both solid- and liquid-like phases, and in our experiments the clusters exhibit size-dependent, electron-beam driven dynamics that include, for...

Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in the world after cellulose. It is obtained from molluscs, shrimps, and insect shells. Chitin possesses a semicrystalline structure and has been identified in the literature as a piezoelectric system[1,2]. Nevertheless, chitin's low solubility makes it difficult to use in various applications leaving its derivative, chitosan (obtained by...

Recently the SMA and FeSMA field has attracted interest for solid state refrigeration applications. Among NiMnGa-based quaternary systems, NiMnGaCu exhibits an interesting giant magnetocaloric effect thanks to the temperature overlapping of magnetic transition and thermoelastic martensitic transformation (TMT), in particular for compositions with about 6at% Cu content. In the present work in...

Tungsten and its alloys have emerged as the promising refractory materials to find applications in nuclear fusion reactors such as International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the Demonstration nuclear reactor (DEMO). Despite the attractive properties, limited ductility and high ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT) are observed in tungsten. Such behaviour is linked...

Circular Economy is a regenerative approach to reduce the waste generated and guarantee the eco-sustainability of post-use products. When a product reaches the end of its life, it is reused to generate high added-value materials, which reduces both the need for primary materials and waste production [1]. This explains the growing interest among the scientific community to develop and optimize...

Carbon-based hybrid materials are an important class of artificial materials with potential applications in various fields ranging from energy storage (e.g. harvesting) to recycling applications (e.g. smart debonding). For this reason, both their synthesis process and the assessment of their properties are of high interest. Herein, we present a brief summary of recent developments in the area...

Exploring new 2D materials with semi-conductive nature has attracted researcher’s attention especially after the isolation of graphene, aiming to increase the performances in the fabrication of devices.
Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) materials belong to a special class of semi-conductors materials with sizable bandgaps, which they found to be useful in the field of optoelectronics....

Functional coatings (thin films and multilayers) are widely applied in technological applications due to the tunability of their mechanical, thermal, optical and electro-magnetical properties. An important factor which affects their reliability in applications, is the intrinsic stress generated during the deposition process, which can determine unwanted effects as cracking, peeling, and as...

A physical-based model is developed to describe the microstructure transformations that occur during the processing of titanium alloys. The evolution of the microstructure during hot deformation is fully coupled with the phenomena of static recrystallisation and grain coarsening that occur during annealing. Static and dynamic recovery and continuous dynamic recrystallisation are considered as...

Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the most rapidly developed fabricating techniques over last two decades. The microstructure feature or the residual stress distribution in AM components was widely investigated on its own. However, limited studies were attempted to reveal the correlations between the microstructure and residual stresses in AM components. In this study, high-energy...

Investigating and analyzing materials - especially comprising light elements - at both high spatial and spectral resolution has always been a challenge requiring sophisticated equipment such as UHV Auger microprobe systems or transmission electron microscopes equipped with an electron energy loss spectrometer. Moreover, these methods need advanced sample preparation techniques and are only...

Until the early 20’s, metallic alloys were designed in a conventional way as far as their composition was concerned. At saturation level of their properties, the introduction of High Entropy Alloys (HEAs) challenge seemed to upgrade the commonly used alloy concept and transform the traditional view of metallic materials into an original breakthrough. HEAs have a broad range of structures and...

Abstract: The surface tension of liquid iron copper binary alloys containing 0.25 mass %, 0.75 mass %, 1.0 mass % and 2.5 mass % of copper has been investigated in the temperature range 1575 °C to 1650 °C in steps of 25 °C using the sessile drop method (SD). The sessile-drop experiments in a heating microscope have been conducted in Argon atmosphere at low oxygen partial pressure (up to...

In the present study, the effect of cold rolling and subsequent annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of metastable β Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al (Ti-1023) and Ti-5Al-5Mo-5V-3Cr (Ti-5553) alloys have been investigated. Room temperature cold rolling have been conducted on the alloys (5 mm3 samples). A thickness reduction up to 43% and 45%, respectively for Ti-1023 and Ti-5553 have been...

Future renewable energy integrated grid systems require rechargeable batteries with low cost, high safety and long cycle life. The much higher abundance and fair distribution of potassium compared to lithium in Earth crust indicates that rechargeable potassium batteries can represent an attractive replacement for lithium-ion counterparts. Rechargeable potassium batteries have gained tremendous...

It is vitally important to consider time dependent (or “viscous”) deformation behaviors when formulating material models, particularly when elevated temperature conditions are present in the intended application. In many macroscopic modelling attempts, time dependencies are limited to “plastic” regions of deformation. Under such modelling paradigms stresses will, under periods of strain hold...

Lithium-ion conducting argyrodite materials, Li6PS5X (X=Cl/Br/I), are among the most well-studied inorganic solid electrolyte due to their large ionic conductivity. One of the major remaining concerns with the use of these materials in solid-state battery is limited information on their actual stability window. This work presents a systematic study to understand the influence of cationic /...

The focus of this talk is to present both the fundamental and practical limitations of the emerging technique of correlative Raman-SEM-EDX microscopy and to introduce the benefits of this technique using concrete project examples.
Recent years have seen the introduction of commercially available systems that integrate fully capable Raman microscopes with scanning electron microscopes (SEM)....

Carbon-based nanomaterials have been proven to be cutting-edge filler materials with advanced thermal and electrical properties, while their nanodimensions facilitate the development of defect—free mechanically robust crystal structures. Their strong hexagonal sp2 lattice allows free electron mobility in plane as well as thermal transport. In particular, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene,...

Low-alloy steels are one of the alloy systems missing in the materials portfolio of laser based powder bed fusion (LB-PBF). From a LB-PBF processing point of view, this primarily relates to their susceptibility to cold cracking that stems from their elevated carbon contents. There are number of recent works in the literature showing that in-situ annealing through build plate preheating can...

For long steel products, the microstructure components have a major importance to guarantee good mechanical properties. This paper will discuss how the type of bainite microstructure can affect the impact energy. For this purpose, two bainitic steel grades with different impact energy were compared in term of microstructure. Both steel microstructures was investigated in terms of morphology,...

Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) ferritic steels are promising candidates as cladding material for 4th Generation Sodium-cooled Fast nuclear Reactors. Conventional reinforcement is achieved by introducing titanium and yttrium oxide Y2O3 during mechanical milling with matrix steel powder. The strengthening particles are dissolved or reduced as sub-nanometric clusters during this step, before...

Understanding the mechanisms governing large scale defect and contaminants in CVD grown 2D materials on transition metal catalysts and their transfer to target substrates are of crucial importance when creating high performance devices. Contamination introduced during transfer and handling is one of the most common factors why devices underperform. The interface between 2D layers in a...

In this work, we have developed a multi-stimuli responsive sensor for artificial skin applications. The sensor can detect surrounding changes in pressure, temperature and humidity. The proposed design consists of a hydrogel core, responsive to temperature and humidity changes; and a piezoelectric shell for pressure sensing. Swelling of the hydrogel core upon stimuli results in a mechanical...

A comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of the thermo-physical, thermodynamic, physico-chemical properties of steels and also the modeling of the processes of steelmaking it allow to achieve the top quality of the cast, semi-finished steel product, which is comparable or superior with the quality of world producers of these materials. The paper is focused on the study of phase...

Poly(L-lactic) acid (PLLA) is a biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastic polyester and an excellent candidate to replace traditional petroleum-based polymers in a wide spectrum of applications [1]. However, its poor mechanical and barrier properties, thermal stability and low crystallization rate render it slightly inferior to conventional thermoplastics. Tailoring the properties of PLLA...

We have investigated the nature of the magnetic state in a single-crystalline FeCoCrMnAl nanocomposite high-entropy alloy (HEA), composed of crystallographically oriented magnetic nanoplatelets embedded in a magnetic matrix of different magnetic order. The two-phase nanocomposite was formed by a bcc-B2 spinodal decomposition. Due to the single-crystalline nature of the material, there is no...

In the recent years, a shift from rigid to flexible electronics was observed where the latter enables new degrees of freedom in the design of consumer products like displays, wearable sensors, solar cells, among others. Unlike in rigid electronics, thin film materials used in flexible electronics are deposited on thin compliant polymer substrates and they have to withstand various static and...

Rare earth elements (REEs) and their compounds are essential for quickly growing advanced technologies. These materials are essential in the area of green/sustainable energy. However, efficient separation and purification of REEs still remain challenging. Additionally, current extraction technologies frequently generate large amounts of wastes. In that perspective, the development of efficient...

Modern steel grades are subjected to constant development to perform weight reduction, energy-saving, and automobile safety performance. In the last decades, high strength and ductile steels were developed with increasing quantities of silicon and manganese. Three of these alloying concepts are Dual-Phase (DP), TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) and even TWinning Induced Plasticity...

Carbon nanostructures and specifically nanotubes (CNTs) are materials of significant importance in nanotechnology. They have a wide range of applications ranging from automotive to aeronautics, due to their exceptional mechanical properties such as strength and stiffness-to-density/weight ratio. The synthesis of CNTs includes a variety of methods amongst which the chemical vapor deposition...

MAX phases are a highly anisotropic material, giving rise to a large variation in their properties depending on orientation of the crystal lattice. Typically, orientation can be determined through Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), is a powerful technique with very high spatial resolution and the ability to determine strain in a crystal structure. However, it requires a high level of...

Design of Lithium ion conducting porous hybrid materials for the development of solid Li-battery electrolytes
Koceila MAOUACINE,Virginie HORNEBECQ,Chrystelle LEBOUIN,Luca PASQUINI
Aix-Marseille Université,France

Solid polymer electrolytes based on poly(ethylene oxid), and lithium-salt complexes are one of the promising materials for developing safe,and durable all-solid-state lithium...

A good soft magnetic material that exhibit properties applicable for commercial soft magnets used in transformers, motors, generators and other electromagnetic machinery should show minimal magnetization hysteresis, low magnetostriction, high saturation magnetic polarization, the highest possible permeability and large electrical resistivity to reduce remanence and losses in static and AC...

In recent years, δ-MnO2 birnessite appeared as a promising positive electrode material for both hybrid supercapacitors and aqueous batteries due to its layered structure, which favors ionic diffusion, its low cost, high abundance and environmental friendly character. The δ-MnO2 phase possesses a high theoretical capacity (~300 mAh/g), however its low electronic conductivity strongly limits the...

Hydrogen-free amorphous carbon films gain increasing importance as wear resistant protective coatings in high-wear applications and are in industrial use on cutting tools and sliding components, especially in the automotive industry. Despite the broad use of these coatings in many applications due to their extremely high hardness, they reach their limits in applications with locally very high...

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies can realize complex-shape structures, previously not feasible with subtractive manufacturing machines. From Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to a slicing software, which creates a G-code machine routine, it is possible to realize three-dimensional (3D) parts layer by layer. In the past, 3D printing was used only for rapid prototyping due to the required high...

A physical-based model is implemented as a subroutine and used in FE simulations to predict the microstructure evolution during hot deformation and annealing of Ti alloys. During hot deformation, the material undergoes dynamic recovery of alpha and beta phases by forming new low angle grain boundaries, followed by continuous dynamic recrystallization. The microstructure evolves via static...

Two-dimensional (2D) antimony (Sb, "antimonene") recently attracted interest due to peculiar electronic properties and suitability as anode material in batteries. Sb however exhibits a large polymorphic/allotropic structural diversity, which is also influenced by the Sb's support. Thus understanding Sb heterostructure formation is key in 2D Sb integration. Particularly 2D Sb/graphene...

Hierarchical porous materials are attractive structures for a variety of applications due to their enhanced mechanical efficiency and their high surface area with minimum permeability loss. Nature showcases remarkable examples of hierarchical porous materials that benefit from such unusual set of properties, including bamboo, bone, marine sponges and wood. However, synthetic porous materials...

Increasing demands in environmental protection and environmentally friendly solutions are important market drivers for the development of sustainable chemicals. Chromium (VI) is used in electroplating technology to pretreat polymers in order to achieve good metallization. However, it´s applications of now require special permits. This is an EU strategy to prevent the use of dangerous and...

Patient specific implant care is gaining momentum due to the recent developments in additive manufacturing. The combination of biocompatible materials and contamination free additive manufacturing technologies allow not only to save material when medical products are created but also to have no additional cost when it comes to patient specific applications. For this reason private companies...

Changes in the martensite structure of 0.1%C-2%Si-5% Mn steel with decrease in the prior austenite grain size have been investigated. While prior austenite grain size in the range of 150 to 24 micro-meter led to the formation of martensite with a multi-packet and multi-block structure, a single packet and multi-block martensite structure formed from the prior austenite grain size of about 7...

One of the driving forces of the ongoing nanotechnology revolution is the ever-improving ability to understand and control the properties of quantum matter down to the atomic scale. Key drivers in this revolution are quantum materials, such as the two-dimensional (2D) materials of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) family. The realization of novel TMD-based devices relies heavily on...

High entropy alloys (HEA) [1] are alloys containing at least five elements in equiatomic or near-equiatomic concentration. They adopt simple crystallographic structures such as bcc, fcc and hcp structure solid solution phases. Identified rapidly for their outstanding mechanical properties, HEA have also been considered as potential coatings for thermal and diffusion barriers, and for oxidation...

Diverse pathways of {332}<113>β mechanical twinning and stress induced martensitic transformation (BCC-Orthorhombic) were studied in a metastable beta Ti-12Mo alloy, which presents Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) / Twinning Induced Plasticity effect. This work aims to clarify the pathways involved in primary and secondary transformations under external tensile stress, such as the...

Besides being the first commercial platform with corrector(s), first generation Titan was capable of high tension range from 300 kV down to 80 kV. Thanks to bifilar coil design, swift mode switches at a certain high tension operation was achieved. Since then, market expectations have moved forward and current S/TEMs can go down to 30 kV with stability achieved over a couple of hours. This...

Over the last decades, the negative consequences of climate change and the exhaustion of fossil fuels have brought to the forefront one major challenge: the energy crisis. Thermoelectric materials can significantly contribute to the solution of this problem because of their capability to convert heat into electricity and vice versa. Half-Heusler (HH) compounds were recently identified as...

Layered O3-LiCoO2 (analogue to NaFeO2 structure, crystallizing in the R-3m space group with ahex = 2.816 Å; chex = 14.05 Å) is one of the most widely used positive electrode materials in lithium ion batteries due to its high volumetric energy density which can be further improved by charging at high voltages. However, working at high potential (above 4.3 V vs. Li+/Li) causes a deterioration in...

Since additive manufacturing processes typically introduce heterogeneous microstructures and residual stresses, the applicability of parts produced in an as-built state is limited. Therefore, often different post-processing treatments are necessary to obtain the desired stress state and properties.
For additively manufactured Inconel 718, the recently developed standard ASTM F3301 provides...

The functional properties of materials are increasingly controlled and tuned through structural or chemical architectures whose engineering takes place at the nano or even atomic level. This enables emergent properties relying on the interplay between charge, spin or local atomic-scale chemistry. A particularly powerful means of characterization of these physico-chemical effects lies within a...

The presence of grain boundaries in solid electrolytes has shown to reduce ionic conductivities. The resistive properties of grain boundaries can be separated into two contributions: an increased potential energy barrier at the grain boundary core as a result of the rearrangement of ions from the bulk crystal structure; and the formation of space-charge regions. Space-charge regions are areas...

Aluminum is an excellent choice for structural applications in the aerospace industry due to its high strength-to-weight ratio. Aluminum alloys, especially high strength alloys, are however susceptible to corrosion and surface treatments are hence required to withstand the harsh environment of an aircraft.

Since 2017, the use of hexavalent chromium in surface treatments has been prohibited...

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of organic molecules have been used for a wide range of applications in medicine, surface protection as well as (bio)electronic devices. Extensive efforts have been dedicated to implement biomolecules in gold based diagnostic tools. The use of SAMs as an interface between metal surfaces and biological moieties allows the covalent attachment of receptors to...

Surface diffusion is crucial for many physical and chemical processes, including epitaxial growth of crystals and heterogeneous catalysis. Although the phenomenon is common [1] and theoretically understood, measuring adatom migration barriers on 2D materials remains a daunting challenge. We are able to estimate the carbon adatom migration barrier on freestanding monolayer graphene, which has...

Through the development and improvement of nickel-based superalloys in the past century, they are well proved to show excellent performance at the elevated service temperature. The success of nickel-based superalloy systems attributes to both the well-tailored microstructures with the assistance of carefully doped alloying elements and the intently developed manufacturing processes. The...

Antisoiling technologies, based on easy-to-clean and self-cleaning coatings have received significant interest in research and commercial applications. For outdoor uses, easy-to-clean hydrophobic coatings have perhaps bigger potential since the major portion of atmospheric pollution is inorganic. On the other hand, hydrophilic self-cleaning coating usually exhibit strong antistatic functions,...

One of the most critical issues in titanium metallurgy has been and remains the impact of interstitial elements and specifically oxygen on mechanical properties of titanium alloys. In these materials, oxygen is indeed known to induce a strong hardening effect combined to a severe decrease of the elongation at fracture. This embrittlement has been interpreted, until now, as a consequence of the...

The cooling rate during the martensitic transformation has been shown to have a strong impact on the fatigue performance of case-hardened steels with differences of up to 20 % [1]. The mechanism for this increase is not fully understood. To clarify the underlying mechanism, the impact of cooling rates on the martensitic transformation in two high carbon steels (0.54 and 0.74 w% C) was studied....

Spectroscopic techniques are one of the key steps in the characterization of novel nanomaterials and composites. In the case of infrared spectroscopy, however, there is one particular challenge that complicates its application to these materials, compared to the simpler analysis of homogeneous media: the need to account for the influence of material topology in the effective electromagnetic...

3D-Printing is an increasingly used manufacturing method enabling the accurate production of almost any desired geometries. In polymer 3D-printing, mainly light-curable photopolymers based on acrylates and methacrylates are utilized in a layer-by-layer process. These substances provide high spatial resolution and good curing. Although produced parts exhibit high strength and stiffness offering...

Properties and function of beyond intercalation-type batteries are not only rooted in the chemistry but at least as much in the structure all the way from atomic to sub-micrometer lengthscales. This concerns specifically complex transformations such as the electrodeposition of insulating materials in conversion-type lithium-sulfur (Li-S) or lithium-air (Li-O2) battery electrodes. Substantial...

Due to their direct bandgap, GeSn and SiGeSn alloys have aroused great interest for photonic applications [1]. To understand and control the emission properties of GeSn heterostructure based devices developed at CEA (Fig. 1a), the chemical composition at nanometer scale must be accurately determined. One particular challenge is to accurately quantify the composition of 20 nm thick...

Phenothiazine (PTZ) as a heterocyclic compound contains electron-rich sulfur, and nitrogen atoms play a role of admirable electron-donating (D) moiety in donor-acceptor (D-A) systems. Phenothiazine and particularly its substituted derivatives can be applied in many versatile fields. The synthesis of new compounds based on the donor-acceptor (D-A) system has attracted significant interest and...

The need to reduce global warming and the usage of fossil fuels as well as the increased worldwide energy demand, led the researchers to discover alternative energy resources. Thermoelectric technology has been studied for more than two centuries and is based on the energy conversion of waste heat into electricity. The good reliability and scalability combined with the fact that no moving...

Topological semimetals are candidate hosts of interesting types of low-energy quasiparticles such as type-I and type-II Dirac and Weyl fermions. A type-III crossing point [1-3] emerges as a theoretical possibility exactly at the border between type-I and II, characterized by a line-like Fermi surface and a flat energy dispersion. We theoretically predict [4] that HfTe2 and ZrTe2 transition...

In recent years, ternary halides Li3MX6 (M = Y, Er, In; X = Cl, Br, I) have garnered attention as solid-state battery material due to their high electrochemical stabilities and room-temperature conductivities. In this material class, the influences of isovalent or aliovalent substitutions are rarely studied despite being a common tool for correlating structure and transport properties. This...

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has clear advantages over conventional manufacturing methods, such as design freedom and manufacturability of hard-to-machine superalloys. A limiting factor, however, is the lack of understanding of microstructural and mechanical performance of AM materials, particularly for high value applications. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), which is mainly used to fabricate...

Among the various significant questions affecting titanium metallurgy, the effect of interstitials, more specifically oxygen, on the (mechanical) properties of titanium alloys remains one of the most critical issues. For decades, oxygen has been considered as a detrimental element, leading to drastic embrittlement. However, there is still an important lack of knowledge on underlying mechanisms...

The European Commission estimates that 450GW of offshore wind power is required to keep temperature rises below 1.5°C. To achieve this goal by 2050, the ongoing scientific and technological challenges on wind turbines must be met. Specifically, ice accumulation on turbine blades still stands a major operational issue for wind energy plants. Excessive ice mass on the blades lead to damage or...

Silicon nitride (SiNx) and hydrogenated silicon nitride (SiNx:H) thin films have widespread applications, including passivation films for semiconductor devices in microelectronics industry or antireflective layers for solar cells. The most common deposition techniques of SiNx:H thin films are different types of chemical vapor deposition methods, such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor...

Indium Selenide (InSe) is a remarkable two-dimensional quantum material whose characteristic properties include a bandgap that increases with fewer layers and a high controllability of p- and n-type doping. Furthermore, its bandgap can lie in the near infrared region, depending on the specific crystalline phase adopted. Indium Selenide is known to crystallize in either the β(2H)-, γ(3R)- or...

All solid-state batteries (ASSBs) are anticipated to be the next generation lithium ion batteries with their wider operating temperature range, higher energy density, and increase in safety performance compared to conventional liquid electrolyte-based batteries [1,2]. These advantages make them potential candidates for electric vehicles, but many processing and performance challenges must be...

Emerging technologies, such as Na-ion, Zn-air or Al-based batteries (AIBs), constitute excellent alternatives to more mature energy storage devices like Li-ion batteries. In particular, AIBs offer high energy densities, high cyclability and increased safety. Moreover, aluminium is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust and an advanced industry for its production and recycling has already...

Despite more than a century of research to achieve oral delivery insulin, the current clinical reality remains unchanged in terms of therapeutic administration, due to the challenge of overcoming gastrointestinal barriers. It has been recently reported by our group that with the use of dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) together with a protein-based excipient, succinylated...

X-ray computed tomography is a versatile technique that has been widely used for material structural analysis at scale ranging from the micrometre to the nanometre. Moreover, phase contrast imaging has brought to light a practical way to enhance visibility between weak absorbing materials and/or small details of differing refractive index within structure, and thus accessing a sharpen overview...

Nanostructurization by bainitic phase transformation is a revolutionary method of improving mechanical properties of the wide range of steels. It can be applied as a single process or as a part of the innovative multistage heat treatment, named B-Q&P, which combines, in one route, two processes: Bainitization and Quenching & Partitioning. While implementing to high carbon low-alloy steels it...

Additive Manufacturing offers the possibility to perform personalized medicine since patient-specific structures can be fabricated quickly and reliable. The production of orthopedic implants by additive manufacturing could greatly benefit from multi-materials because the skeletal system is composed of hard bones and softer cartilages that perform different tasks in the body. Medical-grade...

Colloidal processing has been widely used in the manufacture of ceramics and composites because it allows the design of complex shaped parts and a suitable control of microstructure with cost-effective methods and increased reliability. Although ceramic oxides have been largely studied and produced from the basis of focused studies on colloidal stability and shaping performance of aqueous...

Doping is fundamental to tune the properties of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides for their future integration in the CMOS architecture, hence achieving substitutional doping during growth is of paramount importance. N-type monolayer WSe2 is often exfoliated from bulk crystals and a procedure to directly dope the material is yet to be established. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of...

High cutting performance and long tool life time are the ongoing demands in the machining industry in order to increase the productivity. Hard and wear resistant coatings with superior hardness and at the same time increased toughness are required to achieve these goals. Within this work, strategies to simultaneously improve the hardness and fracture toughness of TiN based coatings grown by...

The single-phase microstructure of high entropy alloys (HEA) makes them perfectly suited to address fundamental scientific issues related to concentrated solid solutions. For this purpose, fcc and bcc HEA CrMnFeCoNi, TiZrNbHfTa and TiZrNbHfV were characterized as single-crystal (SX) and polycrystal regarding tensile and creep properties at higher temperatures, as well as dislocation...

Tread rubber requires wet-grip performance and low-rolling resistance for low fuel consumption. To modify the mechanical properties of the rubber suitable for the tread, dispersion of silica nanoparticles in the rubber is effective. It is believed that the silica nanoparticles connect with the rubber by forming covalent bonds via the silane coupling agent (SCA) and that the amount of the...

The controllable, reproducible and scalable growth of graphene and related 2D materials remains the foremost challenge for both research and any technologies exploiting their unique properties. While chemical vapour deposition (CVD) has become the most widespread method for 2D material film growth, even basic process parameters remain not well understood due to the manifold, complex parameter...

Electronic waste (E-waste) is a huge concern all over the world, as one of the fastest growing waste streams in terms of both volume and environmental impact. Direct writing of laser-induced graphene (LIG) conductive patterns on biological substrates, and especially on wood and wood-based materials, is a promising strategy to promote the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable...

α+β-TiAl6V4 alloy is the most important titanium alloy for aerospace applications [1,2]. Depending on the thermo-mechanical processing route, a wide range of microstructures can be achieved which differ in proportion and arrangement of the α- and β-phase and the type of transformed β-phase. The microstructures in turn have a decisive effect on the resulting mechanical properties [3]. Since...

Lithium-ion battery is considered as one of the most successful storage methods which enables the sustainability of the energy systems. However, its aging problems present considerable challenges in maintaining performance over its useful life. To study the degradation of lithium-ion batteries, numerous studies have been carried out that analyze the different phenomena that occur in internal...

Heat treatment with an electric current has gained interest in the last few years. However, the physical phenomena occurring in these type of treatments are not always fully understood. Thus, to study the influence of the electric current on the interstitial diffusion of carbon, an ARMCO iron sample is placed between the two graphite punches of a Spark Plasma Sintering facility. The current...

Storing thermal energy in the summer and re-using it in the winter could be a game-changer for reducing energy consumption. In the EU, 3.6 EJ/year are used for heating, 28 GJ per-capita. The source of this energy comprises 47% natural gas, 16% oil products, 9% biofuel/waste, 3% coal. Saving even a small fraction of this energy would provide an enormous reduction in fuel consumption.
Seasonal...

Graphene materials are competitive candidates as electrodes of supercapacitors and other energy storage devices due to their high specific surface area, electrical conductivity and stability. Either heteroatoms doping or incorporation with metal/metal oxides have been reported effective in further improving the capacitive performance of graphene-based electrodes. In this study, a low...

One of the main problems of the injection process is the demolding stage because polymers frequently remain adhered to the mold surface, producing defective polymeric parts and reducing the mold lifetime [1, 2].
In the present work, alumina (Al2O3) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films were deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique on steel substrates. The superficial chemical...

The development of new biocompatible materials can lead to new ways to treat diseases in the human brain. By initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) polymeric thin films can be tailored to fulfill the needed specifications of drug release barriers. This way a local and time-specific drug-release can greatly reduce unwanted side-effects in these special surroundings. In combination with a...

Laser powder bed fusion provides valuable prospects for nickel-based superalloys that are used in many applications e.g. aerospace, automotive, chemical, and nuclear industries. However, the microstructure and mechanical properties of these materials are especially sensitive to the manufacturing conditions and post-treatment that are applied to relieve the internal stresses, as they are...

The replacement of the presently used liquid electrolytes by a non-flammable solid electrolyte is an important avenue to create safer batteries. The Natrium Superionic CONductor (NaSiCON) Na1+xZr2SixP3-xO12 (0 < x < 3) that displays high bulk ionic conductivity and good stability towards other NaSiCON-based electrodes is a good solid electrolyte in NaSiCON-based batteries. Here, we analyze the...

Recently, it was shown that scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in combination with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) allows for a real-space mapping of atomic orbitals [1]. Although state of the art electron microscopes offer the required spatial- and energy resolution, the inherently poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for such experiments imposes a major challenge, which...

Texture in ceramics can enhance their functional and structural properties. In porous bodies, it may be used for applications as implants, batteries, filters, etc; in dense bodies, for turbine, shielding, etc. Current methods for texturation in dense ceramics employ plate-like particles or microplatelets as starting powders and processes that drive their orientation in specific directions,...

Titanium alloys and Ti-6Al-4V in particular, are widely used in the aerospace for their excellent mechanical strength to density ratio and high corrosion resistance. However, the relatively low work-hardening capabilities of these alloys compared to other metals still restricts their usage. It was recently shown that a subtransus annealing treatment followed by water quenching could generate...

Within layered (two-dimensional) materials, the stacking sequences (polytypes) and physical properties of the materials are deeply intertwined. Tailoring specific stacking sequences thus provides a powerful handle in the design of nanostructures based on layered materials exhibiting novel physical properties. In this context, Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) based nanostructures...

Refractory multi-principal element alloys (MPEA) with single-phase body-centered cubic (bcc) structure, such as the NbMoCrTiAl system and TaNbHfZrTi, are promising candidates for high-temperature applications. NbMoCrTiAl, like other refractory HEAs, are typically brittle at ambient temperature and fail in a catastrophic manner during conventional mechanical testing. However, TaNbHfZrTi shows...

The critical role of solid electrolytes in the development and improvement of all-solid-state batteries is apparent, not only regarding lithium but also sodium based secondary cells.[1] A recently reported promising crystalline solid Na-ion conductor candidate is Na11Sn2PS12 with high conductivity in the range of 1.4 - 3.7 mS/cm mediated by intrinsic vacant Na sites.[2,3] Herein, we monitor...

Organosilanes are well known for their application as coupling agents and surface modifiers as used in anti-adhesive coatings, self-cleaning surfaces and separation layers. The wide range of available organosilanes enables a precise adjustment of the properties of the coating to meet individual requirements. Our previous studies demonstrated that perfluorinated organosilanes (based on mono-...

To apply high-entropy alloys (HEA) of the CrMnFeCoNi family in challenging atmospheres, their degradation behavior under harsh environments needs to be investigated. Oxidation studies to HEAs have not been extensively investigated and most of them are concentrated on environments like synthetic air, laboratory air, CO/CO, O2 and H2O atmospheres [1]. Main corrosion products which were...

The influence of grain and coherent precipitates sizes on the ductile-brittle transition temperature (BDTT) are studied in the Fe$_{78}$Al$_{10}$V$_{12}$ (A2 + L2$_1$) alloy. The alloy was produced by induction casting and followed by thermomechanical processes to obtain different precipitate and grain sizes. Further, considering the composition of the matrix phase, a single-phase...

The development of low dimensional micro- and nanostructures of ternary compounds with controlled morphology and composition is recently gaining increasing attention due to their improved functionalities and enhanced performance in diverse fields of research. However their fabrication is not an easy task and diverse synthesis approaches have been followed so far.
In this work Ni-based...

Lithium-Sulfur batteries are among promising candidates for next-generation energy-storage devices. Huge efforts have been put into the design of new cathode materials for these batteries. In this regard, sulfur copolymers have recently attracted considerable attention, due to their flexible structure and their ability to provide reversible capacity. Here, the focus is set on...

Metal-based additive manufacturing (AM) represents a paradigm change which will revolutionize the manufacturing across multiple industries such as the aerospace, biomedical and automotive sectors. However, today only a few alloys are compatible with AM. Most of those being used were developed for other manufacturing processes such as casting and forging processes where the mechanical...

Materials with the DyMn2O5 structure type have immense potential for novel physical properties, but they remain largely unexplored. In this research, the isostructural SmFe1-xCrxTiO5 (x = 0-1) compounds were synthesized by the ceramic method. We thoroughly investigated their magnetic properties as well as possible photocatalytic applications. The crystal structure of these materials can be...

Little is known about how colloidal processing methods affect the microstructural features and, in turn, mechanical properties of transparent yttrium oxide. In this work, commercial nano-Y2O3 was considered and shaped by consolidating yttria-ethanol suspension using conventional slip casting and pressure filtration at various applied pressures. The samples were densified by pre-sintering in...

Heavier group-IV element bismuth ultrathin films exhibit numerous interesting properties such as strong SOC, high carrier mobility at RT and large Fermi wavelength. These properties constitute Bi films as possible candidates for exploitation of dissipation-less spin channels for both electronics and spintronics applications.
Bi films on HfTe2/InAs(111) templates were grown by molecular beam...

Metal Additive Manufacturing and more specifically Laser Powder bed Fusion (L-PBF) is combining very unique process conditions resulting in fascinating microstructures. The very high energy density of the laser leads to very high melt pool temperatures and high cooling rates causing ultrafine and often supersaturated and metastable unique microstructures. The additive nature of the process...

Sodium-metal chloride (ZEBRA) batteries apply ceramic Na-β”-alumina electrolytes with molten sodium metal anode. As electrolyte and anode support extreme current densities of above 1 A/cm2 [1], it is the cathode which limits cycling rates and power capability in these batteries.

We have designed planar sodium-metal chloride battery cells capable of cycling (partially) molten electrodes at...