Cryogenic-temperature-induced phase transformation in a CuZr-based bulk metallic glass composite under tensile stress
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Phase transformations have been a prominent topic of study for both fundamental and applied science. Solid-liquid reaction–induced phase transformations can be hard to characterize, and the transformation mechanisms are often not fully understood. Here, we report reversible phase transformations between a metal (Pb) nanocrystal and a viscous liquid-like phase unveiled by in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy. The reversible phase transformations are obtained by modulating the electron current density (between 1000 and 3000 electrons Å –2 s –1 ). The metal-organic viscous liquid-like phase exhibits short-range ordering with a preferred Pb-Pb distance of 0.5 nm. Assisted by density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations, we show that the viscous liquid-like phase results from the reactions of Pb with the CH 3 O fragments from the triethylene glycol solution under electron beam irradiation. Such reversible phase transformations may find broad implementations.
This study investigates the structural evolution of LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2 cathode materials for Li-ion batteries as a function of synthesis temperature and its effect on electrochemical performance. It is demonstrated that, as the synthesis temperature increases from 400 to 900 ?C, a gradual topotactic transformation occurs between a lithiated spinel structure, denoted herein as “lithium-excess spinel” LxS-LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2 (or LxS-LMNO), and the well-known layered LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2 structure prepared at high temperature, HT-LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2 (HT-LMNO). The electrochemical capacity of the LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2 electrodes follows a parabolic trend with increasing synthesis temperature, which is attributed primarily to the gradual transformation of 3-dimensional (3-D) to 2-dimensional (2-D) diffusion pathways for the Li ions. When synthesized at 400 °C, LxS-LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2 electrodes perform well, benefitting from the 3-D network of channels within the LxS structure. By contrast, when prepared at 500-700 °C, LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2 electrodes operate poorly, which is attributed to the formation of locally disordered structural arrangements that impede Li-ion diffusion. Such an increase in local disorder in the mid-temperature synthesis range is attributed to the structural frustration between the lithium-excess spinal and layered end-members. The transformation from the locally disordered to more ordered layered components between 700 °C and 900 °C enhances electrochemical performance. The study opens new avenues for designing next-generation Mn-rich cathode materials by fine-tuning the synthesis conditions as well as the composition and structure of LxS-LMNO electrodes.
Accurate prediction of metallurgical phase transformations is an essential basis for autonomous optimization and rapid part qualification. Several methods can be used to estimate the evolution of phase fractions such as JMAK kinetics-based models, phase-field models, thermodynamic models, and data-driven machine learning models. Thermodynamic and phase-field-based methodologies solve multiphysics equations requiring numerous calibration parameters and significant computational resources. As a result, the computation domain is limited to a point or on order of micron-meters. The data-driven models rely on large datasets from experiments and simulations. While the JMAK model only provides information about phase fraction evolution, it can predict this evolution in near real-time using thermal history and thermodynamic data without restriction on the domain. JMAK models have been popularly used by researchers to model phase transformations occuring during additive manufacturing or over arbitrary temperature profiles. Commercial proprietary software such as Abaqus and Ansys or closed-source in-house implementations offer the ability to model JMAK based kinetics to predict phase transformation. However, these software packages are not open-source or freely available for use and development in conjunction with manufacturing machines, sensors, and machine learning algorithms. In addition, the use of the model is restricted by a license token. In contrast, given temperature profiles at multiple points in the domain, this Python-based PyJMAK model can compute phase evolution in parallel due to its stand-alone modular, voxel-based structure, and it can be executed on high-performance computing resources without any license restrictions.
In this study, the microstructures of three widely used dual-phase titanium alloys: Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo, and Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo are characterized using backscatter electron imaging and the deformation behaviors in their individual α and β phases are investigated using in situ high-energy X-ray diffraction during uniaxial tension experiments. This is accompanied by calculation of the strain rate sensitivity (SRS) in these alloys, as a function of applied loading. The results of the calculated SRS and the mechanical response (in terms of lattice strains and hardening behaviors) are rationalized based on the local microstructure, composition, and texture of the alloy. A stress-induced β (BCC) to α" (orthorhombic) phase transformation is observed during the in-situ diffraction experiment, which permitted analysis of the lattice strain evolution during the phase transformation. Results from this study provide insights into the relationship between microstructure, composition, applied loading, and the deformation behavior, including effects on loading with time holds. Specifically, the results show that the microstructure, and not necessarily the chemical composition (Mo content), along with the applied loading have a dominant role in the observed SRS variation in titanium alloys. Further, the evolution of the α" (orthorhombic) phase is observed for the first time during deformation of an industrially relevant titanium alloy, Ti-6246.
The oxidation of an ~1.5 at% Ga plutonium metal alloy in dry air as a function of time was studied using a combination of FIB-SEM, AES, and XRD. Analysis of SEM images of FIB cross-sections of the oxide allowed for direct measurement of the oxide thickness as well as determination of heterogeneity in the extent of the oxide. AES analysis performed on cross-sections of the oxide allowed for quantitative analysis of the atomic composition and semi-quantitative analysis of the chemical composition. Initial preparation of the sample was found to induce a martensitic transformation to α' - Pu with an average thickness of 233 nm. Electropolishing was found to be sufficient to fully remove the α' layer with creation of only a minimum oxide layer. Growth of the oxide in dry air was found to initially follow parabolic kinetics, with a parabolic rate constant orders of magnitude higher than expected for δ-Pu but in-line with values extrapolated to room temperature for α-Pu. Following complete oxidation of the initial α` layer, further regions of plutonium metal depleted in gallium were observed to form at the oxide / metal interface. However, gallium, as Ga 2 O 3 , was found to be enriched at the surface and present in the oxide in an amount comparable to the relative Ga:Pu ratio of the bulk metal alloy. Finally, the results presented here serve to bridge a diverse array of previous experimental and theoretical data and provide the first comprehensive view of the fate of the δ-stabilizer during formation of an oxide.
Pathways and structural dynamics of phase transformations impact performance of materials in energy and information storage technologies. Palladium hydride (PdH x ) nanocrystals are an ideal model system for studying solute-induced phase transformations, where elastic energy from lattice mismatch between α-PdH x and β-PdH x phases is often considered a key to determining the transformation pathways. α/β-PdH x interfacial elastic energy is affected by the confined geometry of a nanocrystal. However, how nanocrystal geometry influences phase transformation pathways is largely unknown. Using in situ liquid phase transmission electron microscopy, we directly visualize hydrogenation in Pd nanocrystals with two geometries, a nanocube and a hexagonal nanoplate. Both follow similar sequences of an initially curved nucleus, interface flattening, and reverse-stage nucleation; however, their evolving α/β-PdH x interfaces exhibit geometry-dependent crystallographic alignments. In nanocubes, {100}-aligned configurations conform to static elastic energy ordering, representing a pathway that maintains a local mechanical equilibrium, whereas nanoplates display both {110}- and {211}-aligned interfaces. Theoretical simulations show that geometry determines the accessibility of alternative phase transformation pathways as the system is driven far from equilibrium during hydrogenation. In conclusion, these findings identify geometry as a fundamental parameter for directing phase transformation pathways, offering design principles for accessing atypical configurations and improving properties of intercalation-based devices.
We develop a new model for phase transformation kinetics in metals by generalizing the Levitas–Preston (LP) phase field model of martensite phase transformations (see Levitas and Preston (2002a,b) and Levitas et al. (2003)) to arbitrary pressure. Furthermore, we account for and track: the interface speed of the pressure-driven phase transformation, properties of critical nuclei, as well as nucleation at grain sites and on dislocations and homogeneous nucleation. The volume fraction evolution of each phase is described by employing KJMA (Kolmogorov, 1937; Johnson and Mehl, 1939; Avrami, 1939, 1940, 1941) kinetic theory. We then test our new model for iron under ramp loading conditions and compare our predictions for the α → ϵ iron phase transition to experimental data of Smith et al. (2013). In conclusion, more than one combination of material and model parameters (such as dislocation density and interface speed) led to good agreement of our simulations to the experimental data, thus highlighting the importance of having accurate microstructure data for the sample under consideration.
Phase engineering of nanomaterials (PEN) has demonstrated great potential in the fields of catalysis, electronics, energy storage and conversion, and condensed matter physics. Recently, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with unconventional metastable phases (e.g., 1T and 1T') have attracted increasing research interest due to their unique and appealing physicochemical properties. However, there is still a lack of a simple, universal, and controlled method for the preparation of large-scale and high-purity unconventional-phase TMD crystals, restricting their further fundamental study and practical applications. Here, a facile, one-step salt-assisted general strategy is reported for the controlled phase transformation of commercially available TMDs with conventional 2H phase, yielding a large amount of metastable 1T'-phase TMDs, including WS 2 , WSe 2 , MoS 2 , and MoSe 2 . It is found that the easily accessible metal salts, such as K 2 C 2 O 4 ·H 2 O, K 2 CO 3 , Na 2 CO 3 , Rb 2 CO 3 , Cs 2 CO 3 , KHCO 3 , NaHCO 3 , and NaC 2 O 4 , can be used to assist the 2H-to-1T' phase transformation, greatly simplifying the synthetic process for producing metastable 1T'-TMDs. Importantly, this method can also be used to prepare 1T'-TMD alloys, such as 1T'-WS 2x Se 2(1–x) . We report this newly developed strategy is robust and highly effective, which can also be used for the phase engineering of other materials with various polymorphs.
Large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to investigate the shock-induced evolution of microstructure in Fe-based systems comprising single-crystal and layered Cu/Fe alloys with a distribution of interfaces. The shock compression of pure single-crystal Fe oriented along [110] above a threshold pressure results in a BCC (α)→HCP (ε) phase transformation behavior that generates a distribution of ε phase variants in the phase transformed region of the microstructure behind the shock front. The propagation of the release wave through a phase transformed ε phase causes a reverse ε→α phase transformation and renders a distribution of twins for the [110] oriented Fe that serve as void nucleation sites during spall failure. The simulations reveal that the α→ε→α transformation-induced twinning for shock loading along the [110] direction is due to a dominant ε phase variant formed during compression that rotates on the arrival of the release wave followed by a reverse phase transformation to twins in the α phase. The modifications in the evolution of the ε phase variants and twins in Fe behavior are also studied for Cu–Fe layered microstructures due to the shock wave interactions with the Cu/Fe interfaces using a newly constructed Cu–Fe alloy potential. Here, the MD simulations suggest that interfaces affect the observed variants during shock compression and, hence, distributions of twins during shock release that affects the void nucleation stresses in the Fe phase of Cu/Fe microstructures.
Coupling between microcracks and phase transformation in ion-conducting ceramics can jointly affect mechanical responses and ion transport. In this work we investigate the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transformation in Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ in the presence of a microcrack under hydrostatic loading and quantify its implications for crack-tip stress concentration and Li-ion transport using phase-field and molecular dynamics simulations. The phase transformation exhibits a strong asymmetry between hydrostatic tension and compression. Under tension, the crack edge nucleates one tetragonal variant that amplifies the crack-tip stress intensity and promotes crack opening. Under compression, the crack tip nucleates a different tetragonal variant that enhances the stress-induced crack-closure tendency. Effective Li diffusivity analysis shows faster transport degradation under compression due to accelerated transformation kinetics, exposing a trade-off between mechanical stability and ionic conductivity. These results highlight the intertwined nature of cracking, phase transformation, and ionic transport in ion-conducting oxides and provide mechanistic insights into chemo-mechanical degradation of solid electrolytes.
Localized deformation, including that by the deformation-induced shearing martensitic phase transformation, is responsible for hardening and embrittlement in irradiated face-centered cubic alloys. These localized deformation processes can have profound consequences on the mechanical integrity of common structural metals used in extreme radiation environments such as nuclear reactors. This article aims to review and understand exactly how irradiation affects the martensitic phase transformation in face-centered cubic alloys, with an emphasis on austenitic stainless steel, given its ubiquity in the archival literature. The influence of irradiation on stacking fault energy and subsequent implications on the phase transformation are discussed. Mechanisms by which irradiation-induced microstructures enhance the phase transformation are also described, including the surface energy contribution of irradiation-induced cavities (i.e., voids and bubbles) toward the critical martensite nucleation energy, and partial dislocation–cavity interactions. In conclusion, a deformation mechanism map illustrates how irradiation-induced cavities can modulate the martensitic transformation pathway.
Cadmium sulfide (CdS), which exhibits a wurzite (WZ) to rocksalt (RS) phase transformation at elevated stresses, is an ideal system to address the role of deformation on phase transformation mechanisms and kinetics. CdS has been shown to have very different elastic-inelastic behavior for shock propagation along the WZ 𝑐- and 𝑎-axes, and also exhibits significant differences in the time scale for the phase transformation when shocked along these different axes. As an important first step in examining the role of deformation in shock-induced phase transformations, here we present in situ, time-resolved x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements in single-event, shock wave experiments on CdS single crystals shocked along the WZ 𝑐-axis to elastic impact stresses near or above ∼ 5 GPa, where a marked increase in the kinetics of this transformation has been reported. The XRD measurements are compared with forward diffraction simulations to evaluate different proposed phase transformation mechanisms and are shown to be consistent with a shearing mechanism that results in the RS [001] direction being aligned with the original WZ 𝑐-axis and the RS [110] direction being aligned with the original WZ 𝑎-axis. In order to reproduce all observed RS diffraction spots the forward diffraction simulations required three different RS crystalline domains, each with a [110] direction aligned with one of the three original WZ 𝑎-axes, and a significant mosaicity, particularly about the RS [001] direction (the direction of shock propagation). In conclusion, this large mosaicity is likely due to variations in the possible shearing mechanisms that connect the WZ and RS structures, which can create crystallites with up to ∼ ±10° of relative rotations about the RS [001] direction, as well as further rotation of these crystallites as they grow, merge, and coalesce.
Phase transformations are widely invoked as a source of rheological weakening during subduction, continental collision, mantle convection and various other geodynamic phenomena. However, despite more than half a century of research, the likelihood and magnitude of such weakening in nature remain poorly constrained. Here we use experiments performed on a synchrotron beamline to reveal transient weakening of up to three orders of magnitude during the polymorphic quartz to coesite (SiO 2 ) and olivine to ringwoodite (Fe 2 SiO 4 ) phase transitions. Weakening becomes increasingly prominent as the transformation outpaces deformation. We suggest that this behaviour is broadly applicable among silicate minerals undergoing first-order phase transitions and examine the likelihood of weakening due to the olivine-spinel, (Mg,Fe) 2 SiO 4 , transformation during subduction. Modelling suggests that cold, wet slabs are most susceptible to transformational weakening, consistent with geophysical observations of slab stagnation in the mantle transition zone beneath the western Pacific. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of incorporating transformational weakening into geodynamic simulations and provides a quantitative basis for doing so.
The current investigation reports the first attempt to measure the critical resolved shear stress to initiates strain-induced phase transformation in a three-dimensional polycrystalline aggregate using high-energy diffraction microscopy (HEDM). In situ tensile testing was performed on a Fe38.5Mn20Co20Cr15Si5Cu1.5 metastable alloy exhibiting transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP). Grains with a higher propensity for strain-induced phase transformation were tracked using HEDM. A sharp drop in grain specific stress, coinciding with the appearance of a new ε-hcp grain oriented relative to the parent γ-fcc phase, was taken as evidence of grain-specific stress required to trigger phase transformation. The highest resolved shear stress on the potential transformation systems was identified as the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) for strain-induced phase transformation. For the studied metastable alloy, CRSS for transformation was determined to be 86±3 MPa which was very close to theoretical CRSS value determined using Schmid factor (89±12 MPa) compared to the value determined using Taylor factor (62±7 MPa).
Lithium uptake and release in lithium titanate (LTO) anode materials during a discharge and charge cycle is one of the fundamental processes of a Lithium-ion battery (LIB), still not fully understood at the microscopic level.During discharge cycle, LTO undergoes a phase transformation between Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 and Li 7 Ti 5 O 12 states within a cubic crystal lattice. To reveal the details of the microscopic mechanism,it is necessary to track the sequence of phase transformation sat different discharge/charge states under operating conditions.Here we use in-situ Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging (BCDI) and in-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments to examine the lithium insertion-induced materials phase transformation within a single LTO particle anda bulk battery analogue,respectively. BCDI analysis from (111) Bragg peak, shows the two-phase transformation manifesting as a distinct image phase modulation within a single LTO nanoparticle occurring in the middle of the discharge region then subsiding towards the end of the discharge cycle. We observe the biggest phase variation at the two-phase stage,indicating the formation of phase domains of 200 nm in size during the discharge process. Additionally, we also observe a lattice contraction of >0.2% in a single LTO nanoparticle at the (400) Bragg peak measurement, larger than that in the corresponding bulk material. Our observation of this phase transformation at a single particle level has implications for the understanding of the microscopic/mesoscale picture of the phase transformation in anode and cathode LIBs materials.