This article reviews post-analysis processing methods for data acquired using atom probe tomography (APT). Field-induced aberrations of APT images arise from distorted ion flight trajectories and differences in ion evaporation rates. Addressing this issue requires the development of image processing tools that yield three-dimensionally reconstructed images that reliably reflect the original specimens. One of the biggest advantages of the APT technique is its ability to collect information about millions of individual atoms. Understanding these data requires the development of mathematical and statistical data mining tools, involving disciplines beyond the basic physics of APT. The above issues have important implications for addressing materials science-related questions.

In this study, silver nanowires (Ag NWs) were synthesized in a one-pot method from silver nitrate and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), and reduced by ethylene glycol without the presence of chloride ion. The addition of silver nitrate and PVP was controlled by syringes. The syringe rate, and the concentrations of silver nitrate, and PVP, were manipulated to obtain Ag NWs with different widths and lengths. We have observed the phenomena of coarsening and combination of silver nanorods during the growth of the Ag NWs. With these phenomena, we have developed a growth model of Ag NWs, and successfully synthesized Ag NWs with high aspect ratios via the developed model.

Multilayered thin films of Al/Cu/Fe have been prepared by magnetron sputtering and annealed into quasicrystalline and approximant phases on Al2O3 and Si substrates, respectively. The nanomechanical and nanotribological properties, such as hardness, elastic modulus, friction, and toughness, have been measured using a triboindenter and analytical methods. The approximant phase was proved to be slightly harder than the quasicrystalline phase with a hardness of about 15.6 GPa, and with a similar elastic modulus of about 258 GPa. These values however decreased rapidly with an increasing amount of Si in the approximant. The indentation toughness of the approximant, <0.1 MPa/m½, was however inferior to that of the quasicrystals with 1.5 MPa/m½. Friction coefficients were measured in a range of 0.10–0.14 for both the quasicrystalline and approximant thin films.

There has been increasing interest in so-called phononic materials, which can support surface modes known as surface phonon polaritons, consisting of electromagnetic waves coupled to lattice vibrations at the surface of a polar material. While such excitations have a variety of desirable features, they are limited to the spectral range between a material's longitudinal and transverse optical phonon frequencies. In this work, we demonstrate that for materials whose free-carrier concentrations can be controlled, hybrid plasmonic/phononic modes can be supported across a range of frequencies including those generally forbidden by purely phononic materials.

In this work, we developed a convenient way to immobilize silver nanoparticles on the aminated polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous mats by combing the electrospinning technology from complex-containing polymer solution, amination of PAN nanofibrous and electroless plating technique. The resultant composite nanaofibrous mats had been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectra analysis. The catalytic activity and stability of these resultant composite nanofibrous mats for the catalytic reactions, including reduction of 4-nitrophenol to form 4-aminophenol, and selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol, were investigated. The resultant nanofibrous mats exhibited high-efficiency, convenient separation, recovery, and cyclic utilization properties.

A carbide cutting tool is widely used in machining process due to its availability and being cheaper than a better performance cutting tool, such as cubic boron nitride. The carbide cutting tool also has substantial hardness and toughness that is suitable to be applied in intermittent cutting. This paper presents the case study of a wear mechanism experienced on the cutting edge of the coated and uncoated carbide tools in turning and milling processes. The wear mechanisms of carbide cutting tools were investigated in machining Inconel 718, titanium alloy Ti–6Al–4V extra-low interstitial, and aluminum metal matrix composite (AlSi/AlN MMC) at their high cutting speed regime. The tools failed primarily due to wear on the flank and rake faces. The failure mode of the carbide cutting tools was similar regardless of the machining operations and coating is believed to enhance the tool life, but once removed, the tool fails similar to that with the uncoated tool.

Zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) thin films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using KrF laser (λ = 248 nm, τ = 5 ns). The effect of laser fluence (in the region from 10 to 100 mJ/cm2) and repetition rate of 50 and 200 Hz to the film growth and its properties was investigated. The growth of ZnPc thin film was in situ monitored using transmission measurement in ultraviolet-visible spectral range. The optical properties in conjunction with density functional theory/time-dependent density functional theory calculations suggested the growth of the film in β-phase. X-ray diffraction also revealed crystalline character of the film. The electrical properties analyzed by van der Pauw method exhibited resistivity ρ ≈ 108–1010 Ω cm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses revealed low deterioration of PLD deposited ZnPc films. We demonstrate that, by finely tuning the deposition conditions, PLD is a successful technique for fabrication of ZnPc thin films.

Intermetallic composite has been expected to be one kind of high-performance wear material at elevated temperature due to its inherent high hardness and strong atomic bonds. This paper presents the wear behaviors under elevated temperature conditions of NiMo/Mo2Ni3Si intermetallic “in situ” composite. Metallographic observations were carried out with optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. Elevated-temperature wear tests were performed under pin-on-disc mode dry sliding conditions. Results shown that the relative wear resistant property of NiMo/Mo2Ni3Si alloys at 500 °C is over 7 times, and become higher at 550 °C compared with austenitic 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steel. The effect of temperature and applied load on elevated-temperature wear resistance of alloy was evaluated. The corresponding wear mechanism is also reported through examining the worn surface, subsurface, and wear debris of the NiMo/Mo2Ni3Si intermetallic alloys which is found to be soft abrasive wear.

In classical twinning theory, the K 2 plane of $\left\{ {11\bar 22} \right\}\left\langle {11\bar 2\bar 3} \right\rangle$ twinning mode was predicted to be $\left\{ {11\bar 2\bar 4} \right\}$ , with a twinning shear of ∼0.22 which was experimentally “confirmed”. However, these twinning elements cannot be reproduced or verified in atomistic simulations. The K 2 plane in the simulations is always (0001), but this K 2 plane would lead to a nominal twining shear of 1.26 which is unrealistically large. In this work, atomistic simulations were performed to investigate the migration of $\left\{ {11\bar 22} \right\}$ twin boundary in titanium (Ti). Shear and atomic shuffles for three different, reported K 2 planes were analyzed in great detail, for the first time. The analyses show that ${K_2} = \{ 11\bar 2\bar 4\}$ leads to very complex shuffles despite the small twinning shear and is unfavorable. If ${K_2} = \{ 11\bar 2\bar 2\}$ , only half of the parent atoms are involved in the shuffling, but the twinning shear is very large (0.96) and is also unfavorable. When K 2 = (0001), the parent atoms are carried to twin positions partly by shear and partly by a simple shuffle. Because shuffling makes no contribution to the twinning shear, the actual twinning shear is 0.66, instead of 1.26. Thus, K 2 = (0001) is the most favorable and the conflict between the simulation results and the classical twinning theory can be reconciled.

Tribology is a phenomenon concerning the relative motion between at least two amalgamating surfaces. In the machining process, surface roughness is the most important element for studying this occurrence, which contributes to the evaluation of part quality. This paper will provide detailed analysis for better understanding of tribological during the machining process of Inconel 718 alloy using a multi-layer TiAlN/AlCrN-coated carbide ball end inserted in dry cutting condition. The analysis focused on the relationship of tool wear with cutting temperature, cutting force, and surface integrity. Results found that the cutting temperature increased around 7.5% and surface roughness of machined surface improved about 10.3% when the cutting speed increased. Flaking at the rake face and notching at the flank face were determined as the main tool failures during milling Inconel 718. Furthermore, high friction between the tool–workpiece interfaces during machining was due to the build-up edge (BUE) formation that causes an alteration in microstructure at machine surface.

One of the challenges in developing a low thermal conductivity material addresses on searching lightweight ceramic without heavy or rare-earth (RE) elements. Mg2Al4Si5O18 interests us for its very low density and complex crystal structure. The first-principle calculations were performed to predict mechanical and lattice thermal conductivity of hexagonal and orthorhombic phases of Mg2Al4Si5O18. According to Debye approximation and the Slack model, the lattice thermal conductivity varies with temperature in 804.6/T and 719.7/T, yielding 2.95 and 2.64 W/(m·K) at room temperature, respectively. The high temperature limits of thermal conductivities are as low as 1.33 and 1.29 W/(m·K). The thermal conductivities of both polymorphs of Mg2Al4Si5O18 are lower than most of RE-containing silicates and zirconates. The present work suggests that Mg2Al4Si5O18 is a promising lightweight ceramic with extremely low thermal conductivity. We also highlight that enhancing complexity of the crystal structure rather than incorporating heavy RE elements may be an alternative wisdom to explore lightweight thermal insulators.

Morphologically controllable copper sulfide (CuS) nanoneedle, nanowall, and nanosheet networks on copper substrates have been fabricated by a simple, facile, and fast method based on low-temperature chemical vapor deposition through simply adjusting the reaction conditions such as the temperature and flow rate of argon gas. The compositional and structural analyses indicated that all the obtained nano-networks were single-crystalline. And their growths were possibly controlled by a solid–liquid–solid mechanism. The photocatalytic activities of the different shaped CuS nanostructures have been evaluated by their photodegradation on rhodamine B and methylene blue in aqueous phase, which revealed that in both cases the CuS nanoneedles nano-network exhibited better performance than the other two nanostructures.