We report the sputter deposition of Cu-7V and Cu-27V (at.%) alloy films in an attempt to yield a “clean” alloy to investigate nanocrystalline stability. Films grown in high vacuum chambers can mitigate processing contaminates which convolute the identification of nanocrystalline stability mechanism(s). The initial films were very clean with carbon and oxygen contents ranging between ~0.01 and 0.38 at.%. Annealing at 400 °C/1 h facilitated the clustering of vanadium at high-angle grain boundary triple junctions. At 800 °C/1 h annealing, the Cu-7V film lost its nanocrystalline grain sizes with the vanadium partitioned to the free surface; the Cu-27V retained its nanocrystalline grains with vanadium clusters in the matrix, but surface solute segregation was present. Though the initial alloy and vacuum annealing retained the low contamination levels sought, the high surface area-to-volume ratio of the film, coupled with high segregation tendencies, enabled this system to phase separate in such a manner that the stability mechanisms that were to be studied were lost at high temperatures. This illustrates obstacles in using thin films to address nanocrystalline stability.

TiAl alloys are potential structural high-temperature structural materials at a service temperature of ~900 °C, while poor ductility at room temperature and high creep rate at the elevated temperature limits the applications. To improve the room-temperature and high-temperature mechanical properties of Ti–44Al–5Nb–3Cr–1.5Zr, Mo and B were introduced into this system and Ti–44Al–5Nb–3Cr–1.5Zr–xMo–yB alloys were proposed. And then, we, respectively, studied the microstructures and mechanical properties of Ti–44Al–5Nb–3Cr–1.5Zr–xMo–0B and Ti–44Al–5Nb–3Cr–1.5Zr–1Mo–yB to elucidate the role for the addition of Mo and B. It is found that Mo can increase the fraction of B2 phase in the alloys and the microstructures of the alloys are greatly refined by the addition of B. The compression test results indicate that Mo has a positive influence on the high-temperature compressive properties of TiAl-based alloys, whereas B addition can improve their room-temperature compressive properties of Ti–44Al–5Nb–3Cr–1.5Zr–1Mo–yB alloys; the morphology of borides in each sample should be the structural origin for these phenomena.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has caused the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) where improvised manufacturing in particular 3D printing has addressed many needs. This prospective discusses the current global crisis, then follows the wide interest in addressing the shortage of medical devices and PPEs used for treatment and protection against pathogens. An overview of the 3D printing process with polymer materials is given followed by the different 3D printing projects of PPEs and medical devices that emerged for the pandemic (including validation/testing). The potential for rapid prototyping with different polymer materials and eventual high-throughput production is emphasized.

The γ″ phase (hexagonal structure with space group ${ P\bar{6}}2{ m}$) plays an important role in the strengthening of Mg–Gd–Y–Ag–Zr alloy. In this study, Cs-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy was applied to characterize the Mg–Gd–Y–Ag–Zr alloy in different conditions (as-cast, solution-treated, and isothermally aged at 200 °C). The nucleation, growing process, and transformation behavior of the plate-shaped γ″ phase were systematically investigated on the atomic scale. We found that the nucleation sites of the γ″ phase were separated by close-packed planes of the Mg matrix and the γ″ phase developed in two perpendicular directions of $\langle 10\bar{1}0 \rangle$ and ⟨0001⟩. The growing process of the γ″ phase on the atomic scale was captured. The γ″ phase was thermodynamically stable at room temperature, and no transformation behavior of the γ″ phase was observed up to 200 h during isothermal aging at 200 °C.

Inspired by the recently reported translucency of monolayer graphene (GE) to wetting, atomistic simulations are employed to evaluate water flow enhancement induced by GE deposited on the inner surfaces of hydrophilic nanochannels. The flow in the coated channels exhibits a slip length of approximately 3.0 nm. Moreover, by contrasting the flow rates in channels with coated walls against flow rates in the corresponding uncoated channels, an “effective” flow enhancement from 3.2 to 3.7 is computed. The probability density function of the water dipole orientation indicates that the flow enhancement is related to a thinner structured water layer at the solid–liquid interface. This study provides quantitative evidence that GE employed as coating reduces substantially hydraulic losses in hydrophilic nanoconfinement.

Development of high energy density solid-state batteries with Li metal anodes has been limited by uncontrollable growth of Li dendrites in liquid and solid electrolytes (SEs). This, in part, may be caused by a dearth of information about mechanical properties of Li, especially at the nano- and microlength scales and microstructures relevant to Li batteries. We investigate Li electrodeposited in a commercial LiCoO2/LiPON/Cu solid-state thin-film cell, grown in situ in a scanning electron microscope equipped with nanomechanical capabilities. Experiments demonstrate that Li was preferentially deposited at the LiPON/Cu interface along the valleys that mimic the domain boundaries of underlying LiCoO2 (cathode). Cryogenic electron microscopy analysis of electrodeposited Li revealed a single-crystalline microstructure, and in situ nanocompression experiments on nano-pillars with 360–759 nm diameters revealed their average Young's modulus to be 6.76 ± 2.88 GPa with an average yield stress of 16.0 ± 6.82 MPa, ~24x higher than what has been reported for bulk polycrystalline Li. We discuss mechanical deformation mechanisms, stiffness, and strength of nano-sized electrodeposited Li in the framework of its microstructure and dislocation-governed nanoscale plasticity of crystals, and place it in the parameter space of existing knowledge on small-scale Li mechanics. The enhanced strength of Li at small scales may explain why it can penetrate and fracture through much stiffer and harder SEs than theoretically predicted.

HfO2–Sm3TaO7 ceramics are prepared through a solid-state reaction method. The X-ray diffraction and structural refinement show that the phase structures of HfO2–Sm3TaO7 ceramics are an ordered orthorhombic phase and the space groups are belonging to Ccmm. The degree of the structural disorder increases with increasing HfO2 content. The solid solution mechanism reveals that Hf4+ exists in the form of interstitial ions that cause crystal expansion when the doping content is less than 4 mol%. When the doping concentration of HfO2 ≥ 4 mol%, the Hf4+ ions can substitute an equal number of Sm3+ and Ta5+ ions. The phase transition of Sm3TaO7 ceramics is removed with increasing HfO2 content, and the 8 mol% HfO2–Sm3TaO7 ceramics have a high thermal expansion coefficient of 10.2 × 10−6 K−1 at 1200 °C. The 2 mol% HfO2–Sm3TaO7 ceramics have the lowest thermal conductivity (1.03 W/m K at 900 °C), which is lower than previous research of the 7–8 YSZ. The outstanding thermophysical properties of HfO2–Sm3TaO7 ceramics indicate that they are potential thermal-barrier coating materials.

In recent years, intracranial thrombectomy stent has been an important method to treat ischemic stroke caused by acute thrombosis. In this paper, a new intracranial thrombectomy stent with a fish scale-like structure was designed and its mechanical properties were studied by a finite element method. The porosity of all stents was more than 80%. The space occupation ratio (SOR) of the stents increased linearly with the increase of strut thickness, while the strut width had little effect on SOR. The maximum equivalent stress and strain, the directional deformation and overall radial load of the stent decreased with the increase of strut thickness, however, the strut width has little impact on these parameters. The stents with 0.2 mm strut width and the thickness of 0.15 and 0.20 mm had better radial load performance, and the stent with 0.2 mm strut width and 0.15 mm strut thickness had better contact performance with the vessel wall and displayed better flexibility. Therefore, the present study provides a theoretical basis for the design of new intracranial thrombectomy stent.

The ferroelectric material of BaTiO3 was introduced in the electron transport layer (ETL) of perovskite solar cells to improve the photogenerated electron transport. The sintered BaTiO3 thin films were polarized at different applied electric fields, and then TiO2 thin films were further deposited to be used as the ETL. The electric field was positively applied across the BaTiO3 thin film, and the photocurrent density of solar cell can be increased obviously. The results of electrochemical impedance and photoluminescence spectra indicate that the ordered polarization dipole moment inside the BaTiO3 thin film can accelerate the transport of photogenerated electrons from the ETL to the conducting glass substrate. The short-circuit photocurrent of perovskite solar cell is increased and thus the light-to-electric conversion efficiency is effectively improved to 13%. It is increased by 14% compared with that without the application of the positive electric field across the BaTiO3 thin film.

In the past decade, atomic and molecular layer deposition (ALD and MLD), these two sister techniques have been attracting more and more research attention to address technical challenges in various advanced battery systems. The charm of both ALD and MLD lies in their unique mechanism for growing a large variety of functional materials, featuring uniform and conformal films enabled at the atomic/molecular level at low temperature. Using ALD and MLD, to date, there have been many excitements achieved in research. These will ultimately be reflected on technical innovations that will help revolutionize our lifestyles. This invited article gives the first comprehensive review briefing on the journey of ALD and MLD in pursuing better batteries and highlighting many exciting progresses in various advanced battery systems. It is expected that this review will help boost many more efforts in using ALD and MLD for new battery technologies in the coming decade.

The analysis presented in Part I of this study on the binary collision of equal molten calcium–magnesium–alumino–silicate (CMAS) droplets is extended to investigate the flow and interfacial dynamics of unequal CMAS droplet collision. Numerical investigations of head-on, off-center, and grazing collisions of two CMAS droplets of size 1 and 2 mm are conducted at pressure and temperature of 20 atm and 1548 K, respectively, that are representative of a gas-turbine combustor. At these conditions, the physical properties of CMAS are density, ρCMAS = 2690 kg/m3, surface tension between CMAS/air, σCMAS = 0.40 N/m, and viscosity, μCMAS = 11.0 N-s/m2. The primary difference between the CMAS and a fictitious fluid with viscosity 1/10 of CMAS was higher deformation for the lower viscosity case, leading to stretching and subsequent breakup of the liquid structure. These mechanisms are supported by the time evolution of surface, kinetic, and viscous dissipation energies.

In this paper, we use finite element analysis (FEA) to study the linear viscoelastic response of polyurea, a type of hard–soft block copolymer. A Niblack's algorithm-based technique employed on atomic force microscopy images provides geometry inputs for the FEA model, while the viscoelastic master curves of the soft matrix are obtained via a combination of dynamic mechanical analysis data and molecular dynamic (MD) estimations. In this microstructural image-based FEA framework, we introduce an interphase area of altered properties between the hard and soft domains. Both spatial and property distributions of this interphase area affect the viscoelastic response of the copolymer system. To quantitatively investigate the impact of structural and property features of the interphase on the energy storage and dissipation of a system during linear perturbation, we develop a statistical descriptor representation of the interphase region related to physical parameters. Utilizing decision-tree and random forest concepts from machine learning, we apply a ranking algorithm to identify the most significant features for four different mechanical response descriptors. Results show that the total interphase volume fraction and shifting factor distributions in the interphase area dominate the magnitude of the tan δ peak, whereas the magnitudes of the shifting factors primarily affect the tan δ peak location in frequency space. This method allows us to readily identify the dominant features impacting individual properties and paves the way for material design of hard–soft block copolymer systems.