Related papers: Electrochemical solid-state amorphization in the i…
Amorphous silica deforms viscoplastically at elevated temperatures, as is common for brittle glasses. The key mechanism of viscoplastic deformation involves interatomic bond switching, which is known to be a thermally activated process. In…
The phase diagram of non-hydrated Na(x)CoO(2) has been determined by changing the Na content x using a series of chemical reactions. As x increases from 0.3, the ground state goes from a paramagnetic metal to a charge-ordered insulator (at…
The increasing relevance of energy storage technologies demands high-capacity cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. Recently, Li-rich defect anti-fluorite Li$_5$FeO$_4$ has emerged as a high-capacity cathode material exhibiting…
According to classical Miedema theory, reducing crystals to the order of nanometer sizes might greatly modulate the mixing enthalpy of elements, thus enabling the invention of a lot of new bulk-immiscible alloys. Although numerous alloys…
We report the studies of ultrafast electron nanocrystallography on size-selected Au nanoparticles (2-20 nm) supported on a molecular interface. Reversible surface melting, melting, and recrystallization were investigated with dynamical…
Nanoporous Cu (NPC), synthesized by chemical dealloying of brass, holds significant potential for catalysis of electrochemical CO2 and CO reduction, owing to the optimal binding energy of Cu with *CO and *H intermediates, and the abundance…
Mysteries in binary phase diagram are still in existence, e.g., the case in Cu-Ni which is mutual miscible system, the question addressed that "Indirect experimental evidence indicates the presence of a miscibility gap in the fcc phase at a…
We use density functional theory (DFT) to study the thermodynamic stability and migration of copper ions and small clusters embedded in amorphous silicon dioxide. We perform the calculations over an ensemble of statistically independent…
Nanocrystalline metals, i.e. metals with grain sizes from 5 to 50 nm, display technologically interesting properties, such as dramatically increased hardness, increasing with decreasing grain size. Due to the small grain size, direct…
We study the influence of the liquid-vapor surface on the crystallization kinetics of supercooled metal alloys. While a good glass former, $\rm{Cu}_{50}\rm{Zr}_{50}$, shows no evidence of surface enhancement of crystallization,…
Friction dissipates a substantial portion of global energy, motivating the pursuit of superlubricity, a state of near-zero friction, in real-world systems. Conventional approaches rely on crystalline lattice mismatch to suppress periodic…
Lithium metal batteries (LMB) are vital devices for high-energy-density energy storage, but Li metal anode is highly reactive with electrolyte and forms uncontrolled dendrite that can cause undesirable parasitic reactions thus poor cycling…
Building on the recent discovery of tough nanocrystalline Cu-Zr alloys with amorphous intergranular films, this paper investigates ternary nanocrystalline Cu-Zr-Hf alloys with a focus on understanding how alloy composition affects the…
Increasingly, nanoscale phase coexistence and hidden broken symmetry states are being found in the vicinity of metal-insulator transitions (MIT), for example, in high temperature superconductors, heavy fermion and colossal magnetoresistive…
The structural evolution and dynamics of silver nanodrops Ag${}_{2896}$ (4.4 nm in diameter) during rapid cooling conditions has been studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations and electronic density of state calculations. The…
A Cu-Cr composite was processed by severe plastic deformation to investigate the role of interphase boundaries on the grain size reduction mechanisms. The as-deformed material exhibits a grain size of only 20nm. This gives rise to a…
Structural changes in amorphous LixSi during the initial lithiation of single crystal Si to amorphous LixSi were investigated as a function of Li flux and total charge using solid-state 7Li nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.…
Rechargeable lithium, sodium, and aluminum metal-based batteries are among the most versatile platform for high-energy, cost effective electrochemical energy storage. Non-uniform metal deposition and dendrite formation on the negative…
Nanostructured electrodes with voids or interconnected pores accommodate large volume changes, shorten ion diffusion pathways, and enhance the structural reversibility of alloying electrodes. While these nanoporous features improve the…
Without a periodic reference framework, local structures in noncrystalline solids are difficult to specify, but they still exert an enormous influence on materials properties. For example, thermomechanical responses of organic and inorganic…