Related papers: Unraveling impacts of polycrystalline microstructu…
Grain boundaries (GB) profoundly influence the electrical properties of polycrystalline ionic solids. Yet, precise control of their transport characteristics has remained elusive, thereby limiting the performance of solid-state…
We present the results of molecular dynamics modeling on the structural properties of grain boundaries (GB) in thin polycrystalline films. The transition from crystalline boundaries with low mismatch angle to amorphous boundaries is…
Solute segregation at grain boundaries (GBs) of polycrystals strongly impacts the mechanical properties of metals including strength, fracture, embrittlement, and corrosion. However, the complexity of GB structures and the large chemical…
Atomic diffusion affects the properties of various engineering materials, which predominantly occur in the polycrystalline state. A rigorous description of polycrystalline diffusion must therefore account for crystallographic defects,…
Understanding oxygen diffusion along grain boundaries (GBs) is critical for controlling ionic conductivity in oxide ceramics. GBs are typically thought to enhance ionic transport due to structural disorder and increased free volume. In this…
In silicon, lattice thermal conductivity plays an important role in a wide range of applications such as thermoelectric and microelectronic devices. Grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline silicon can significantly reduce lattice thermal…
Grain boundaries (GBs) and interfaces in polycrystalline materials are significant research subjects in the field of materials science. Despite a more than 50-year history of their study, there are still many open questions. The main…
It is now widely accepted that grain boundaries play a critical role in the performance and reliability of solid-state batteries with lithium metal anodes. Understanding and controlling grain boundaries is essential for enabling safe,…
Soft-solid molecular crystals consist of crystalline grains and fluid grain boundaries (GB) that enhance grain binding and transport of Li+ ions between the grains. The total ionic conductivity consists of ion migration in both the grains…
New emerging disciplines such as Nanoionics and Iontronics are dealing with the exploitation of mesoscopic size effects in materials, which become visible (if not predominant) when downsizing the system to the nanoscale. Driven by the…
The work presents the investigations of Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3-xLiF Li-ion conducting ceramics with 0 < x < 0.3 by means of X-ray diffractometry (XRD), 7Li, 19F, 27Al and 31P Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (MAS NMR)…
Argyrodite solid electrolytes, such as Li$_6$PS$_5$Cl, exhibit some of the highest known superionic conductivities. Yet, the mechanistic understanding of Li$^+$ transport in realistic argyrodite microstructures -- where atomic-scale…
A new model for predicting the effective thermal conductivity of polycrystalline materials is presented. In contrast to existing models, our new model is based on the thin-interface description of grain boundaries (GBs) and treats GBs as an…
Electrical iron silicon steel is the most commonly used soft magnetic material in electrical energy conversion and transmission, and its demand is expected to increase with the need for electrification of the transportation sector and the…
We develop a polycrystal graph neural network (PGNN) model for predicting the effective properties of polycrystalline materials, using the Li7La3Zr2O12 ceramic as an example. A large-scale dataset with >5000 different three-dimensional…
Tailoring microstructures represents a daunting goal in materials science. Here, an innovative proposition is to utilize grain boundary (GB) complexions (a.k.a. interfacial phases) to manipulate microstructural evolution, which is…
The performance of all-solid-state battery (ASSB) cathodes strongly depends on their microstructure. Optimizing the cathode morphology can therefore enhance effective macroscopic properties such as ionic and electronic conductivity. The…
Segregation of alloying elements and impurities at grain boundaries (GBs) critically influences material behavior by affecting cohesion. In this study, we present an ab initio high-throughput evaluation of segregation energies and cohesive…
Polar discontinuities and structural changes at oxide interfaces can give rise to a large variety of electronic and ionic phenomena. Related effects have been intensively studied in epitaxial systems, including ferroelectric domain walls…
Ionic conductivity blocking at grain boundaries in polycrystalline electrolytes is one of the main obstacles that need to be overcome in order to improve the performance of solid state fuel cells and batteries. To this aim, harnessing the…