Non-equilibrium Grain Boundary Wetting in Cu–Ag Alloys Containing W Nanoparticles. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shu, Shipeng; Zhang, Xuan; Bellon, Pascal; Averback, Robert S.
• Is Part Of: Materials research letters. Volume 4:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 22
• Page End: 26
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Grain-Boundary Wetting -- Nanoparticles -- Coarsening Resistance -- Non-equilibrium Nanostructuring; Materials science -- Research -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Composite materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials -- Research; Composite materials -- Research; Materials science -- Research; Periodicals; 620.1105
• DOI: 10.1080/21663831.2015.1090496
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2166-3831

Abstract

Abstract : Adding nanoparticles to soft matter and liquids is known to provide remarkable control in the processing of novel materials. Here, we demonstrate a similar potential in crystalline solids. Specifically, we show that the addition of a high density of W nanoparticles dramatically alters the coarsening behavior of precipitate-hardened Cu–Ag alloys. First, the nanoparticles suppress precipitate growth, but far more surprisingly, they induce non-equilibrium Ag wetting layers on grain boundaries. This observation is explained using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, which show that caging of Ag precipitates by the W nanoparticles suppresses their growth and drives the formation of wetting layers.