Nucleation and growth of L1_(2)-Al_(3)RE particles in aluminum alloys:A first-principles study

The internal mechanisms of nucleation and growth of L1_(2)-AI_(3)RE(RE=Sc,Y,La-Lu) second phases in Al alloys were investigated by combining first-principles calculations with quasi-harmonic approximation(QHA).The calculated results show that the diffusion rate D_s and chemical potential AG_V increase with the increase of temperature.With the increase of atomic number,the D_s and the strain energy ΔE_(CS)increase firstly from Sc to La,and then decreases,while the calculated interface energy γ_(α/β) and ΔG_V show opposite tendency.Based on above calculated results,the critical nucleation radius R*and coarsening rate K_(LSW) are obtained from the classical nucleation theory(CNT) and LSW model of the Ostwald ripening of particles,respectively.With the increase of atomic number,the R*increases firstly,and then decreases for all planes at finite temperatures.Whereas the K_(LSW) shows opposite variation to the R^(*).From this point of view,it is reasonably speculated that Y and later RE elements can replace the expensive Sc for heat-resistance Al alloys.The solubility c_(∞) of particles is usually very small at low temperature,and there is obvious solubility only when the temperature reaches 600 K.The surface energies E_(sur) of AI_(3)RE compounds and Al solid solution are respectively larger and smaller than that of pure Al,respectively,except for the surface(001) and(110) of Al_(3)La.For all planes,with the increase of atomic number of RE,E_(sur) decreases firstly from Sc to La,and then increases linearly to Lu.These results are helpful for designing high performance heat-resistance Al alloys.

Controlling dynamic recrystallization via modified LPSO phase morphology and distribution in Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy

Featured initial microstructures of Mg-11Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr alloy(wt%) were obtained by adjusting temperatures of solid solution and cooling methods, including island intergranular 18R and 14H LPSO phases with low-density stacking faults, differentially spaced lamellar intragranular 14H-LPSO phases, and network intergranular 18R-LPSO phases with high-density intragranular stacking faults. Effects of these featured LPSO phases and stacking faults on dynamic recrystallization(DRX) behavior were investigated via hot compression. Promoted DRX behavior via particle stimulated nucleation(PSN) is introduced by coexisting intergranular island 18R and 14H LPSO phases and intragranular wide spacing lamellar 14H-LPSO phases, contributing the highest DRX fraction of 42.6%. Conversely, it is found that DRX behavior with network intergranular 18R-LPSO phases and dense intragranular stacking fault is considerably inhibited with the lowest fraction of 22.8%. That is, the restricted DRX due to dislocations pinning by stacking faults overwhelms the enhanced DRX behavior via PSN of island intergranular 18R and 14H LPSO phases. Specially, compared with dense intragranular lamellar 14H-LPSO phases, high-density stacking faults exert a larger inhibition effect on DRX behavior.

A Review of Thermo- and Diffusio-Phoresis in the Atmospheric Aerosol Scavenging Process. Part 2: Ice Crystal and Snow Scavenging

The role of phoretic forces in the identification of particles acting as ice nuclei in mixed phase cloud is discussed. A method used to identify the effective ice nucleating particles is to sample ice crystals, which are afterwards sublimated, and to examine the particles remaining after evaporation. The procedure takes into account only crystal with a maximum diameter of 20 μm, by assuming that small crystals do not scavenge aerosol during growth, and therefore that crystals contain only the effective nucleating particles. This assumption is questionable, however, as experiments have shown that even small ice crystals can scavenge aerosol. Another approach has been to compare the number and elemental composition of residual particles in small ice crystals and of aerosol near the cloud. By considering as example soot and black carbon aerosol, contradictory conclusions on their importance in the processes of ice nucleation have been reported in the literature. We suggest that, in addition to physico-chemical properties of soot/carbon aerosol particles, even the microphysical and environmental parameters involved in the transition of aerosol from gas phase to ice crystals in cloud should be considered. The contribution of phoretic forces should also be considered. After initial growth ice crystals can continue to grow by water vapour diffusion. Laboratory experiments confirm the contribution of diffusiophoresis with Stefan flow in the scavenging by snow crystals up to 3 mm in diameter. The particle scavenging efficiency of snow crystals is related to crystalline shape and depends on air relative humidity and temperature.

Role of C and Fe in Grain Magnesium Alloy by Al-C Refinement of an AZ63B Master Alloy

In this study, grain refining effect of Al-1.5℃ master alloy was examined on an AZ63B magnesium alloy, and the refining mechanism was studied through investigating the role of C and Fe in this process. The results show that addition of Al-1.5℃ master alloy leads to significant decrease of the mean grain size from about 270μm to 50μm at the center of the AZ63 alloy ingot. Grain refinement by carbon addition is mainly due to the heterogeneity nucleation on the Al-, C-, O-, Fe- and Mn-rich particles, but not constitutional undercooling caused by the carbon solute element. Fe plays an important role in the formation of the nucleating particles, but not acts as an inhibiting element.

Roles of SO_2 oxidation in new particle formation events

The oxidation of SO2 is commonly regarded as a major driver for new particle formation（NPF） in the atmosphere. In this study, we explored the connection between measured mixing ratio of SO2 and observed long-term（duration 〉 3 hr） and short-term（duration〈 1.5 hr） NPF events at a semi-urban site in Toronto. Apparent NPF rates（J30） showed a moderate correlation with the concentration of sulfuric acid（[H2SO4]） calculated from the measured mixing ratio of SO2 in long-term NPF events and some short-term NPF events（Category I）（R^2= 0.66）. The exponent in the fitting line of J30~ [H2SO4]nin these events was1.6. It was also found that SO2 mixing ratios varied a lot during long-term NPF events,leading to a significant variation of new particle counts. In the SO2-unexplained short-term NPF events（Category II）, analysis showed that new particles were formed aloft and then mixed down to the ground level. Further calculation results showed that sulfuric acid oxidized from SO2 probably made a negligible contribution to the growth of 〉 10 nm new particles.

Narrow-disperse Highly Cross-linked “Living” Polymer Microspheres by Two-stage Precipitation Polymerization

Narrow-disperse, surface-functionalized ＂living＂ polymer microspheres with uniformly cross-linked structures were prepared by two-stage precipitation copolymerization of styrene and divinylbenzene. The two-stage precipitation polymerization is composed of an initial conventional precipitation polymerization for the nucleation followed by a reverse atom transfer radical polymerization （reverse ATRP） for the controlled polymerization process. The polymerization parameters （including reaction time for the first stage, AIBN amount and monomer loading） have been studied to show significant influences on the morphologies. Moreover, narrower size distribution and an ATRP initiator-functional surface of resulting particles can be obtained by applying reverse ATRP to conventional precipitation polymerization in the second stage. Furthermore, the ＂livingness＂ of the resulting polymer microspheres was testified by their surface modification of poly[2-（dimethylamino） ethyl methacrylate] （PDMAEMA） brushes via surface-initiated ATRP （SI-ATRP）.