Formation, Structure and Properties of Bulk Metallic Glasses

Bulk metallic glasses with up to 72 mm critical section thickness have been obtained by conventional casting techniques and the properties of these materials, particularly the mechanical and magnetic properties have been studied. These materials have been demonstrated to have novel properties which are fundamentally different from their crystalline counterparts. The recent status of research and development in formation, structure and properties of bulk metallic glasses is reviewed. The techniques to produce such bulk glasses are summarized and the glass forming ability and the critical cooling rate of these materials are discussed. Further consideration of the development and application of this new class of materiaIs will be proposed.

Structure Evolution of Bulk Metallic Glass Zr_(52.5)Ni_(14.6)Al_10Cu_(17.9)Ti_5 during Annealing

Bulk metallic glass Zr_52.5Ni_14.6Al_10Cu_17.9Ti_5 was prepared by melt injection casting method. Its glass transition and crystallization temperatures were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to be 631 K and 710 K respectively. By analysis of X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM ), the predominant crystallized phase of Zr_2Ni0.67O0.33 distributed on glass state matrix was detected after annealing at 673 K for 600 s. The transformation to Zr_2Ni_0.67O_0.33 and a small amount of ZrAl and Zr_2Cu took place after annealing for 600 s at temperature from 703 K to 723 K. With increasing annealing temperature from 753 K to 823 K, the amounts of ZrAl and Zr_2Cu increased, but the size of the crystals did not significantly change. The transformation to Zr_2Ni_0.67O_0.33 is interface-controlled, but is diffusion-controlled to Zr_2Cu and ZrAl. With increasing annealing temperature up to 200 K above T_x, the nanometer grains became very fine because of the increase of nucleation rate for Zr_2Cu and ZrAl.

Correlation between Structures of Bulk Amorphous Zr-Ti-Ni-Cu-Be Alloy in Different States

The structures of the bulk amorphous Zr41Ti14Cu12.5Nil0.0Be22.5 alloy have been analyzed in solid, supercooled liquid and liquid with X-ray diffraction. The first coordination sphere radii and the first coordination numbers are 0.312 um, 11.2 in solid state.10.932 nm, 10.932 in supercooled liquid region and 0.305 urn, 11.296 in liquid state. The structures are the same in different states. But it shows some tendency to crystallizing that the first coordination sphere radius and the first coordination number drop in supercooled liquid region.

Tuning the Electronic Structure of Sr2IrO4 Thin Films by Bulk Electronic Doping Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy

By means of oxide molecular beam epitaxy with shutter-growth mode, we fabricate a series of electron-doped （Sr1-xLax）2IrO4 （001） （x=0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15） single crystalline thin films and then investigate the doping dependence of the electronic structure utilizing in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. It is found that with the increasing doping content, the Fermi levels of samples progressively shift upward. Prominently, an extra electron pocket crossing the Fermi level around the M point is evidently observed in the 15% nominal doping sample. Moreover, bulk-sensitive transport measurements confirm that the doping effectively suppresses the insulating state with respect to the as-grown Sr2IrO4, though the doped samples still remain insulating at low temperatures due to the localization effect possibly stemming from disorders including oxygen deficiencies. Our work provides another feasible doping method to tune electronic structure of Sr2 IrO4.

An Unprecedented Efficiency with Approaching 21%Enabled by Additive‑Assisted Layer‑by‑Layer Processing in Organic Solar Cells

Recently published in Joule,Feng Liu and colleagues from Shanghai Jiaotong University reported a record-breaking 20.8%power conversion efficiency in organic solar cells(OSCs)with an interpenetrating fibril network active layer morphology,featuring a bulk p-in structure and proper vertical segregation achieved through additive-assisted layer-by-layer deposition.This optimized hierarchical gradient fibrillar morphology and optical management synergistically facilitates exciton diffusion,reduces recombination losses,and enhances light capture capability.This approach not only offers a solution to achieving high-efficiency devices but also demonstrates the potential for commercial applications of OSCs.

Structure Evolution and Electrochemical Performance of Al_2O_3-coated LiNi_(0.4)Co_(0.2)Mn_(0.4)O_2 During Charge-discharge Cycling

Several lithium-ion batteries of 18650-type were assembled with pristine or Al2O3-coated LiNi0.4Co0.2Mn0.4O2（NCM） as cathode material and mesocarbon microbeads（MCMB） as anode material.The cycling performance of the batteries was examined under 25 °C at a 2C rate within a potential range of 2.75―4.20 V.The changes of the crystal structure,the lattice parameter,the mean crystallite size,and the mean micro-strain of pristine NCM and Al2O3-coated NCM during the charge-discharge cycling were determined by X-ray diffraction（XRD）.The results indicate that the bulk structure of Al2O3-coated NCM is more stable than that of pristine NCM,which leads to the better cycling performance of Al2O3-coated NCM compared to that of pristine NCM.

Structural,electronic and elastic properties of YCu from first principles

The structural, electronic and elastic properties of YCu compound in the B2 （CsCl） phase were investigated using the density functional theory （DFT） within the generalized gradient approximation （GGA）. The electronic density of states （DOS） obtained in this way accorded weU with the results of a recent study utilizing the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave （FLAPW） method. We also found that the density of d-states at the Fermi energy was low. The calculated equilibrium properties such as lattice constant, bulk modulus and its first derivative, and the elastic constants were in good agreement with experimental and theoretical results.

D-A structural protean small molecule donor materials for solution-processed organic solar cells

Under the synergistic effect of molecular design and devices engineering, small molecular organic solar cells have presented an unstoppable tendency for rapid development with putting forward donor- acceptor （D-A） structures. Up to now, the highest power conversion efficiency of small molecules has exceeded 11%, comparable to that of polymers. In this review, we summarize the high performance small molecule donors in various classes of typical donor-acceptor （D-A） structures and discuss their relationships briefly.