Characteristic properties of plastic instabilities were studied using depth-sensing microhardness experiments on an Al–3.3 wt.% Mg alloy and computer simulations based on a macroscopic dynamic model of the experimental setup. A stepwise increase was observed in the indentation depth versus load (d-F) curves measured in constant loading rate mode, indicating hardness oscillations around a nearly constant value of the conventional dynamic microhardness. These oscillations were correlated with plastic instabilities starting from the contact surface between the sample and the indenter head. Taking into account the experimentally determined connection between the hardness oscillations and the indentation velocity, a dynamic model was proposed for the characterization of instability steps.

The ternary system of lead nickel niobate Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PNN), lead zinc niobate Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZN), and lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3 (PZT) was investigated to determine the influence of different solid state processing conditions on dielectric and ferroelectric properties. The ceramic materials were characterized using x-ray diffraction, dielectric measurements, and hysteresis measurements. To stabilize the perovskite phase, the columbite route was utilized with a double crucible technique and excess PbO. The phase-pure perovskite phase of PNN–PZN–PZT ceramics was obtained over a wide compositional range. It was observed that for the ternary system 0.5PNN–(0.5 - x)PZN–xPZT, the change in the transition temperature (Tm) is approximately linear with respect to the PZT content in the range x [H11505] 0 to 0.5. With an increase in x, Tm shifts up to high temperatures. Examination of the remanent polarization (Pr) revealed a significant increase with increasing x. In addition, the relative permittivity ([H9280]r) increased as a function of x. The highest permittivities ([H9280]r [H11505] 22,000) and the highest remanent polarization (Pr [H11505] 25 μC/cm2) were recorded for the binary composition 0.5Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.5Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3.

Mesoporous crystalline SnO2 was synthesized by using templating process with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as the template, combined with a pretreatment process of hexamethyldisilazane vapor prior to thermal crystallization. The combined process resulted in crystalline SnO2 exhibiting large pore volumes and surface areas that cannot be achieved by either of the processes alone, or by the conventional sol-gel process. Fully crystallized SnO2 powder with a pore volume of approximately 0.2 cc/g, a surface area of 220 m2/g, and mesopores mainly of 5 nm in diameter were obtained after heat treatment at 500°C.

MgO single crystals and thin films were intentionally hydrated to determine the critical factors affecting the hydration behavior. The degree of hydration was affected by the crystallographic orientation in the initial stages. The (111) plane showed a higher tendency to hydrate than (100). The shape of the hydration clusters also differed according to the orientation of MgO single crystals. After long-term hydration, the density and grain size appeared to influence the hydration along with the orientation. On low-density thin films, Mg atoms are easily supplied to the surface, which induces large hydration clusters. As the grain boundary area increased, the number of nucleation sites for the formation of hydration clusters increased, which increases the number of clusters. Hydration also occurred in the inner part of thin films. The density of thin films is the most important property in this case because it governs the diffusion of Mg atoms, water, and OH through the thin films.

The piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) surface possessing low surface energy was modified by the ion-assisted-reaction (IAR) method for the application of thin film speaker. The IAR-treated hydrophilic PVDF surface was investigated using atomic force microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The adhesion strength between various types of electrodes and the film was dramatically improved due to the hydrophilic functional groups, such as –C–O–, –(C=O)–, –(C=O)–O–, and so forth. A durable loudspeaker film was fabricated by enhancing the adhesion between the screen-printed poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) and the modified PVDF films. The PVDF speaker film with the PEDOT/PSS electrode showed higher durability, flatter sound pressure level characteristics, and easier processability compared to metals or indium tin oxide electrodes.

The current study uses high-temperature differential scanning calorimetry to document the shift in phase-transformation temperature with particle size throughout a series of alloys in the zirconia–yttria system (0–1.5 mol% yttria). The tetragonal-to-monoclinic (T→M) phase-transformation temperature is seen to vary inversely with particle size. It is shown that a simple thermodynamic approach first proposed by Garvie predicts this inverse linear relationship. Subsequent determination of the key thermodynamic parameters therein (e.g., the surface and volume free energy, enthalpy, and entropy changes involved in the phase transformation) allows a complete predictive equation for the T→M phase transformation in the yttria–zirconia system to be developed as a function of particle size and yttria dopant level. The yttria–zirconia phase diagram is then redrawn with grain size as a third variable. It should be stressed that the current analysis is valid for particulate systems only; a parallel paper tackles the problem for fine-grained yttria–zirconia solids, where the approach is similar, but additional strain energy terms come into play.