Order and porosity of block copolymer membranes have been controlled by solution thermodynamics, self-assembly, and macrophase separation. We have demonstrated how the film manufacture with long-range order can be up-scaled with the use of conventional membrane production technology.

The indole molecularly imprinted polymer (indole-MIP) was synthesized by atom transfer radical emulsion polymerization (ATREP). The novel adsorbent was used to adsorb indole from fuel oil. The indole-MIP had a high selectivity to indole, and the mass transfer limitations were overcome. The property and morphology of indole-MIP were described by a series of characterization methods. A great specific area and more pores of indole-MIP were shown. The static adsorption experiments display that equilibrium adsorption capacity of indole-MIP was 34.488 mg/g. The adsorption process was spontaneous by thermodynamic analysis, and a dense mass of indole was adsorbed onto indole-MIP at a proper low temperature (298 K). Pseudo-second-order kinetic model was more fitted with experimental data. Both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were obeyed by adsorption isotherm test. The selective and competitive performances of indole-MIP were favorable, and the regeneration capacity was appreciable.

Potential applications of the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) demand physical configurations in different size ranges. Nowadays, research on MIPs is focused on the development of new or improved morphologies, which involves control and modification of the different parameters during the synthesis. In this study, the effect of different synthesis conditions on the particle size and morphology is investigated. Carbamazepine-imprinted polymers were prepared using precipitation polymerization under various conditions such as: the amounts of cross-linker and functional monomers, initiator, porogen, temperature and time of polymerization. We studied the polymerization conditions to obtain imprinted spherical particles with controllable sizes in the range of 243 nm to 3.4 μm. Scanning electron microscopy and photon correlation spectroscopy were utilized to investigate the morphological characterization. The mole ratio of the functional monomer to the cross-linker was important to obtain smaller uniformly sized particles. In addition, the results showed that the cross-linker in the molecular imprinting synthesis can affect the morphology and composition of the MIPs, which influences the binding affinity.

Compositional patterning in two-phase immiscible alloys during severe plastic deformation at elevated temperatures has been investigated. Kinetic Monte Carlo computer simulations were used to test the proposed idea that patterning derives from a dynamic competition between homogenization by forced chemical mixing and phase separation by thermally activated diffusion [P. Bellon and R.S. Averback, Phys. Rev. Lett.74, 1819 (1995) and F. Wu et al., Acta Mater.54, 2605 (2006)]. We utilize the concept of pair diffusion coefficients to compare thermal diffusion with forced chemical mixing and discuss the fundamentally different behavior with respect to pair separation distance in both mechanisms. While the general ideas of this model are verified and are in good quantitative agreement with our simulations, it is found that the dynamic processes of alloys under high-temperature shear are very complex, even in highly idealized systems, making experimental verification of this model very difficult. We illustrate our findings for a model AB alloy with properties similar to Cu–Ag by showing how alloy morphology and solubility depend on shear rate, temperature, and composition.

The microstructures of the cast Mg–3Al–1Zn–xCe (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 wt%) alloys produced by twin-roll casting were observed to reveal the effect of cerium (Ce) on the Mg–3Al–1Zn (AZ31) alloy. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of Al4Ce particles at the centers of grains was observed, and the crystallographic calculations between Al4Ce and α-Mg were examined on the basis of the edge-to-edge matching model. The results indicated that the addition of Ce effectively reduces the grain size of the cast AZ31 alloy produced by twin-roll casting. The finest grains with an average grain size of 55 μm are achieved at 0.4 wt% addition of Ce. TEM observation and good crystallographic matching between Al4Ce and α-Mg suggest that promotion of heterogeneous nucleation of α-Mg on Al4Ce particles formed in the melt is responsible for the grain refinement when adding Ce to the cast AZ31 alloy.

To improve the electrochemical and kinetic performances of the Mg2Ni-type hydrogen storage alloys, Mg was partially substituted by La, and the rapid solidification technology was used for the preparation of Mg20−xLaxNi10 (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) alloys. The microstructures of the as-cast Mg20−xLaxNi10 (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) and as-spun Mg20−xLaxNi10 (x = 2) alloys were systematically studied through x-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electronic microscopy. Electrochemical hydrogen storage properties were measured by the automatic galvanostatic system. Electrochemical impedance spectrum, linear polarization, and step-potential discharge curves were plotted using electrochemical workstation. The results showed that substitution of La for Mg was helpful for forming multiphase structures, increasing the discharge capacity of the as-cast Mg20−xLaxNi10 (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) alloys. The increasing quenching rate facilitated the formation of amorphous and nanocrystalline structures of Mg18La2Ni10 (La2) alloy, effectively improving the electrochemical and kinetic properties of Mg18La2Ni10 (La2) alloys.

In this study, nanocrystalline ZrN films were successfully deposited onto AZ91 alloy using an ion beam sputtering method at substrate temperatures of 373–673 K. Strain and adhesion were calculated using the classic Williamson–Hall and indentation cracking methods, respectively. Microstructure and crystalline properties were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. XRD results showed that the crystallographic properties of the films were strongly dependent upon substrate temperature. An increase in temperature increased adhesion of the film to the AZ91 alloy and decreased film microstrain. The corrosion behavior of ZrN/AZ91 samples in Ringer's solution was studied to evaluate corrosion potential and corrosion current density. Potentiodynamic corrosion tests showed that all ZrN-coated samples had a corrosion resistance superior to the blank substrate, mainly at 400 °C. A correlation was also established between vacancy defects in the film and corrosion behavior.

Deformation mechanisms of a ZrTiAlV alloy with two ductile phases including a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure phase were investigated. A ZrTiAlV alloy was prepared via smelting, breakdown, forging, and suitable heat treatments. X-ray diffraction results show that the proposed ZrTiAlV alloy has two ductile phase structures, namely, hcp structure α-phase and bcc (body-centered cubic) structure β-phase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results show that the plastic deformation of the examined ZrTiAlV alloy starts from the α-phase. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis shows that only dislocation slips can be found near fractured areas, and the main slip plane in the α-phase is the (0001) lattice plane. Both of the SEM and TEM results show the inexistence of deformation twin in the examined ZrTiAlV alloy including a hcp structure α-phase. Reasons for the abnormal deformation behavior of the hcp structure α-phase are also discussed.

The structural properties, the formation enthalpies, and the mechanical properties of Co–Al compounds (CoAl, CoAl3, Co3Al, Co2Al5, Co2Al9, and Co4Al13) are studied by using Chen's lattice inversion embedded-atom method. The potential is transferable and therefore does well for studying different Co–Al compounds. The calculated lattice parameters and cohesive energies are consistent with the experimental and theoretical results. The formation enthalpies of all the Co–Al compounds are negative; therefore, the chemical bonding between Co and Al atoms increases the stability of compounds. According to elastic constant restrictions, all the six Co–Al compounds are mechanically stable. CoAl alloy with the larger moduli and lower Poisson's ratio is the hard or brittle phase. Moreover, CoAl3, Co3Al, Co2Al5, and Co2Al9 alloys are considered to be ductile materials, which have lower ratio of shear modulus to bulk modulus.

A simple stochastic model is developed to determine the pop-in load and maximum shear stress at pop-in in nanoindentation experiments conducted with spherical indenters that accounts for recent experimental observations of a dependence of these parameters on the indenter radius. The model incorporates two separate mechanisms: pop-in due to nucleation of dislocations in dislocation-free regions and pop-in by activation of preexisting dislocations. Two different types of randomness are used to model the stochastic behavior, which include randomness in the spatial location of the dislocations beneath the indenter and randomness in the orientation of the dislocations, i.e., randomness in the stress needed to activate them. In addition to correctly predicting the experimentally observed average maximum shear stress at pop-in, the model also correctly describes the scatter in pop-in loads and how it varies with indenter radius. Monte Carlo simulations are used to validate the model and visualize the scatter expected for a limited number of tests.

This paper describes the mechanical properties under nanoindentation of a new glassy alloy with a nominal composition of Ni60Nb37B3, in the form of melt-spun ribbons and 1-mm-thick copper mold-cast sheets. The alloy composition was designed based on the synergy between the topological instability criterion and the difference in electronegativity among the elements. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses confirmed that both ribbon and sheet samples possess totally amorphous structures with relatively high thermal stability (supercooled liquid region of about 60 K), as evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Nanoindentation tests revealed that the hardness of this alloy, about 15 GPa, is among the highest reported for metallic glasses. The elastic modulus of the cast sheet is higher and its hardness is similar to that of the ribbon. This correlates well with the different amounts of frozen-in free volume in both types of samples detected by DSC.

Compound effects of B and Y additions on the microstructures and properties of a new type of high-strength and high-conductivity (HSHC) Cu–Mg–Te alloys are investigated on the aspects of purification and precipitation. Because of the purification function of B and Y additions, the tensile strength increased superlatively by the amplitude of 21.7% with a similar increase of elongation and the electrical conductivity of 4.2%. By comparison of the calculated decomposition pressures of B2O3 and Y2O3 at different temperatures, it can be concluded that the boron oxide is more stable than the yttrium oxide in the copper liquid, indicating the superior deoxygenization purification of the rare earth yttrium. The dispersive distribution of the Y–B compounds (YB6) was another factor for the improvement of the mechanical properties of the copper alloy. Finally, the copper alloy treated by hot rolling, cold rolling, and annealing processes in sequence exhibits HSHC with the tensile strength of 610.7 MPa and the electrical conductivity of 53.1%IACS.

Nano- and micron-sized metal particles have important applications in catalysis and in the medical and electronic industries. For applications requiring high conductivity, such as thick film conductive pastes or isotropic conductive adhesives, AgCu particles combine high conductivity with advantages of lower costs. Here, we report the generation of AgCu particles by spray pyrolysis, a process that has the advantages of simple experimental setup, large-scale production ability, and controllable particle size. Solutions of copper nitrate and silver nitrate dissolved in deionized water with either 40 vol% ethanol (ET) or 40 vol% ethylene glycol (EG) were used as the precursor. Phase separation was observed during the generation of AgCu particles, and the particles were mainly Ag-rich and Cu-rich solid solutions. The short reactor residence time experiments indicated that both the cosolvent properties and operating conditions affect the particle formation process and change the structure of particles.