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In order to reduce the energy consumption of the reaction, the magnesium alloy samples were immersed directly into three conversion solutions and reacted for 9 hours at 60 ℃ and pH=12.0 used the chelating agent-assisted method by adding three chelating agents, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium (EDTA-4Na), sodium citrate (SC) and potassium sodium tartrate (PST) to aluminum nitrate (Al(NO3)3) solution, and Mg-Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs) films doped with different chelating agents can be prepared on the surface of magnesium alloys. The microstructure, phase composition, and corrosion resistance of each LDHs film were analyzed by SEM, XRD, FT-IR, etc. The results show that the chelating agent-assisted method can successfully prepare LDHs films with typical layered structure on the surface of magnesium alloys under normal pressure and 60 ℃ environment; and three kinds of Mg-Al LDHs films obtained can effectively improve the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys. Then, by comparing the structural properties of three different LDHs film layers, it is found that the Mg-Al-PST LDHs film prepared by adding PST has the highest density and the largest thickness, reaching up to 1.4 μm. The improvement effect of three coatings on the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys is as follows: Mg-Al-PST LDHs > Mg-Al-SC LDHs > Mg-Al-EDTA LDHs; The magnesium alloy covered with the Mg-Al-PST LDHs film compared to the blank magnesium alloy, the corrosion current density decreases by about two orders of magnitude, and the total corrosion resistance increases by about one order of magnitude. And based on the analysis of the structure and properties of the obtained LDHs films, it can be seen that the chelating agent-assisted method can prepare Mg-Al LDHs films with better corrosion resistance in-situ on the surface of magnesium alloys under the lower energy consumption condition. The reason may be that the carboxyl group in the chelating agent can accelerate the deposition of Al3+ on the magnesium substrate and promote the substitution of some Mg2+ in Mg (OH)2 by Al3+ to form LDHs.

Biomedical magnesium (Mg) alloys remain a challenge for their mainstream application, because the combination of bio‐mechanical stress and corrosive physiological environment leading to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). It is crucial to avoid the sudden brittle fracture of Mg alloys in vivo for predicting their service duration. However, the key factors, such as surface or physiological environment features, determining the origination or propagation of SCC behavior are still unclear. In the present study, a prefabricated surface defects coating was prepared by the phytic acid (PA, C6H18O24P6) conversion treatment. Four mimicking physiological media were used, ranging from simple to equivalent (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium and Protein [DMEM+Pro]). The results showed that the PA film with numerous micro‐cracks provided limited protective ability in synthetic biological media. A striking finding was determined that although initial high corrosion rate of samples in DMEM+Pro led to an increased SCC nucleation, significant ductile fracture with elongation to failure (14.86%) was observed. Combined with the fracture features, the adsorption or deposition of biological composition into the tunnel of SCC cracks significantly inhibited the hydrogen embrittlement (HE) behavior. These results indicate that preventing the propagation of SCC crack by biological composition, rather than nucleation, plays a key role in avoiding the sudden fracture of Mg alloys. It provides a novel perspective to determine the non‐brittle fracture of Mg alloys for biomedical applications. Highlights: Prefabricated surface‐defective Mg novelty used to study stress corrosion crackingConfirming ductile fracture of Mg alloy in vitro organic‐containing mimic mediumInhibiting the micro‐crack propagation relied on biological composition depositionThe crack propagation than nucleation plays a key role in avoiding brittleness [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, S-doped graphitic carbon nitride (S-C3N4) was prepared using the high-temperature polymerization method, and then S-C3N4/AgCdS heterojunction photocatalyst was obtained using the chemical deposition method through loading Ag-doped CdS nanoparticles (AgCdS NPs) on the surface of S-C3N4. Experimental results show that the AgCdS NPs were evenly dispersed on the surface of S-C3N4, indicating that a good heterojunction structure was formed. Compared to S-C3N4, CdS, AgCdS and S-C3N4/CdS, the photocatalytic performance of S-C3N4/AgCdS has been significantly improved, and exhibits excellent photocatalytic degradation performance of Rhodamine B and methyl orange. The doping of Ag in collaboration with the construction of a Z-scheme heterojunction system promoted the effective separation and transport of the photogenerated carriers in S-C3N4/AgCdS, significantly accelerated its photocatalytic reaction process, and thus improved its photocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on first-principles calculations, the effects of substitutional defects of the 3d–5d transition metal elements TMAl on the stability and thermal conductivity of the aluminum matrix were investigated. The results show that with an increase in the atomic number of TM, the defect-forming energy Ef of TMAl exhibits a periodic change feature, which depends on the valence electron configuration of the TM elements. The thermodynamic property parameters calculated with the Debye theory show that the addition of TM atoms does not change the stability of an Al system and can effectively reduce the thermal expansion coefficient of the material. But the equilibrium lattice constant a0 of Al-TMAl supercells changes very little. As the temperature increases, the relaxation time τ decreases, and both the electronic thermal conductivity κe and the total thermal conductivity κ decrease at the temperature range of 100–200 K, followed by a small increase or decrease. Because the lattice thermal conductivity κl is very small in the whole temperature range, the changes in electronic thermal conductivity and total thermal conductivity are basically the same. Moreover, when 1 at.% TM was added at both 300 K and 600 K, it was found that the influence of TM solute atoms on the thermal conductivity κ of Al was much greater than that of the second-phase particles. For solid solution atoms, Pd and Pt atoms have the greatest influence on the thermal conductivity of pure Al. This work is helpful for designing high-performance, heat-resistant Al-based alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomic diffusion by the vacancy defect of L12-Al3M (M = Sc, Zr, Er, Y) was investigated based on a first-principles calculation. The point defect formation energies were firstly evaluated. Then, the migration energy for different diffusion paths was obtained by the climbing-image nudged elastic band (CI-NEB) method. The results showed that Al atomic and M atomic diffusions through nearest-neighbor jump (NNJ) mediated by Al vacancy (VAl) were, respectively, the preferred diffusion paths in Al3M phases under both Al-rich and M-rich conditions. The other mechanisms, such as six-jump cycle (6JC) and next-nearest-neighbor jump (NNNJ), were energetically inhibited. The order of activation barriers for NNJ(Al-VAl) was Al3Zr < Al3Y < Al3Er < Al3Sc. The Al3Sc phase had high stability with a high self-diffusion activation barrier, while the Al3Zr and Al3Y phases were relatively unstable with a low self-diffusion activation energy. Moreover, the atomic-diffusion behavior between the core and shell layers of L12-Al3M was also further investigated. Zr atoms were prone to diffusion into the Al3Y core layer, resulting in no stable core-shelled Al3(Y,Zr), which well agreed with experimental observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance Sc-containing aluminum alloys are limited in their industrial application due to the high cost of Sc elements. Er, Zr, and Y elements are candidates for replacing Sc elements. Combined with the first-principles thermodynamic calculation and the classical nucleation theory, the nucleation of L12-Al3M (M = Sc, Er, Y, Zr) nanophases in dilutealuminum alloys were investigated to reveal their structural stability. The calculated results showed that the critical radius and nucleation energy of the L12-Al3M phases were as follows: Al3Er > Al3Y > Al3Sc > Al3Zr. The Al3Zr phase was the easiest to nucleate in thermodynamics, while the nucleation of the Al3Y and Al3Er phases were relatively difficult in thermodynamics. Various structures of Al3(Y, Zr) phases with the radius r < 1 nm can coexist in Al-Y-Zr alloys. At a precipitate's radius of 1–10 nanometers, the core–shelled Al3Zr(Y) phase illustrated the highest nucleation energy, while the separated structure Al3Zr/Al3Y obtained the lowest one, and had thermodynamic advantages in the nucleation process. Moreover, the core–shelled Al3Zr(Y) phase obtained a higher nucleation energy than Al3Zr(Sc) and Al3Zr(Er). Core–doubleshelled Al3Zr/Er(Y) obtained a lower nucleation energy than that of Al3Zr(Y) due to the negative ΔGchem of Al3Er and the negative Al3Er/Al3Y interfacial energy, and was preferentially precipitated in thermodynamics stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]