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The metastable liquid properties and chemical bonds beyond 2000 K remain a huge challenge for ground‐based research on liquid materials chemistry. We show the strong undercooling capability, metastable liquid properties and surface wave patterns of refractory Nb−Si and Zr−V binary alloys explored in space environment. The floating droplet of Nb82.7Si17.3 eutectic alloy superheated up to 2338 K exhibited an extreme undercooling of 437 K, approaching the 0.2TE threshold for homogeneous nucleation of liquid‐solid reaction. The microgravity state endowed alloy droplets with nearly perfect sphericity and thus ensured the high accuracy to determine metastable undercooled liquid properties. A special kind of swirling flow was induced for liquid alloy owing to Marangoni convection, which resulted in the spiral microstructures on Zr64V36 alloy surface during liquid‐solid phase transition. The coupled impacts of surface nucleation and surface flow brought in a novel olivary shape for these binary alloys. Furthermore, the chemical bonds and atomic structures of high temperature liquids were revealed to understand the liquid properties in outer space circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strength and ductility trade‐off dilemma has limited the wide application of TiAl‐based alloys. Here, a new insight into the potential for increasing the strength and ductility of a hypoperitectic Ti–48 at% Al–8 at% Nb alloy is accomplished by the electromagnetic levitation (EML) technique. Moreover, a systematic analysis of the primary and subsequent peritectic solidification kinetics is conducted in the undercooling range of 308 K. Assisted by a high‐speed camera, in situ observation of the liquid–solid (primary β‐Ti phase and peritectic α‐Ti phase) interface migration is accomplished. When the alloy melt is undercooled to 240 K, high‐ordered nanotwins are observed in the Ti–48 at% Al–8 at% Nb alloy, which form a unique hierarchical microstructure. Upon further increasing the undercooling, the density of these nanotwins is significantly enhanced. The room‐temperature compression results reveal that the strength and ductility increase up to 140% and 150%, respectively. This is mainly ascribed to the remarkable grain refinement, formation of nanotwins with various orientations, accumulation of dislocations and stacking faults, and retention of the metastable γ‐phase. The superior combination of strength and ductility indicates the possibility to fabricate high‐ordered nanotwins via rapid solidification, thus improving the performance of γ‐TiAl‐based alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid solidification of highly undercooled Fe–Co–Ni alloys is realized by drop tube technique. The microstructures of Fe–10%Co–10%Ni, Fe–15.6%Co–12%Ni, and Fe–10%Co–20%Ni alloys are all composed of single α(Fe) solid solution phase, which are confirmed by the results of XRD and DSC. With the decrease of droplet diameters, the cooling rate and undercooling increase, meanwhile, the microstructural characteristic of α(Fe) phase transforms from coarse dendrites to equiaxed grains. The size of coarse dendrites decreases to one tenth for the refined equiaxed grains. Employing the Vickers hardness and nano indenter techniques, the mechanical properties of α(Fe) dendrites are investigated. The average Vickers microhardness of α(Fe) phase is remarkably enhanced with the decrease of the grain size. Due to the more homogenous solute distribution in the dendrite trunks, the nanohardness presents a gentle fluctuation. Once the droplet diameter exceeds a critical value, the solutes concentrate at the grain boundaries. As a result, the closer the indenters to the grain boundary, the larger the nanohardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

V addition makes the Ti-45%Al alloy transform from -TiAl alloy to SB 2 sb -Ti SB 3 sb Al alloy and changes the mechanical properties of and SB 2 sb phases. Connecting Solidified Microstructure with Compression Properties for Bulk Ti-Al Alloys with V Addition Conducted by Electromagnetic Levitation and First Principle Bulk Ti-Al-based alloys with a mass of 30 g are prepared by electromagnetic levitation (EML). [Extracted from the article]

The surface tension and specific heat of stable and metastable liquid Ni70.2Si29.8 eutectic alloy were measured by electromagnetic levitation oscillating drop method and drop calorimetry. The surface tension depends on temperature linearly within the experimental undercooling regime of 0–182 K (0.12 TE). Its value is 1.693 N·m-1 at the eutectic temperature of 1488 K, and the temperature coefficient is -4.23 ⊗ 10-4 N·m-1·K-1. For the specific heat measurement, the maximum undercooling is up to 253 K (0.17 TE). The specific heat is determined as a polynomial function of temperature in the experimental temperature regime. On the basis of the measured data of surface tension and specific heat, the temperature-dependent density, excess volume and sound speed of liquid Ni70.2Si29.8 alloy are predicted theoretically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Droplets of Ni-31.4%Pb monotectic alloy with different sizes are rapidly solidified during free fall in a drop tube. The theoretical calculations indicate that the undercooling was achieved before solidification exponentially depends on droplet diameter. The maximum undercooling of 241 K (0.15Tm) is obtained in the experiments. With the increase of undercooling, the volume fraction of monotectic cells increases, and the L2(Pb) grains are refined. Calculations of the nucleation rates of L2(Pb) and α-Ni phases indicate that L2(Pb) phase acts as the leading nucleation phase during the monotectic transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of heterojunctions with a strong bonding interface between metals and non-metals has attracted much attention owing to their great potential for use in lightweight structures. Laser joining technology, which emerged as a fast and reliable method, has proven its feasibility and unique advantages in joining metal to polymer matrix composites. Herein, an optimized laser joining configuration has been employed to realize high-quality joining of titanium alloy and carbon fiber-reinforced composite. Cross-sectional microstructures of laser-produced joints reveal that micro-bubbles near the interface have been effectively suppressed and eliminated due to the continual clamping pressure applied to the joined area during the joining process. Tensile tests suggest that the joint strength increases with structure density on a titanium alloy surface, and the greatest fracture strength of joints reaches more than 60 MPa even after experiencing a high–low temperature alternating aging test. For higher structure density (>95%), the joints fail by the fracture of parent plastics near the joined area due to the tensile-loading-induced peel stress at the edges of the overlap region. Otherwise, the joints fail by interfacial shear fracture with breakage when the structure density is lower than 91.5%. The obtained high-performance heterojunctions show great potential in the aerospace and automotive fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A facile integrated self-assembly strategy was firstly proposed. • PtNi@Ni(OH) 2 exhibited a low overpotential of 9 mV in 1 M KOH. • Core-shell PtNi alloy@Ni(OH) 2 film could fully expose its internal active sites. • Electron transfer occurs from PtNi nanoparticles (as electron donors) to Ni(OH) 2. Simultaneously constructing a core–shell PtNi alloy and Ni(OH) 2 film for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) poses a challenge. In this study, a facile integrated self-assembly approach was formulated to synthesize a core–shell PtNi alloy@Ni(OH) 2 film electrocatalyst (named PtNi@Ni(OH) 2), demonstrating exceptional efficiency for alkaline HER. In PtNi@Ni(OH) 2 , core–shell PtNi alloy nanoparticles (NPs) are distributed on a silk-like Ni(OH) 2 film. Due to the pronounced synergistic interaction between the PtNi alloy and Ni(OH) 2 , the resulting PtNi@Ni(OH) 2 achieves HER current densities of 10 mA cm−2 at a minimal overpotential of 9 mV. Accordingly, PtNi@Ni(OH) 2 exhibits small Tafel slope of 23 mV dec-1 and an exceptionally high turnover frequency (TOF) of 0.911 s−1 at η = 50 mV. Additionally, the electron transfer pathway mechanism from PtNi to Ni(OH) 2 to H 2 O has been elucidated, and PtNi@Ni(OH) 2 demonstrates an optimized hydrogen adsorption energy (ΔG H* = −0.15 eV), which is favorable for HER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present work, a multiphase Ni 3 Al-based intermetallic alloy with complex components of γ'+γ dendrite comprising extremely high volume fraction (81 vol %) of γ′ phase and interdendritic β phase is investigated, the microstructure evolution and phase transformation behavior tailored by different solution cooling rates are studied by applying different cooling methods of water cooling (WC, 138 °C/s), air cooling (AC, 72 °C/s), and furnace cooling (FC, 0.05 °C/s) after solution treatment at 1200 °C for 10 h. Results show that the cubic degree, size and volume fraction of cuboidal primary γ′ as well as size of spherical secondary γ′ particles in the γ'+γ dendrite are improved by decreasing cooling rates, and the average sizes of the primary and secondary γ′ particles are found to meet logarithmic relationships with cooling rates. There are three kinds of precipitates in the interdendritic β phase resulted from different cooling methods, i.e., the rod-like Cr 3 C 2 carbides, the semi-spherical α-Cr particles, and the long acicular γ′ precipitates. The lower cooling rate decreases the number of rod-like Cr 3 C 2 carbides, increases the number and size of the semi-spherical α-Cr particles, and promotes the formation of long acicular γ′ precipitates in the interdendritic β-matrix. The semi-spherical α-Cr particles play the role of pinning dislocations in the β-matrix and have the orientation relationship of [‾110] α-Cr //[‾110] β-matrix. In addition, the precipitation of semi-spherical α-Cr particles in β-matrix is observed to accomplish in two sequential stages and grow in an onion-like ordered way. Stacking faults existed in partial of α-Cr particles due to the nanotwins in β-matrix. Microtwins are observed in the interdendritic β-matrix after water cooling, which have a bimodal configuration of nanotwins at the microtwinning boundaries and interior stacking faults. Besides, γ′-envelope formed between the γ'+γ dendrite and interdendritic β phase dependent on the solution cooling processes. Image 1 • Re-precipitation sizes of primary and secondary γ′ particles have the logarithmic relationship with solution cooling rates. • Microtwins in the β-matrix have a bimodal configuration of nanotwins at their boundary and interior stacking faults. • Precipitation pattern and growth mode of semi-spherical α-Cr particles in β-matrix phase after air cooling. • Precipitation behaviors influenced by solution cooling rates of precipitates in the interdendritic β. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large undercooling (250 K) was achieved in eutectic Ni78.6Si21.4 melt by the combination of molten-glass denucleation and cyclic superheating. The metastable phase formation process in the bulk undercooled eutectic Ni78.6Si21.4 melts was investigated. With the increase of undercooling, different metastable phases form in eutectic Ni78.6Si21.4 melts and part of these metastable phases can be kept at room temperature through slow post-solidification. Under large undercooling, the metastable phases β2-Ni3Si, Ni31Si12 and Ni3Si2 were identified. Especially, the Ni3Si2 phase was obtained in eutectic Ni78.6Si21.4 alloy for the first time. Based on the principle of free energy minimum and transient nucleation theory, the solidification behavior of melts was analyzed with regard to the metastable phase formation when the melts were in highly undercooled state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precipitation and evolution of intersected plate-like γ′ (γ′ P) phase within interdendritic β during long-term aging and its relevant influence on the creep behavior of a multiphase Ni 3 Al-based intermetallic alloy are investigated. Results show that the precipitation and growth of the γ′ P precipitates during 800 °C aging of original as-cast alloy are significantly rapid, which can be fully precipitated in 60 min to form the intersected morphology and continue to coarsen and grow during the extended aging and subsequent 800 °C creep processes. The γ′ P precipitates have the Bain orientation relationship (OR) of (100)γ′ P //(100) β and [0-11]γ′ P //[001] β with the interdendritic β-matrix. The precipitation of intersected γ′ P phase is sensitive to the elemental fluctuations in β-matrix, and the preceding high-temperature annealing treatment can significantly reduce the elemental inhomogenization and inhibit its generation within the interdendritic β. Precipitation of adequate intersected γ′ P phase can effectively inhibit the dislocation proliferation and crack initiation in the brittle interdendritic β during creep, resulted in the improved creep properties. Slightly rafted γ′ after long-term aging at 800 °C transitioned into R-type γ′-raft structure during creep at 800 °C/220 MPa, and can induce larger creep resistance than N-type γ′-raft structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In present work, the unique envelope structure (about 1.1 μm in width, and ~3 vol%) in an as-cast multiphase Ni 3 Al-based intermetallic alloy was characterized in detail, its formation mechanism during solidification and widening behavior during long-term aging process were analyzed, and relevant effects on creep behaviors of this Ni 3 Al-based intermetallic alloy under 800 oC/220 MPa were evaluated. Results show that the envelope structure located between the γ'+γ dendrite and interdendritic β phase is γ′-Ni 3 Al phase with ordered face-centered L1 2 structure, which plays a vital role in adjoining the heteroid γ'+γ dendrite/interdendritic β phases. The γ′-envelope possesses a coherent orientation relationship of [101] γ'-envelope //[01‾1] dendritic-γ with the dendritic-γ phase (face-centered A1 structure) due to their similar face-centered lattice type, while there exists a semi-coherent transition region between the γ′-envelope (face-centered L1 2 structure) and interdendritic β phase (body-centered B2 structure) to accommodate their relative lattice mismatching. The formation of γ′-envelope during solidification process is induced by nickel enrichment in the residual liquidoid after interdendritic β phase, and its widening during long-term aging at 800 oC is mainly controlled by the diffusion of Ni, Al, Hf and Mo atoms at the interfaces between γ'+γ dendrite/γ′-envelope/interdendritic β phase under thermal activations, involving the relevant phase transformation of β (NiAl) + γ (Ni) → γ' (Ni 3 Al). The widening of γ′-envelope resulted in a decrease of interdendritic β phase and an increase of γ′ phase in volume fraction, benefited in the improved creep rupture life and reduced steady-state creep rate. However, the γ′-envelope widening also plays a positive role in crack initiation during creep deformation, since besides the GBs and the semi-coherent interfaces of the γ′-envelope/interdendritic β, cracks are also found to initiate near the Cr 23 C 6 carbides surrounded by the widened γ′-envelope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]