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This study delves into subtle changes in the microstructure and domain arrangement of a Fe74B20Nb2Hf2Si2 soft magnetic amorphous alloy. Utilizing transmission electron microscopy in Lorentz mode, low-magnification STEM, and differential phase contrast analysis (DPC), the research explores both the as-cast state and annealed samples. The results confirmed the formation of α-Fe, Fe23B6, Fe2(Hf, Nb), and Fe2B crystalline phases with increasing annealing temperature. Consequently, these crystallization stages induce significant alterations in magnetic domain size and spatial distribution due to microstructural changes. As the crystallization temperature rises, the volume fraction of crystalline phases increases, leading to modifications in the arrangement and size of magnetic domains. The decrease in magnetic domain size, associated with the formation of pinning sites during heat treatment, leads to alterations in soft magnetic properties. This includes an increase in coercivity (Hc) up to 40 A/m in the sample annealed at the temperature range of the third crystallization stage compared to the as-cast sample (1.5 A/m). Furthermore, as the annealing temperature rises, there is a corresponding increase in saturation magnetization (Ms), which reached to 1.71 T in the sample annealed within the temperature range of the third crystallization stage. These findings hold substantial implications for the practical applications of the Fe-based soft bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) alloy across various industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the high demand for innovative solutions in medicine, a major increase in interest in biomaterials research has been noticed, with the most significant advancements in metals and their alloys. Titanium-based alloys are one of the most recognised in the scientific community but do not represent the only way to achieve optimal results. Zirconium alloys for medical applications are a novelty with significant research potential based on their outstanding properties, which may be of value for medicine. The aim of the present study was to obtain new biomedical Zr-Nb-Mo alloys with varying ratios of their respective elements—Zr and Mo—using combined powder metallurgy (PM) and arc melting (VAM) methods. The obtained samples underwent microstructure analysis using an optical microscope (OM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The study of element distribution was conducted with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), whereas the phase composition was determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Mechanical properties were examined with a Micro Combi Tester MCT3, whereas tribological properties were assessed with a TRN Tribometer, and Ringer's solution was used as a lubricant. Additionally, the wear tracks of the studied samples were observed using the SEM. The research results indicated that increased Mo content conduced to microstructure refinement and homogeneity. Furthermore, the higher content of this element contributed to the growth of the HVIT, HIT, and EIT parameters, together with the improvement in the tribological performance of the alloys. XRD analysis revealed that the obtained samples were multiphase, and raising the Mo addition promoted the formation of new phases, including a ternary phase—Zr0.9Nb0.66Mo1.44 (Fd 3 ¯ m). The chemical composition study showed uneven distribution of niobium and areas of uneven mutual distribution of zirconium and molybdenum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the influence of acoustic waves caused by bells on a stained-glass window and its components. The issue is particularly important in the context of church towers with bells and stained-glass windows. The free vibrations of a sample stained-glass window were analyzed numerically, with changes related to the thickness of the glass used and the parameters of the lead cames that form the internal metallic structure of a window panel. The obtained results can be generalized to any other sources of acoustic waves and they can constitute the basis for determining the properties of the designer of stained-glass window or introducing additional barriers to avoid the phenomenon of resonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study analyzed the influence of materials and different types of damping on the dynamic stability of the Bernoulli-Euler beam. Using the mode summation method and applying an orthogonal condition of eigenfunctions and describing the analyzed system with the Mathieu equation, the problem of dynamic stability was solved. By examining the influence of internal and external damping and damping in the beam supports, their influence on the regions of stability and instability of the solution to the Mathieu equation was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials with so-called soft magnetic properties are an important object of material engineering research due to their potentialapplication, among others, in the construction of low-loss transformer cores. Such properties are typical for alloys with an amorphous structureand with a high content of ferromagnetic elements: Fe, Co, Ni. Difficulties related with obtaining alloys which meet satisfactory dimensions resultin the search for new solutions. One of them is the production of composites based on ferromagnetic powders obtained from amorphous alloys.This paper presents results of structure research for composite materials produced in a multi-stage production process. Magnetic compositeswere made on the basis of a bulk amorphous Fe70B20Y5Nb4Mo1 alloy produced by the injection method. On the basis of the obtained powder,two series of moldings were made: with 0.5% resin and covered with high-temperature varnish. Final composites were produced by using hightemperature isostatic press. On the basis of the conducted research, it was found that the composites without resin are characterized by distinctlybetter magnetic properties as compared to resin-bonded composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal treatment, undertaken at just below the crystallization temperature, has led to nanocrystallization and has had a significant impact on the shape of the hyperfine field induction distributions of Fe62Co10Y8B20 alloy and on its soft magnetic properties. In the amorphous ferromagnetic alloys, it is possible to indirectly determine the effect of the structure stresses, resulting from the presence of structural defects, on the soft magnetic properties of these materials. It has been found that a change in the parameters associated with the presence of structural defects affects the shape of the hyperfine field distributions of 57Fe.

The paper presents results of microstructure and magnetic properties studies of Nd8.5Tb1.5Fe83Zr1B6 ribbons obtained by melt-spinning technique. The samples were produced using the rapid cooling of liquid alloy on the copper wheel, by applying three different linear velocities 20, 30, and 35 m/s. The microstructure of obtained ribbons was examined using X-ray diffractometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Magnetic measurements were performed using LakeShore vibrating sample magnetometer. The microstructure measurements were used for quantitative and qualitative analysis of phase composition. Basing on results of structure studies combined with magnetic measurements, the influence of phase composition on hysteresis loop behavior was described.

The study investigated the effect of the fill factor, lattice constant, and the shape and type of meta-atom material on the reduction of mechanical wave transmission in quasi-two-dimensional phononic structures. A finite difference algorithm in the time domain was used for the analysis, and the obtained time series were converted into the frequency domain using the discrete Fourier transform. The use of materials with large differences in acoustic impedance allowed to determine the influence of the meta-atom material on the propagation of the mechanical wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of tests carried out on rapidly-quenched Fe-based alloys. The alloys were made using an injectioncasting method. The actual structure of the alloys was also studied using an indirect method, based on H. Kronmüller's theorem. Based on analysis of the primary magnetization curves, in accordance with the aforementioned theory, it was found that Mo causes a change in internal regions associated with changes in the direction of the magnetization vector. The evolution of thermal properties with increasing volume of Mo has been confirmed by the DSC curves. Addition of Mo, at the expense of the Nb component, results in changes to the crystallization process (i.e. the crystallization onset temperature and number of stages). The study showed that the addition of Mo at the expense of Nb reduces the glass-forming ability. Based on DSC analysis, free volumes were determined for the alloys tested. These values were compared with the analysis of primary magnetization curves. It was found that the DSC curves can be used to indirectly describe the structure of amorphous alloys, similarly to the theory of approach to ferromagnetic saturation. This approach is new and can be used by many researchers in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A silver sulfide (Ag2S) semiconductor photocatalyst film has been successfully synthesized using a solution casting method. To produce the photocatalyst films, two types of Ag2S powder were used: a commercialized and synthesized powder. For the commercialized powder (CF/comAg2S), the Ag2S underwent a rarefaction process to reduce its crystallite size from 52 nm to 10 nm, followed by incorporation into microcrystalline cellulose using a solution casting method under the presence of an alkaline/urea solution. A similar process was applied to the synthesized Ag2S powder (CF/syntAg2S), resulting from the co-precipitation process of silver nitrate (AgNO3) and thiourea. The prepared photocatalyst films and their photocatalytic efficiency were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The results showed that the incorporation of the Ag2S powder into the cellulose films could reduce the peak intensity of the oxygen-containing functional group, which indicated the formation of a composite film. The study of the crystal structure confirmed that all of the as-prepared samples featured a monoclinic acanthite Ag2S structure with space group P21/C. It was found that the degradation rate of the methylene blue dye reached 100% within 2 h under sunlight exposure when using CF/comAg2S and 98.6% for the CF/syntAg2S photocatalyst film, and only 48.1% for the bare Ag2S powder. For the non-exposure sunlight samples, the degradation rate of only 33–35% indicated the importance of the semiconductor near-infrared (NIR) Ag2S photocatalyst used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were developed by exploiting the photovoltaic effect to convert solar energy into electrical energy. The photoanode layer thickness significantly affects the semiconductor film's ability to carry electronic charges, adsorb sensitizing dye molecules, and lower the recombination of photo-excited electrons injected into the semiconductor. This study investigated the dependence of the zinc oxide (ZnO) photoanode thin-film thickness and the film soaking time in N719 dye on the photocurrent–voltage characteristics. The ZnO photoanode was applied to glass using the doctor blade method. The thickness was varied by changing the scotch tape layers. The ZnO-based DSSC attained an efficiency of 2.77% with three-layered photoanodes soaked in the dye for three hours, compared to a maximum efficiency of 0.68% that was achieved with three cycles using the dip-coating method in other research. The layer thickness of the ZnO photoanode and its optimal adsorption time for the dye are important parameters that determine the efficiency of the DSSC. Therefore, this work provides important insights to further improve the performance of DSSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, cobalt ferrite has attracted considerable attention due to its unique physical properties. The present study aimed to produce cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles doped with zinc and vanadium using the sol-gel auto-combustion method. For this purpose, Co1−xZnxFe2−yVyO4 (where x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and y = 0.00, 0.05, 0.15, 0.25) precursors were calcined at 800 °C for 3 h. The prepared samples were characterized with the X-ray diffraction (XRD) method in combination with Rietveld structure refinement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and vibrating sample magnetometery (VSM). The XRD patterns confirmed the formation of crystalline spinel structure for all samples. However, the diffraction peaks of hematite and iron vanadium oxide phases were observed in the patterns of some doped samples. The average crystallite size for all the synthesized samples was found to be in the range of ~45–24 nm, implying that it decreased by simultaneously doping cobalt ferrite with Zn and V. The FT-IR spectrum confirmed the formation of the spinal structure of ferrite through the observed vibrational bands assigned to the tetrahedral (υ2) and octahedral (υ1) interstitial complexes in the spinel structure. The FE-SEM images showed that morphology, average grain size, and agglomeration of the synthesized powders were affected by doping, which was due to the interactions of the magnetic surface of nanoparticles. The VSM curves demonstrated that saturation magnetization and coercivity values changed in the range of 30–83 emu/g and from 27–913 Oe, respectively. These changes occurred due to the alteration in cation distribution in the spinel structure. This can be attributed to the change in superexchange interactions between magnetic ions by co-substitution of Zn and V ions in Cobalt ferrite and the changes in magnetocrystalline anisotropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]