Synthesis of zirconium titanate with an ordered M-fergusonite (beta) structure

We report a new zirconium titanate compound (Zr,Ti)O₂ with 27.5-35 mol% titania (TiO₂) formed from the oxides at 35-38 kbar, 1400-1500 °C. Crystal structure investigations at atmospheric conditions with powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed a monoclinic structure related to that of M-fergusonite (beta). Unit-cell dimensions (from 27.5 to 35 mol% TiO₂): a=7.267(20)-7.340(2) Å, b=10.435(3)-10.429(1) Å, c=5.023(11)-5.040(1) Å, β=136.45(12)-137.55(1)°, V=262.44(92)-260.40(12) Å³, Z=4. Rietveld refinement (R_F=1.55) of a sample with 32.8 mol% TiO₂ indicates that site A is 8-fold coordinated, mostly occupied by Zr, while site B has 6-fold average coordination, occupied by Ti and Zr. Site B is at least partly ordered, as indicated by superstructure reflections 0 0 1 and −2 0 1 detected with TEM, reducing the space group from C2/c to C2. Pronounced streaking of selected diffraction spots is linked to the boundaries of lamellar domains in twin orientation, with twin planes either (200) or (20−2). Adjacent lamellae differ slightly in composition, causing subtle asymmetry of the twin diffraction patterns.     

Kristallstrukturen zweier Modifikationen von In5Mo18O28 und deren Zwillingsbildung

Crystal Structures of Two Forms of In₅Mo₁₈O₂₈ and Twinning In₅Mo₁₈O₂₈ is prepared from In, Mo and MoO₂ at 1 150°C in an evacuated quartz glass ampoule. X-ray investigations on single crystals show monoclinic symmetry (a = 1 323.13(9), b = 951.88(10), c = 989.48(8) pm, β = 100.976(4)°, space group P 2₁/c (No. 14)) for form 1 . The second form ( 2 ) crystallizes in the orthorhombic system (space group Pmcn (No. 62), a = 2 596.6(5), b = 952.0(2), c = 989.6(2) pm). Twinning and charge balances are discussed.     

High Tc superconductors with different Cu2+/Cu3+ ratios in the Y–Ba–Cu–O system

Studies on different phases in the Y-Ba-Cu-O system have revealed that T_C around 90 K is obtainable with different Cu /Cu ratios provided the correct oxygen proportion is maintained.     

Magnetomechanical training of single crystalline Ni-Mn-Ga alloy

A 5M Ni-Mn-Ga single crystal was investigated, supplied by Adaptamat Ltd, Finland. Especially low temperature magnetic actuation as well as cyclic tensile-compression tests revealed promising properties, which provide useful insights for training concepts in polycrystalline materials. Successive compressions lead to a significant reduction of the twinning stress by a factor of two.     

Texture evolution via combined slip and deformation twinning in rolled silver-copper cast eutectic nanocomposite

In this work, a silver-copper (Ag-Cu) nanocomposite with 200 nm bilayer thickness and eutectic composition was rolled at room temperature and 200 °C to nominal reductions of 75% and higher. Initially the material had a random texture and {1 1 1} bi-metal interface plane. X-ray diffraction measurements show that the Ag and Cu phases developed the same brass-type (or ‘alloy-type’) rolling texture regardless of rolling reduction and temperature. Transmission electron microscopy analyses of the nanostructures before and after rolling suggest that adjoining Ag and Cu layers maintained a cube-on-cube relationship but the interface plane changed after rolling. Polycrystal plasticity simulations accounting for plastic slip and deformation twinning in each phase were carried out to explore many possible causes for the brass-type texture development: twinning via a volume effect or barrier effect, Shockley partial slip, and confined layer slip. The results suggest that the observed texture evolution may be due to profuse twinning within both phases. Maintaining the cube-on-cube relationship would then imply that neighboring Ag and Cu crystals twinned by the same variant and on a twin plane non-parallel to the original interface plane. Explanations for this unusual possibility for Cu are provided at the end based on the properties of the Ag-Cu interface.     

Crystal plasticity analysis of texture development in magnesium alloy during extrusion

The texture development mechanism during the extrusion of magnesium alloy is investigated by experimental observation and numerical analysis. First, we perform a finite element analysis of a full extrusion process using a phenomenological constitutive equation, and it is confirmed that the loading condition of the extrusion process near the central axis of the billet is approximated by an equi-biaxial compression mode. Then, the equi-biaxial compression problem is adopted as a simplified boundary value problem to be solved using a crystal plasticity model to clarify the detailed texture development mechanism during the extrusion process. The crystal plasticity analysis of equi-biaxial compression successfully reproduces the texture development from an initial random texture to the final experimentally observed texture. The effects of the deformation modes (i.e. slip and twinning systems) implemented in the calculation and the reference stress ratio of basal to nonbasal slip systems on texture development are studied in detail. Finally, the mechanism of texture development during the extrusion process is discussed in terms of the lattice rotation caused by the activated slip systems.     

Hierarchical microstructure in structural phase transitions

We consider a model in the context of martensitic materials in which hierarchical twinning near the habit plane (austenite-martensite interface) is a new and crucial ingredient. The model includes (1) a triple-well potential in local deviatoric (rectangular) strain, (2) strain gradient terms up to second order in strain and fourth order in gradient, and (3) all symmetry allowed compositional fluctuation-induced strain gradient terms. The last term favors branching of domain walls which enables communication between macroscopic and microscopic regions essential for shape memory. Below the transition temperature (T₀) we obtain the conditions under which branching of twins is energetically favorable. Above T₀ a hierarchy of branched domain walls also stabilizes tweed formation (criss-cross patterns of twins). External stress or pressure modulates (“patterns”) the spacing of domain walls. Results based on 2D time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations are shown for twins, tweed and hierarchy formation.     

Twin evolution near the phase transformation of In77.5Tl22.5

The evolution of the martensitic twin microstructure in In_77.5Tl_22.5 single crystals was investigated by atomic force microscopy. During the reverse martensitic transformation the twins gradually flatten to disappear completely at the austenite finish temperature. The experimentally determined temperature dependence of the height of the twin profile agrees with the theoretical predictions of Barsch and Krumhansl.     

Two-dimensional lanthanide coordination polymers with bis(diphenylphosphino)hexane dioxide. The determination of the polymeric structure from twinned crystals

Lanthanide nitrates and bis(diphenylphosphino)hexane dioxide (dpphO₂) formed under solvothermal conditions a series of coordination polymers [Ln(dpphO₂)₂(NO₃)₂](NO₃) (Ln = Pr (1), Nd (2), Sm (3), Dy (4), Lu (5)), featuring two-dimensional network structure of the (4, 4) topology. The compounds [Ln(dpphO₂)₂Cl₂]Cl (Ln = Pr (6), Nd (7), Gd (8)) were obtained from corresponding chlorides. Coordination polymer 7 formed regular single crystals of the orthorhombic Pna₂₁$\mathit{Pna}{2}_1$ space group. The nitrate complexes crystallized in the orthorhombic Aea2 space group, however, the crystals were pseudo-merohedral twins simulating a tetragonal diffraction pattern. Unlike our previously characterized neutral polymers with bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane dioxide, all present coordination networks are cationic, with anions located between or within the two-dimensional layers.