Structure-dynamics relationships in cryogenically deformed bulk metallic glass

The atomistic mechanisms occurring during the processes of aging and rejuvenation in glassy materials involve very small structural rearrangements that are extremely difficult to capture experimentally. Here we use in-situ X-ray diffraction to investigate the structural rearrangements during annealing from 77 K up to the crystallization temperature in Cu44Zr44Al8Hf2Co2 bulk metallic glass rejuvenated by high pressure torsion performed at cryogenic temperatures and at room temperature. Using a measure of the configurational entropy calculated from the X-ray pair correlation function, the structural footprint of the deformation-induced rejuvenation in bulk metallic glass is revealed. With synchrotron radiation, temperature and time resolutions comparable to calorimetric experiments are possible. This opens hitherto unavailable experimental possibilities allowing to unambiguously correlate changes in atomic configuration and structure to calorimetrically observed signals and can attribute those to changes of the dynamic and vibrational relaxations (α-, β- and γ-transition) in glassy materials. The results suggest that the structural footprint of the β-transition is related to entropic relaxation with characteristics of a first-order transition. Dynamic mechanical analysis data shows that in the range of the β-transition, non-reversible structural rearrangements are preferentially activated. The low-temperature γ-transition is mostly triggering reversible deformations and shows a change of slope in the entropic footprint suggesting second-order characteristics.

Observation of the Pinning-Induced Crystal-Hexatic-Glass Transition in Two-Dimensional Colloidal Suspensions

Identification of the glass formation process in various conditions is of importance for fundamental understanding of the mechanism of glass transitions as well as for developments and applications of glassy materials. We investigate the role of pinning in driving the transformation of crystal into glass in two-dimensional colloidal suspensions of monodisperse microspheres. The pinning is produced by immobilizing a fraction of microspheres on the substrate of sample cells where the mobile microspheres sediment. Structurally, the crystal-hexatic-glass transition occurs with increasing the number fraction of pinning ρ pinning, and the orientational correlation exhibits a change from quasi-long-range to short-range order at ρ pinning = 0.02. Interestingly, the dynamics shows a non-monotonic change with increasing the fraction of pinning. This is due to the competition between the disorder that enhances the dynamics and the pinning that hinders the particle motions. Our work highlights the important role of the pinning on the colloidal glass transition, which not only provides a new strategy to prevent crystallization forming glass, but also is helpful for understanding of the vitrification in colloidal systems.

Ceramics, Glass and Glass-Ceramics for Personal Radiation Detectors

Different types of ceramics and glass have been extensively investigated due to their application in brachytherapy, radiotherapy, nuclear medicine diagnosis, radioisotope power systems, radiation processing of food, geological and archaeological dating methods. This review collects the newest experimental results on the thermoluminescent (TL) properties of crystalline and glassy materials. The comparison of the physico-chemical properties shows that glassy materials could be a promising alternative for dosimetry purposes. Furthermore, the controlled process of crystallization can enhance the thermoluminescent properties of glasses. On the other hand, the article presents information on the ranges of the linear response to the dose of ionizing radiation and on the temperature positions of the thermoluminescent peaks depending on the doping concentration with rare-earth elements for crystalline and glassy materials. Additionally, the stability of dosimetric information storage (fading) and the optimal concentration of admixtures that cause the highest thermoluminescent response for a given type of the material are characterized. The influence of modifiers addition, i.e., rare-earth elements on the spectral properties of borate and phosphate glasses is described.

Facile and reproducible method of stabilizing $$\hbox {Bi}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ phases confined in nanocrystallites embedded in amorphous matrix

Bismuth sesquioxide ($$\hbox {Bi}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ Bi 2 O 3 ) draws much attention due to wide variety of phases in which it exists depending on the temperature. Among them, $$\delta$$ δ phase is specially interesting because of its high oxide ion conductivity and prospects of applications as an electrolyte in fuel cells. Unfortunately, it is stable only in a narrow temperature range ca. 730–830 $$^{\circ }$$ ∘ C. Our group has developed a facile and reproducible two-stage method of stabilizing $$\hbox {Bi}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ Bi 2 O 3 crystalline phases confined in nanocrystallites embedded in amorphous matrix. In the first stage, glassy materials were obtained by a routine melt-quenching method: pure $$\hbox {Bi}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ Bi 2 O 3 powders were melted in porcelain crucibles and fast-cooled down to room temperature. In the second step, the materials were appropriately heat-treated to induce formation of crystallites of $$\beta$$ β , $$\delta$$ δ or $$\gamma$$ γ $$\hbox {Bi}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ Bi 2 O 3 phases confined in a glassy matrix, depending on the process conditions. It was found out that the vitrification of the initial $$\hbox {Bi}_2\hbox {O}_3$$ Bi 2 O 3 and the subsequent nanocrystallization were unexpectedly possible due to the presence of some Al, and Si impurities from the crucibles. Systematic DTA, XRD, optical, Raman and SEM/EDS studies were carried out to investigate the influence of the syntheses processes and allowed us to determine conditions under which the particular phases appear and remain stable down to room temperature.

Foamed Glassy Phosphate Materials for Biosorbents

The paper considers the applications of foamed glassy phosphate materials as carriers of biologically active substances. One of the advantages of phosphate materials is their ability to effectively support the life of microorganisms. This feature of phosphate glassy materials opens up the prospects for the application of microorganism strains - destructors of oil products to their foamed samples, that is, the creation of biosorbents for purification of water and soil from hydrocarbon contamination. The advantages of a biosorbent are explained by the high biological activity of microorganisms on the surface of foamed glassy phosphates and the possibility of active development of microorganisms with the simultaneous destruction of petrochemical contaminants. The use of biosorbent eliminates the problem of its utilization and regeneration, thus it is suitable for repeated use. The formation of porous glassy phosphate materials on the surface by the method of molecular layering of monolayer coatings allows obtaining chemically modified composite materials, which improves their performance characteristics such as strengthening the material structure with a simultaneous increase in the catalytic activity of biochemical processes.

Selective Gold and Palladium Adsorption from Standard Aqueous Solutions

The intensive exploitation of resources on a global level has led to a progressive depletion of mineral reserves, which were proved to be insufficient to meet the high demand for high-technological devices. On the other hand, the continuous production of Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is causing serious environmental problems, due to the complex composition of WEEE, which makes the recycling and reuse particularly challenging. The average metal content of WEEE is estimated to be around 30% and varies depending on the manufacturing period and brand of production. It contains base metals and precious metals, such as gold and palladium. The remaining 70% of WEEEs is composed of plastics, resins, and glassy materials. The recovery of metals from WEEEs is characterized by two main processes well represented by the literature: Pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Both of them require the pre-treatment of WEEEs, such as dismantling and magnetic separation of plastics. In this work, the selective adsorption of precious metals has been attempted, using copper, gold, and palladium aqueous solutions and mixtures of them. A screening on different adsorbent materials such as granular activated carbons and polymers, either as pellets or foams, has been performed. Among these, PolyEther Block Amide (PEBA) was elected as the most performing adsorbent in terms of gold selectivity over copper. Spent PEBA has been then characterized using scanning electron microscope, coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, demonstrating the predominant presence of gold in most analyzed sites, either in the pellet or foam form.

Vnir reflectance spectroscopyof Mercury like glasses

<p>Glassy materials have been recognized over Mars, Moon and many different meteorites (Farrand et al. 2016; Delano 1986; Varela & Kurat 2004). Planetary glasses result from impact events but they are also found as volcanic products (Farrand et al 2016). Morlock et al. (2017) and Morlok et al. (2021) investigated by means of different experimental techniques (bi-directional diffuse reflectance FTIR, in situ FTIR microscopy, Raman, EPMA and optical microscopy) a suite of synthetic samples with composition similar to those inferred for different Hermean terrains. Here we extended the study of the same materials to the VNIR region (bidirectional reflectance spectroscopy: 350 to 2500 nm). We analyzed 8 different samples with different chemical compositions, produced under different oxygen fugacity conditions We prepared eight granulometric classes between 0 and 250 μm, namely: 0-25; 25-63; 63-100; 100-125; 125-150; 150-180; 180-200 and 200-250 μm. The dominant feature in the VNIR region is due to the Fe absorption band at about 1 μm accompanied, in the more oxidized samples, by a smaller feature at 480 nm likely due to ferric oxide development. Iron free samples (FeO < 0.1 wt%) show characteristic spectral shapes with a distinctive feature at about 640 nm attributable to TiO2. Even for very low FeO content, it is possible to observe a weak yet clear band at about 900-1000 nm due to Fe absorption which explain the dominance of the spectral features due to Fe absorption at higher FeO content. Additional small bands at higher wavelengths (1300-1400 and 1900 nm) suggest a low content of water and/or –OH species in the samples. We investigated the spectral features as a function of composition, grain size and oxidation in order to gain as much information as possible on the nature of the spectra and compare them with remote sensing data or meteorites VNIR comparison. Our data on synthetic and realistic Hermean compositions will allow a better understanding of remotely acquired VisNIR spectra, which will be particularly helpful in view of the upcoming beginning of the BepiColombo ESA/JAXA mission.</p> <p> </p> <p>Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge financial contribution from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under ASI-INAF agreement 2017-47-H.0 (Simbio-SYS). CC, EB are also supported by agreement ASI-INAF n.2018-16-HH.0.</p>

Disorder Classification of the Vibrational Spectra of Modern Glasses

Using the coherent-potential approximation in heterogeneous-elasticity theory with a log-normal distribution of elastic constants for the description of the Raman spectrum and the temperature dependence of the specifi?c heat, we are able to reconstruct the vibrational density of states and characteristic descriptors of the elastic heterogeneity of a wide range of glassy materials. These descriptors are the non-affi?ne contribution to the shear modulus, the mean-square fluctuation of the local elasticity, and its correlation length. They enable a physical classification scheme for disorder in modern, industrially relevant glass materials. <br><div>We apply our procedure to a broad range of real-world glass compositions, including metallic,oxide, chalcogenide, hybrid and polymer glasses. Universal relationships between the descriptors on the one side, and the height and frequency position of the boson peak, the Poisson ratio and theliquid fragility index on the other side are established.</div>