Control of ligament size in nanoporous gold through process inputs in chemical dealloying holds the potential to exploit its size dependent properties in applications in energy and biomedicine. While its morphology evolution is regulated by the kinetics of coarsening, recent studies are focused on the early stage of dealloying (e.g., ∼ 5−42 at. % in residual alloy content) to understand mechanisms of ligament nucleation and its role in altering process−structure relationships. This paper examines this stage in chemical dealloying of nanocrystalline Au 49 Ag 51 thin films and finds that ligaments are nucleated uniformly through its thickness due to the dealloying front rapidly propagating through the thickness of the film. Further, through the establishment of process−structure relationships with large data sets (i.e., 80 samples), this paper quantifies sources of variability that alter the kinetics of ligament growth such as aging of the precursor (e.g., grain growth) and solution evaporation. It is found that ligament diameter is better predicted by the residual silver content rather than by the dealloying time even amidst both effects and independent control of ligament diameter and solid area fraction is demonstrated within a limited window.
A C++ algorithm was used to metallurgically design high-performance GMAW electrodes for joining HSLA-65 steel. The electrode design was based on: (1) a carbon content £0.06 wt.% for improved weldability, (2) a 5-15% lower A r3 transformation temperature than HSLA-65 steel for enhanced strength and toughness, and (3) a desirable range of carbon equivalent number (CEN) for consistently overmatching the minimum specified tensile strength of HSLA-65 steel. The algorithm utilized a set of boundary conditions that included calculated A r3 , B S , B F , and M S transformation temperatures besides CEN. Numerical ranges for boundary conditions were derived from chemical compositions of commercial HSLA-65 steel, substituting thermomechanical effects with weld solidification effects. The boundary conditions were applied in evaluating chemical composition ranges of the following three prospective welding electrode specification groups that offered to provide £0.06 wt.% carbon, a minimum transverse-weld tensile strength of 552 MPa (80 ksi), and a minimum CVN impact toughness of 27 J at -29°C through -51°C (20 ft lbf at -20°F through -60°F) in the as-welded condition: (1) ER80S-Ni1, (2) E90C-K3, and (3) E80C-W2. At £0.06 wt.% carbon, the algorithm returned over 3100 results for E90C-K3 that satisfied the boundary conditions, but returned no acceptable results for other two electrode specification groups. Results revealed that welding electrode designs based on an Fe-C-Mn-Ni-Mo system, containing 0.06 wt.% C, 1.6 wt.% Mn, 0.8 wt.% Ni, and 0.3 wt.% Mo that provide weld metals characterized by an A r3 of 690°C, a CEN of 0.29, and a (B F -M S ) of 30°C are expected to consistently overmatch the minimum specified tensile strength of HSLA-65 steel while offering a minimum CVN impact toughness of 41 J at -40°C (30 ft lbf at -40°F).
Nanostructured noble metals such as gold exhibit unique size‐dependent plasmonic and optical properties which is an enabling factor for designing nanophotonic devices. However, for its deployment in high temperature applications such as solar thermal energy harvesting and optothermal conversion, it requires understanding of its temperature dependent optical properties. This paper investigates the in situ specular reflectance of nanoporous gold (NPG) thin films in the wavelength range between 400 and 1000 nm at temperatures ranging from 25 to 500 °C via a home‐built fiber‐based optical spectrometer. During heating, the NPG's ligaments coalesce from an initial size of 39 ± 12 nm to a final size of up to 299 ± 114 nm, and its ligament scales with temperature closely matching an Arrhenius dependence. The surface roughness of NPG is empirically correlated to ligament size and temperature to allow for the theoretical prediction of the relative specular reflectance using scattering coefficients and effective medium theory which closely matches the experimental results. These results represent a step forward in using in situ optical spectroscopic methods to monitor the ligament size evolution of NPG thin‐films and to understand its stability and optical properties for applications at elevated temperatures.
In the past two decades, nanoporous metals have attracted wide attention in the areas of energy storage, biomedicine and catalysis. Compared to other metals, nanoporous gold exhibits superior chemical stability, high catalytic activity, and its synthesis is facile and well documented. While many studies elaborate on the dealloying kinetics to understand process-structure relationships, its process variability is known to be large and yet not well documented. In this study, nanoporous gold was synthesized by chemical dealloying of co-sputtered gold-silver thin film. By controlling temperature and time during dealloying, its porosity characteristics, such as ligament diameter and solid area fraction, were controlled. Further, the time evolution of structural and elemental characteristics of nanoporous gold were examined including its correlation to silver residual content. It is found that mean diameters grow as a function of etch time from 25 to 60 nm. The large standard deviation (18.6 nm) of multiple dealloying attempts at any given temperature and dealloying time points to the lack of control in the kinetics of the dealloying reaction and variability in its substrate preparation and processing protocols. A comprehensive analysis of these parameters might provoke a better understanding of nanoporous gold synthesis in terms of the structure evolution kinetics.
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