Zinc oxide densification mechanisms occurring during the cold sintering process (CSP) are examined by investigating specifically the effects of ion concentration in solution, temperature, pressure, and die sealing. The experiments suggest that mass transport through solution is a primary densification mechanism and that either a pre-loaded solution or grain dissolution can supply migrating ions. Additionally, results indicate cold sintering zinc oxide requires a critical pressure value, above which densification is relatively pressure independent under the majority of process conditions. This critical pressure is related to thermal expansion of the liquid and determines the uniaxial pressure threshold for densification. The data supports a three-stage interpretation of cold sintering, which includes quick compaction, grain rearrangement, and dissolution-reprecipitation events. Further, it is observed that under the lowest temperature conditions a net decrease in particle size can occur during the cold sintering process.
The solidification microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg-Al-Sn alloys have been investigated using computational thermodynamics and experiments. The as-cast microstructure of Mg-Al-Sn alloys consists of a-Mg, Mg 17 Al 12 , and Mg 2 Sn phases. The amount of Mg 17 Al 12 and Mg 2 Sn phases formed increases with increasing Al and Sn content and shows good agreement between the experimental results and the Scheil solidification calculations. Generally, the yield strength of as-cast alloys increases with Al and Sn content, whereas the ductility decreases. This study has confirmed an early development of Mg-7Al-2Sn alloy for structural applications and has led to a promising new Mg-7Al-5Sn alloy with significantly improved strength and ductility comparable with commercial AZ91 alloy.
Dielectric and piezoelectric properties for Zn1-xMgxO (ZMO) thin films are reported as a function of MgO composition up to and including the phase separation region. Zn1-xMgxO (0.25 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) thin films with c-axis textures were deposited by pulsed laser deposition on platinized sapphire substrates. The films were phase pure wurtzite for MgO concentrations up to 40%; above that limit, a second phase with rocksalt structure evolves with strong {100} texture. With increasing MgO concentration, the out-of-plane (d33,f) and in-plane (e31,f) piezoelectric coefficients increase by 360% and 290%, respectively. The increase in piezoelectric coefficients is accompanied by a 35% increase in relative permittivity. Loss tangent values fall monotonically with increasing MgO concentration, reaching a minimum of 0.001 for x ≥ 0.30, at which point the band gap is reported to be 4 eV. The enhanced piezoelectric response, the large band gap, and the low dielectric loss make Zn1-xMgxO an interesting candidate for thin film piezoelectric devices, and demonstrate that compositional phase transformations provide opportunities for property engineering.
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