The atomic structure of metallic glasses has been a long-standing scientific problem. Unlike crystalline metals, where long-range ordering is established by periodic stacking of fundamental building blocks known as unit cells, a metallic glass has no long-range translational or orientational order, although some degrees of short- and medium-range order do exist. Previous studies have identified solute- (minority atom)-centred clusters as the fundamental building blocks or short-range order in metallic glasses. Idealized cluster packing schemes, such as efficient cluster packing on a cubic lattice and icosahedral packing as in a quasicrystal, have been proposed and provided first insights on the medium-range order in metallic glasses. However, these packing schemes break down beyond a length scale of a few clusters. Here, on the basis of neutron and X-ray diffraction experiments, we propose a new packing scheme-self-similar packing of atomic clusters. We show that the medium-range order has the characteristics of a fractal network with a dimension of 2.31, and is described by a power-law correlation function over the medium-range length scale. Our finding provides a new perspective of order in disordered materials and has broad implications for understanding their structure-property relationship, particularly those involving a change in length scales.

The engineering materials diffractometer, VULCAN, at the Spallation Neutron Source began commissioning on June 26, 2009. This instrument is designed for materials science and engineering studies. In situ lattice strain measurements of a model metallic material under monotonic tensile load have been performed on VULCAN. The tensile load was applied under two different strain rates, and neutron diffraction measurements were carried out in both high-intensity and high-resolution modes. These experiments demonstrated VULCAN's in situ study capability of deformation behaviors even during the early phases of commissioning.

We report an in-situ neutron diffraction study of a large format pouch battery cell. The succession of Li-Graphite intercalation phases was fully captured under an 1C charge-discharge condition (i.e., charge to full capacity in 1 hour). However, the lithiation and dilithiation pathways are distinctively different and, unlike in slowing charging experiments with which the Li-Graphite phase diagram was established, no LiC24 phase was found during charge at 1C rate. Approximately 75 mol. % of the graphite converts to LiC6 at full charge, and a lattice dilation as large as 4% was observed during a charge-discharge cycle. Our work demonstrates the potential of in-situ, time and spatially resolved neutron diffraction study of the dynamic chemical and structural changes in “real-world” batteries under realistic cycling conditions, which should provide microscopic insights on degradation and the important role of diffusion kinetics in energy storage materials.

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Designed and fabricated flexible high-performance MnO 2 cathode materials are highly desirable for developing advanced rechargeable Zn-MnO 2 batteries. In this work, a facile phosphorization process is reported for introducing oxygen defects into phosphate ions intercalated manganese dioxide/vertical multilayer graphene (VMG) arrays, forming an integrated P-MnO 2-x @VMG cathode. The oxygen defects and phosphate ions intercalation are achieved simultaneously via phosphorization. The former can increase the electrical conductivity of MnO 2 , while the latter is able to expand its interlayer spacing accelerating ion transfer. Furthermore, flexible VMG conductive networks provide excellent peripheral charge transfer and endow the cathode with favorable mechanical strength. Benefiting from these virtues, the obtained P-MnO 2-x @VMG cathode demonstrates high capacity (302.8 mAh g -1 at 0.5 A g -1 ) and long-term cycling stability (>90% capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 2.0 A g -1 ) in aqueous electrolytes. More impressively, the P-MnO 2-x @VMG cathode exhibits a high energy density of 369.5 Wh kg -1 in quasi-solid-state flexible devices (P-MnO 2-x @VMG//Zn@VMG), and thereby shows great prospects for applications in wearable electronics. This work demonstrates a new synergistic way to construct high-performance electrodes for energy storage toward divalent metal ions.

An integrated thermal-metallurgical-mechanical model is used to analyse and provide insights into the formation of the residual stress and the changes in microstructure and property of Al6061-T6 friction stir welds. The simulations were conducted by means of a three-dimensional finite element model that accounts for the phenomena of frictional heating, weld microstructure and strength changes due to dissolution and reprecipitation of the hardening precipitate particles, and the mechanical workpiece/tool contact during the friction stir welding (FSW) process. The model predictions were confirmed by experimental measurement data from previous studies. For the friction stir welds investigated, it was found that the residual stress distribution is strongly dependent on the welding process parameters and the degree of material softening caused by welding. The recovery of material strength from natural aging does not increase the residual stress in the weld. The failure of friction stir weld under tensile load is controlled by the combination of the reduction in strength and the residual stresses in the heat affected zone (HAZ).

We show that a variety of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) inherit their Young's modulus and shear modulus from the solvent components. This is attributed to preferential straining of locally solvent-rich configurations among tightly bonded atomic clusters, which constitute the weakest link in an amorphous structure. This aspect of inhomogeneous deformation, also revealed by our in situ neutron diffraction studies of an elastically deformed BMG, suggests a rubberlike viscoelastic behavior due to a hierarchy of atomic bonds in BMGs.

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