Rapid control of phase growth by nanoparticles

Lian-Yi Chen, Jia-Quan Xu, Hongseok Choi, Hiromi Konishi, Song Jin and Xiao-Chun Li ()
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Lian-Yi Chen: University of California at Los Angeles
Jia-Quan Xu: University of California at Los Angeles
Hongseok Choi: Clemson University
Hiromi Konishi: Department of Geology
Song Jin: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Xiao-Chun Li: University of California at Los Angeles

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Effective control of phase growth under harsh conditions (such as high temperature, highly conductive liquids or high growth rate), where surfactants are unstable or ineffective, is still a long-standing challenge. Here we show a general approach for rapid control of diffusional growth through nanoparticle self-assembly on the fast-growing phase during cooling. After phase nucleation, the nanoparticles spontaneously assemble, within a few milliseconds, as a thin coating on the growing phase to block/limit diffusion, resulting in a uniformly dispersed phase orders of magnitude smaller than samples without nanoparticles. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated in both inorganic (immiscible alloy and eutectic alloy) and organic materials. Our approach overcomes the microstructure refinement limit set by the fast phase growth during cooling and breaks the inherent limitations of surfactants for growth control. Considering the growing availability of numerous types and sizes of nanoparticles, the nanoparticle-enabled growth control will find broad applications.

Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms4879

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4879

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