Topology-generating interfacial pattern formation during liquid metal dealloying

Pierre-Antoine Geslin (), Ian McCue, Bernard Gaskey, Jonah Erlebacher and Alain Karma ()
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Pierre-Antoine Geslin: Northeastern University
Ian McCue: Johns Hopkins University
Bernard Gaskey: Johns Hopkins University
Jonah Erlebacher: Johns Hopkins University
Alain Karma: Northeastern University

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Liquid metal dealloying has emerged as a novel technique to produce topologically complex nanoporous and nanocomposite structures with ultra-high interfacial area and other unique properties relevant for diverse material applications. This process is empirically known to require the selective dissolution of one element of a multicomponent solid alloy into a liquid metal to obtain desirable structures. However, how structures form is not known. Here we demonstrate, using mesoscale phase-field modelling and experiments, that nano/microstructural pattern formation during dealloying results from the interplay of (i) interfacial spinodal decomposition, forming compositional domain structures enriched in the immiscible element, and (ii) diffusion-coupled growth of the enriched solid phase and the liquid phase into the alloy. We highlight how those two basic mechanisms interact to yield a rich variety of topologically disconnected and connected structures. Moreover, we deduce scaling laws governing microstructural length scales and dealloying kinetics.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9887

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