Annual Review of Materials Research

This review of current-activated, pressure-assisted densification (CAPAD) focuses on both fundamental and practical issues. We provide some useful background for researchers interested in the process and critically assess the state of the technique.

Advanced fission and future fusion energy will require new high-performance structural alloys with outstanding properties that are sustained under long-term service in ultrasevere environments, including neutron damage producing up to 200 atomic displacements per atom and, for fusion, 2000 appm of He. Following a brief description of irradiation damage and damage resistance, we focus on an emerging class of nanostructured ferritic alloys (NFAs) that show promise for meeting these challenges. NFAs contain an ultrahigh density of Y-Ti-O-enriched dispersion-strengthening nanofeatures (NFs) that, along with fine grains and high dislocation densities, provide remarkably high tensile, creep, and fatigue strength. The NFs are stable under irradiation up to 800°C and trap He in fine-scale bubbles, suppressing void swelling and fast fracture embrittlement at lower temperatures and creep rupture embrittlement at high temperatures. The current state of the development and understanding of NFAs is described, along with some significant outstanding challenges.

Việc phát triển các vật liệu xây dựng mới, bền vững và giảm CO₂ là cần thiết nếu ngành công nghiệp xây dựng toàn cầu muốn giảm dấu chân môi trường của các hoạt động của mình, điều đặc biệt là từ việc sản xuất xi măng Portland. Một loại xi măng không phải Portland đang thu hút sự chú ý đặc biệt là dựa trên hóa học kiềm-aluminosilicat, bao gồm một lớp chất kết dính đã trở nên được biết đến như là địa polyme. Những vật liệu này cung cấp các tính chất kỹ thuật tương đương với xi măng Portland, nhưng với dấu chân CO₂ thấp hơn nhiều và với tiềm năng cho sự ưu việt về hiệu suất so với các loại xi măng truyền thống trong một số ứng dụng đặc thù. Bài đánh giá này thảo luận về tổng hợp các chất kết dính được kích hoạt kiềm từ xỉ lò cao, đất sét nung cháy (metakaolin), và tro bay, bao gồm phân tích các cơ chế phản ứng hóa học và sự phân bố pha chất kết dính kiểm soát các đặc tính trong giai đoạn đầu và khi cứng của những vật liệu này, đặc biệt là độ thiết lập ban đầu và độ bền lâu dài. Các triển vọng cho sự phát triển nghiên cứu trong tương lai cũng được khám phá.

▪ Abstract  The main obstacles to greater commercialization of polymer electrolyte fuel cells are mostly related to the low-proton conductivity at low-relative humidity of the known ionomeric membranes, to their high methanol permeability and poor mechanical properties above ∼130°C. A possible solution for these problems has been found in the development of composite membranes, where particles of suitable fillers are dispersed in the ionomer matrix. The preparation methods for obtaining composite membranes are described, and recent work dealing with composite ionomeric membranes containing silica, heteropolyacids, layered metal phosphates, and phosphonates is reviewed. Finally, new strategies for the preparation of nano-composite membranes and for the filling of porous polymeric membranes with highly conductive zirconium phosphonates are described. The expected influence of size and orientation of these particles on membrane properties, such as conductivity and permeability to methanol, is also discussed.

▪ Abstract  Atomistic aspects of dynamic fracture in a variety of brittle crystalline, amorphous, nanophase, and nanocomposite materials are reviewed. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, ranging from a million to 1.5 billion atoms, are performed on massively parallel computers using highly efficient multiresolution algorithms. These simulations shed new light on (a) branching, deflection, and arrest of cracks; (b) growth of nanoscale pores ahead of the crack and how pores coalesce with the crack to cause fracture; and (c) the influence of these mechanisms on the morphology of fracture surfaces. Recent advances in novel multiscale simulation schemes combining quantum mechanical, molecular dynamics, and finite-element approaches and the use of these hybrid approaches in the study of crack propagation are also discussed.

▪ Abstract  The unusual structure and properties of carbon nanotubes are presented, with particular reference to single-wall nanotubes (SWNTs) and nanotube properties that differ from those of their bulk counterparts. The atomic structure; electronic structure; and vibrational, optical, mechanical, and thermal properties are discussed, with reference made to nanotube junctions, nanotube filling, and double-wall nanotubes (DWNTs). Special attention is given to resonance Raman spectroscopy at the single nanotube level. The status of current research in this field is assessed and opportunities for future research are identified.

Electrochromic materials have the property of a change, evocation, or bleaching of color as effected either by an electron-transfer (redox) process or by a sufficient electrochemical potential. The main classes of electrochromic materials are surveyed here, with descriptions of representative examples from the metal oxides, viologens (in solution and as adsorbed or polymeric films), conjugated conducting polymers, metal coordination complexes (as polymeric, evaporated, or sublimed films), and metal hexacyanometallates. Examples of the applications of such electrochromic materials are included. Other materials aspects important for the construction of electrochromic devices include optically transparent electrodes, electrolyte layers, and device encapsulation. Commercial successes, current trends, and future challenges in electrochromic materials research and development are summarized.

Proposed fusion and advanced (Generation IV) fission energy systems require high-performance materials capable of satisfactory operation up to neutron damage levels approaching 200 atomic displacements per atom with large amounts of transmutant hydrogen and helium isotopes. After a brief overview of fusion reactor concepts and radiation effects phenomena in structural and functional (nonstructural) materials, three fundamental options for designing radiation resistance are outlined: Utilize matrix phases with inherent radiation tolerance, select materials in which vacancies are immobile at the design operating temperatures, or engineer materials with high sink densities for point defect recombination. Environmental and safety considerations impose several additional restrictions on potential materials systems, but reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steels (including thermomechanically treated and oxide dispersion–strengthened options) and silicon carbide ceramic composites emerge as robust structural materials options. Materials modeling (including computational thermodynamics) and advanced manufacturing methods are poised to exert a major impact in the next ten years.

Although phase transitions have long been a centerpiece of condensed matter materials science studies, a number of recent efforts focus on potentially exploiting the resulting functional property changes in novel electronics and photonics as well as understanding emergent phenomena. This is quite timely, given a grand challenge in twenty-first-century physical sciences is related to enabling continued advances in information processing and storage beyond conventional CMOS scaling. In this brief review, we discuss synthesis of strongly correlated oxides, mechanisms of metal-insulator transitions, and exploratory electron devices that are being studied. Particular emphasis is placed on vanadium dioxide, which undergoes a sharp metal-insulator transition near room temperature at ultrafast timescales. The article begins with an introduction to metal-insulator transition in oxides, followed by a brief discussion on the mechanisms leading to the phase transition. The role of materials synthesis in influencing functional properties is discussed briefly. Recent efforts on realizing novel devices such as field effect switches, optical detectors, nonlinear circuit components, and solid-state sensors are reviewed. The article concludes with a brief discussion on future research directions that may be worth consideration.

During operation, nuclear fuel rods are immersed in the primary water, causing waterside corrosion and consequent hydrogen ingress. In this review, the mechanisms of corrosion and hydrogen pickup and the role of alloy selection in minimizing both phenomena are considered on the basis of two principal characteristics: the pretransition kinetics and the loss of oxide protectiveness at transition. In zirconium alloys, very small changes in composition or microstructure can cause significant corrosion differences so that corrosion performance is strongly alloy dependent. The alloys show different, but reproducible, subparabolic pretransition kinetics and transition thicknesses. A mechanism for oxide growth and breakup based on a detailed study of the oxide structure can explain these results. Through the use of the recently developed coupled current charge compensation model of corrosion kinetics and hydrogen pickup, the subparabolic kinetics and the hydrogen fraction can be rationalized: Hydrogen pickup increases when electron transport decreases, requiring hydrogen ingress to close the reaction.