Abstract: Highly thermally conductive graphite flakes (Gf)/Si/Al composites have been fabricated using Gf, Si powder and an AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy by an optimized pressure infiltration process for thermal management applications. In the composites, the layers of Gf were spaced apart by Si particles and oriented perpendicular to the pressing direction, which offered the opportunity to tailor the thermal conductivity (TC) and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the composites. Microstructural characterization revealed that the formation of a clean and tightly-adhered interface at the nanoscale between the side surface of the Gf and Al matrix, devoid of a detrimental Al4C3 phase and a reacted amorphous AlSiOC layer, contributed to excellent thermal performance along the alignment direction. With increasing volume fraction of Gf from 13.7 to 71.1 vol.%, the longitudinal (i.e. parallel to the graphite layers) TC of the composites increased from 179 to 526 W/m K, while the longitudinal CTE decreased from 12.1 to 7.3 ppm/K (matching the values of electronic components). Furthermore, the modified layers-in-parallel model better fitted the longitudinal TC data than the layers-in-parallel model and confirmed that the clean and tightly-adhered interface is favorable for the enhanced longitudinal TC.

Abstract: Ni4Ti3 precipitates with a heterogeneous distribution growing in a polycrystalline Ni50.8Ti49.2 alloy have been investigated in a Dual-Beam FIB/SEM system. The volume ratio, mean volume, central plane diameter, thickness, aspect ratio and sphericity of the precipitates in the grain interior as well as near to the grain boundary were measured or calculated. The morphology of the precipitates was classified according to the Zingg scheme. The multistage martensitic transformation occurring in these kinds of samples is interpreted in view of the data of this heterogeneous microstructure of matrix and precipitates.

Abstract: The size, morphology and configuration of Ni4Ti3 precipitates in a single-crystal NiTi alloy have been investigated by two-dimensional transmission electron microscopy-based image analysis and three-dimensional reconstruction from slice-and-view images obtained in a focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) dual-beam system. Average distances between the precipitates measured along the compression direction correlate well between both techniques, while particle shape and configuration data is best obtained from FIB/SEM. Precipitates form pockets of B2 of 0.54 ìm in the compression direction and 1 ìm perpendicular to the compression direction.

Abstract: Lanthanum carbonate is a new phosphate binder that is poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and eliminated largely by the liver. After oral treatment, we and others had noticed 23 fold higher lanthanum levels in the livers of rats with chronic renal failure compared to rats with normal renal function. Here we studied the kinetics and tissue distribution, absorption, and subcellular localization of lanthanum in the liver using transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectrometry, and X-ray fluoresence. We found that in the liver lanthanum was located in lysosomes and in the biliary canal but not in any other cellular organelles. This suggests that lanthanum is transported and eliminated by the liver via a transcellular, endosomal-lysosomal-biliary canicular transport route. Feeding rats with chronic renal failure orally with lanthanum resulted in a doubling of the liver levels compared to rats with normal renal function, but the serum levels were similar in both animal groups. These levels plateaued after 6 weeks at a concentration below 3 g/g in both groups. When lanthanum was administered intravenously, thereby bypassing the gastrointestinal tract-portal vein pathway, no difference in liver levels was found between rats with and without renal failure. This suggests that there is an increased gastrointestinal permeability or absorption of oral lanthanum in uremia. Lanthanum levels in the brain and heart fluctuated near its detection limit with long-term treatment (20 weeks) having no effect on organ weight, liver enzyme activities, or liver histology. We suggest that the kinetics of lanthanum in the liver are consistent with a transcellular transport pathway, with higher levels in the liver of uremic rats due to higher intestinal absorption.

Abstract: Focused ion beam specimen preparation has been used for NiTi samples and SrTiO(3)/SrRuO(3) multilayers with prevention of surface amorphization and Ga implantation by a 2-kV cleaning procedure. Transmission electron microscopy techniques show that the samples are of high quality with a controlled thickness over large scales. Furthermore, preferential thinning effects in multicompounds are avoided, which is important when analytical transmission electron microscopy measurements need to be interpreted in a quantitative manner. The results are compared to similar measurements acquired for samples obtained using conventional preparation techniques such as electropolishing for alloys and ion milling for oxides.

Abstract: Motivated by recent studies demonstrating a high strength – high ductility potential of nano-scale metallic glass samples, the mechanical response of freestanding Zr65Ni35 film with sub-micron thickness has been investigated by combining advanced on-chip tensile testing and electron microscopy. Large deformation up to 15% is found for specimen thicknesses below 500 nm with variations depending on specimen size and frame compliance. The deformation is homogenous until fracture, with no evidence of shear banding. The yield stress is doubled when decreasing the specimen cross-section, reaching ~3 GPa for small cross-sections. The fracture strain variation is related to both the stability of the test device and to the specimen size. The study concludes on clear disconnect between the mechanisms controlling the onset of plasticity and the fracture process.

Abstract: Whereas deformation twinning is known to be an important deformation mechanism for hexagonal materials like magnesium and pure titanium, so far almost no literature exists on the twinning behaviour of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. In this work it was shown that the activation of twinning as a deformation mechanism could have a pronounced effect on the mechanical behaviour of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy. This effect is even more pronounced under dynamic loading conditions. Transmission electron microscopy showed that only the {1 0 1 2}{1 0 1 1} tensile twin system was activated under certain loading conditions. Light-optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction data were afterwards used to experimentally determine the twin fractions. The importance of twinning for the texture evolution was also studied. It was shown that even small twin fractions can lead to distinct texture features, especially due to the discrete reorientation of the c-axes. The experimental results were compared to simulated results that were obtained with a viscoplastic self-consistent crystal plasticity code, after experimental validation that twinning can be reliably modelled as a unidirectional slip system. Although good agreement was obtained for the experimental and simulated stress-strain curves, the simulated results concerning twinning correlated well only on a qualitative basis as the simulated twin fractions were systematically higher than the experimental fractions. This seems to strengthen the hypothesis made by other research groups that complete grains might reorient by twinning. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: The determination of the mechanical properties of serpentinites is essential toward the understanding of the mechanics of faulting and subduction. Here we present the first in situ tensile tests on antigorite in a transmission electron microscope. A push‐to‐pull deformation device is used to perform quantitative tensile tests, during which force and displacement are measured, while the evolving microstructure is imaged with the microscope. The experiments have been performed at room temperature on 2 × 1 × 0.2 μm3 beams prepared by focused ion beam. The specimens are not single crystals despite their small sizes. Orientation mapping indicated that several grains were well oriented for plastic slip. However, no dislocation activity has been observed even though the engineering tensile stress went up to 700 MPa. We show also that antigorite does not exhibit a purely elastic‐brittle behavior since, despite the presence of defects, the specimens accumulate permanent deformation and did not fail within the elastic regime. Instead, we observe that strain localizes at grain boundaries. All observations concur to show that under these experimental conditions, grain boundary sliding is the dominant deformation mechanism. This study sheds a new light on the mechanical properties of antigorite and calls for further studies on the structure and properties of grain boundaries in antigorite and more generally in phyllosilicates.