An inverse Hall–Petch effect has been observed for nanocrystalline materials by a large number of researchers. This effect implies that nanocrystalline materials get softer as grain size is reduced below a critical value. Postulated explanations for this behavior include dislocation-based models, diffusion-based models, grain-boundary-shearing models and two-phase-based models. In this paper, w...

An overview of key experimental data and theoretical representations on fracture processes in nanoceramics is presented. The focuses are placed on crack growth in nanoceramics and their toughening micromechanics. Conventional toughening micromechanisms are discussed which effectively operate in both microcrystalline-matrix ceramics containing nanoinclusions and nanocrystalline-matrix ceramics. ...

This paper demonstrates that seeding nanocrystalline transition alumina powders is a viable option for producing high quality, alumina-based ceramics. By using a-Al2O3 concentrations of 51.25 wt.% a-Al2O3 seed particles (equivalent to 5 10 seeds/cm of g-Al2O3) the sintering temperature is reduced from 1600 C for unseeded g-Al2O3 to 1300–1400 C in dry pressed powders. The scale of the sinteredmi...

We have studied the electronic structure of nanocrystalline NiO thin films, grown by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering under different experimental conditions, using x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The O 1s and Ni 2p spectra showed distinct changes as a function of O2 content in the plasma, which were reproduced with cluster model calculations. These changes are attributed to the incrementing...

Resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, and Hall measurements were performed on densified nanocrystalline composite materials of undoped and Ag-doped PbTe nanocrystals to investigate the physical mechanisms responsible for Seebeck coefficient enhancement in nanocrystalline systems. The unique temperature dependence of the resistivity and mobility for these PbTe nanocomposites suggests that grain-boun...

Anode materials of nanostructured silicon have been prepared by physical vapor deposition and characterized using electrochemical methods. The electrodes were prepared in thin-film form as nanocrystalline particles ~12 nm mean diameter! and as continuous amorphous thin films ~100 nm thick!. The nanocrystalline silicon exhibited specific capacities of around 1100 mAh/g with a 50% capacity retent...

The hardness, heat conductivity and low friction coefficient of microcrystalline diamond make it a suitable candidate for tribological applications. However, its roughness and high deposition temperature pose significant obstacles to these applications. We have successfully grown nanocrystalline diamond on steel at 400 °C by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition by employing a CrN interfacial ...

We report that an electron beam focused for high resolution imaging rapidly initiates observable crystallization of amorphous Me-Si-C films. For 200-keV electron irradiation of Nb-Si-C and Zr-Si-C films, crystallization is observed at doses of ~2.8*10 and ~4.7*10 e /nm, respectively. The crystallization process is driven by atomic displacement events, rather than heating from the electron beam ...

An electron-emission theoretical model integrating the change in the grain size of nanocrystalline cubic boron nitride (c-BN) thin films was established. To understand better the essence of field emission, an accurate numerical scheme, the transfer matrix method, that can be used to compute the tunneling coefficients of the actual surface barrier, was also adopted. The present results show that...

As a novel two-dimensional (2D) material, graphene shows great benefits in electric and material science. Compared to 1D nanomaterials, it may show more excellent properties. Here, we introduced graphene as 2D bridges into the nanocrystalline electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells, which brought a faster electron transport and a lower recombination, together with a higher light scattering. On...