In situ X-ray nanotomography of metal surfaces during electropolishing.

Autor:	Nave MI; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA., Allen JP; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA., Karen Chen-Wiegart YC; Photon Sciences Directorate, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA., Wang J; Photon Sciences Directorate, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA., Kalidindi SR; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA., Kornev KG; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2015 Oct 15; Vol. 5, pp. 15257. Date of Electronic Publication: 2015 Oct 15.
DOI:	10.1038/srep15257
Abstrakt:	A low voltage electropolishing of metal wires is attractive for nanotechnology because it provides centimeter long and micrometer thick probes with the tip radius of tens of nanometers. Using X-ray nanotomography we studied morphological transformations of the surface of tungsten wires in a specially designed electrochemical cell where the wire is vertically submersed into the KOH electrolyte. It is shown that stability and uniformity of the probe span is supported by a porous shell growing at the surface of tungsten oxide and shielding the wire surface from flowing electrolyte. It is discovered that the kinetics of shell growth at the triple line, where meniscus meets the wire, is very different from that of the bulk of electrolyte. Many metals follow similar electrochemical transformations hence the discovered morphological transformations of metal surfaces are expected to play significant role in many natural and technological applications.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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