Structural Evolution of Liquid Metals and Alloys.

Autor: Krishnamurthi V; School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Vaillant PHA; School of Science, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Mata J; Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Lucas Heights, NSW, 2234, Australia.; School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia., Nguyen CK; School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Parker CJ; School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Zuraiqi K; School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Bryant G; School of Science, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Chiang K; School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Russo SP; School of Science, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia.; ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Christofferson AJ; School of Science, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia.; ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Elbourne A; School of Science, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia., Daeneke T; School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) [Adv Mater] 2024 Jul; Vol. 36 (30), pp. e2403885. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 22.
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202403885
Abstrakt: Low-melting liquid metals are emerging as a new group of highly functional solvents due to their capability to dissolve and alloy various metals in their elemental state to form solutions as well as colloidal systems. Furthermore, these liquid metals can facilitate and catalyze multiple unique chemical reactions. Despite the intriguing science behind liquid metals and alloys, very little is known about their fundamental structures in the nanometric regime. To bridge this gap, this work employs small angle neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulations, revealing that the most commonly used liquid metal solvents, EGaIn and Galinstan, are surprisingly structured with the formation of clusters ranging from 157 to 15.7 Å. Conversely, noneutectic liquid metal alloys of GaSn or GaIn at low solute concentrations of 1, 2, and 5 wt%, as well as pure Ga, do not exhibit these structures. Importantly, the eutectic alloys retain their structure even at elevated temperatures of 60 and 90 °C, highlighting that they are not just simple homogeneous fluids consisting of individual atoms. Understanding the complex soft structure of liquid alloys will assist in comprehending complex phenomena occurring within these fluids and contribute to deriving reaction mechanisms in the realm of synthesis and liquid metal-based catalysis.
(© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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