Refractory materials, such as molybdenum and niobium, are potential candidates for cladding material due to their high melting temperatures and desirable mechanical properties at higher temperatures than those of zirconium alloys. However, refractory materials have low resistance to oxidation at elevated temperatures. Therefore, this study examined silicide or aluminide surface coatings as protection against rapid oxidation of refractory materials at elevated temperatures for a potential accident-tolerant fuel cladding. Silicide or aluminide layers were formed on refractory metal substrates by using the pack cementation method. The steam oxidation behavior of both coated and uncoated samples was compared by thermogravimetric analysis at 1200°C. The weight changes of the coated samples were greatly reduced than those of uncoated samples. Microstructural analyses demonstrated that the silicide and aluminide layers were oxidized to form a protective surface oxide that prevented rapid oxidation of the refractory substrate at elevated temperatures.

In this work, a series of BaTiO3-based ceramic materials, Ba(Al0.5Nb0.5)xTi1-xO3 (x = 0, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08), were synthesized using a standard solid-state reaction technique. X-ray diffraction profiles indicated that the Al+Nb co-doping into BaTiO3 does not change the crystal structure significantly with a doping concentration up to 8 %. The doping ions exist in Al3+ and Nb5+ chemical states, as revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The frequencydependent complex dielectric properties and electric modulus were studied in the temperature range of 100~380 K. A colossal dielectric permittivity (>1.5 × 104) and low dielectric loss (<0.01) were demonstrated at the optimal dopant concentration x = 0.04. The observed dielectric behavior of Ba(Al0.5Nb0.5)xTi1-xO3 ceramics can be attributed to the Universal Dielectric Response. The complex electric modulus spectra indicated the grains exhibited a significant decrease in capacitance and permittivity with increasing co-doping concentration. Our results provide insight into the roles of donor and acceptor co-doping on the properties of BaTiO3-based ceramics, which is important for dielectric and energy storage applications.

Nano-oxide dispersion–strengthened (ODS) superalloys have attracted attention because of their outstanding mechanical reinforcement mechanism. Dispersed oxides increase the material’s strength by preventing grain growth and recrystallization, as well as increasing creep resistance. In this research, atomic layer deposition (ALD) was applied to synthesize an ODS alloy. It is useful to coat conformal thin films even on complex matrix shapes, such as nanorods or powders. We coated an Nb-Si–based superalloy with TiO2 thin film by using rotary-reactor type thermal ALD. TiO2 was grown by controlling the deposition recipe, reactor temperature, N2 flow rate, and rotor speed. We could confirm the formation of uniform TiO2 film on the surface of the superalloy. This process was successfully applied to the synthesis of an ODS alloy, which could be a new field of ALD applications.

에너지 패러다임의 변화가 요구되는 현대에 수소는 매력적인 에너지원이다. 이러한 수소를 정제하는 기술 중에서 분리막을 이용한 기술은 저비용으로 고순도의 수소를 정제할 수 있는 기술로 주목받고 있다. 그러나 수소 분리 성능이 뛰어 난 팔라듐(Pd)은 가격이 매우 비싸 이를 대체한 소재가 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 수소 투과 성능은 좋으나 수소 취성에 약한 니오븀(Nb)과 수소 투과 성능은 떨어지나 내구성이 뛰어난 니켈(Ni)과 지르코늄(Zr)을 혼합한 합금으로 분리막을 제조하여 1~4 bar, 350~450 °C 조건에서 수소 투과 특성을 확인하였다. Pd를 코팅하지 않은 Ni48Nb32Zr20 분리막의 경우 최대 0.69 ml/cm2/min의 투과량을 보였으며, Pd가 코팅된 경우에는 최대 13.05 ml/cm2/min의 투과량을 보였다.

In this study, we investigated the microstructure and piezoelectric properties of 0.96(K0.456Na0.536)Nb0.95Sb0.05-0.04 Bi0.5(Na0.82K0.18)0.5ZrO3 (KNNS-BNKZ) ceramics based on one-step and two-step sintering processes. One-step sintering led to significant abnormal grain (AG) growth at temperatures above 1,085 °C. With increasing sintering temperature, piezoelectric and dielectric properties were enhanced, resulting in a high d33 = 506 pC/N for one-step specimen sintered at 1,100 °C (one-step 1,100 °C specimen). However, for one-step 1,115 °C specimen, a slight decrease in d33 was observed, emphasizing the importance of a high tetragonal (T) phase fraction for superior piezoelectric properties. Achieving a relative density above 84 % for samples sintered by the one-step sintering process was challenging. Conversely, two-step sintering significantly improved the relative density of KNNS-BNKZ ceramics up to 96 %, attributed to the control of AG nucleation in the first step and grain growth rate control in the second step. The quantity of AG nucleation was affected by the duration of the first step, determining the final microstructure. Despite having a lower T phase fraction than that of the one-step 1,100 °C specimen, the two-step specimen exhibited higher piezoelectric coefficients (d33 = 574 pC/N and kp = 0.5) than those of the one-step 1,100 °C specimen due to its higher relative density. Performance evaluation of magnetoelectric composite devices composed of one-step and twostep specimens showed that despite having a higher g33, the magnetoelectric composite with the one-step 1,100 °C specimen exhibited the lowest magnetoelectric voltage coefficient, due to its lowest kp. This study highlights the essential role of phase fraction and relative density in enhancing the performance of piezoelectric materials and devices, showcasing the effectiveness of the two-step sintering process for controlling the microstructure of ceramic materials containing volatile elements.

The aerospace and power generation industries have an increasing demand for high-temperature, highstrength materials. However, conventional materials typically lack sufficient fracture toughness and oxidation resistance at high temperatures. This study aims to enhance the high-temperature properties of Nb-Si-Ti alloys through ball milling. To analyze the effects of milling time, the progression of alloying is evaluated on the basis of XRD patterns and the microstructure of alloy powders. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) is employed to produce compacts, with thermodynamic modeling assisting in predicting phase fractions and sintering temperature ranges. The changes in the microstructure and variation in the mechanical properties due to the adjustment of the sintering temperature provide insights into the influence of Nb solid solution, Nb5Si3, and crystallite size within the compacts. By investigating the changes in the mechanical properties through strengthening mechanisms, such as precipitation strengthening, solid solution strengthening, and crystallite refinement, this study aims to verify the applicability of Nb-Si-Ti alloys in advanced material systems.

An all-perovskite oxide heterostructure composed of SrSnO3/Nb-doped SrTiO3 was fabricated using the pulsed laser deposition method. In-plane and out-of-plane structural characterization of the fabricated films were analyzed by x-ray diffraction with θ-2θ scans and φ scans. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement was performed to check the film’s composition. The electrical transport characteristic of the heterostructure was determined by applying a pulsed dc bias across the interface. Unusual transport properties of the interface between the SrSnO3 and Nb-doped SrTiO3 were investigated at temperatures from 100 to 300 K. A diodelike rectifying behavior was observed in the temperature-dependent current-voltage (IV) measurements. The forward current showed the typical IV characteristics of p-n junctions or Schottky diodes, and were perfectly fitted using the thermionic emission model. Two regions with different transport mechanism were detected, and the boundary curve was expressed by ln I = -1.28V - 13. Under reverse bias, however, the temperature- dependent IV curves revealed an unusual increase in the reverse-bias current with decreasing temperature, indicating tunneling effects at the interface. The Poole-Frenkel emission was used to explain this electrical transport mechanism under the reverse voltages.

Machine learning-based data analysis approaches have been employed to overcome the limitations in accurately analyzing data and to predict the results of the design of Nb-based superalloys. In this study, a database containing the composition of the alloying elements and their room-temperature tensile strengths was prepared based on a previous study. After computing the correlation between the tensile strength at room temperature and the composition, a material science analysis was conducted on the elements with high correlation coefficients. These alloying elements were found to have a significant effect on the variation in the tensile strength of Nb-based alloys at room temperature. Through this process, a model was derived to predict the properties using four machine learning algorithms. The Bayesian ridge regression algorithm proved to be the optimal model when Y, Sc, W, Cr, Mo, Sn, and Ti were used as input features. This study demonstrates the successful application of machine learning techniques to effectively analyze data and predict outcomes, thereby providing valuable insights into the design of Nb-based superalloys.

Recently, high-entropy carbides have attracted considerable attention owing to their excellent physical and chemical properties such as high hardness, fracture toughness, and conductivity. However, as an emerging class of novel materials, the synthesis methods, performance, and applications of high-entropy carbides have ample scope for further development. In this study, equiatomic (Hf-Ti-Ta-Zr-Nb)C high-entropy carbide powders have been prepared by an ultrahigh- energy ball-milling (UHEBM) process with different milling times (1, 5, 15, 30, and 60 min). Further, their refinement behavior and high-entropy synthesis potential have been investigated. With an increase in the milling time, the particle size rapidly reduces (under sub-micrometer size) and homogeneous mixing of the prepared powder is observed. The distortions in the crystal lattice, which occur as a result of the refinement process and the multicomponent effect, are found to improve the sintering, thereby notably enhancing the formation of a single-phase solid solution (high-entropy). Herein, we present a procedure for the bulk synthesis of highly pure, dense, and uniform FCC single-phase (Fm3m crystal structure) (Hf-Ti-Ta-Zr-Nb)C high-entropy carbide using a milling time of 60 min and a sintering temperature of 1,600oC.

NbC, HfC, TaC, and their solid solution ceramics have been identified as the best materials for ultrahigh-temperature ceramics. However, their structural stability and elastic properties are mostly unclear. Thus, we investigated structure and elastic properties of (Nb1-xTax)C and (Nb1-xHfx)C solid solutions via ab initio calculations. Our calculated results show that the stability of (Nb1-xTax)C and (Nb1-xHfx)C increases with the increase of Hf and Ta content, and (Nb1-xHfx)C is more stable than (Nb1-xTax)C at the same content of Hf and Ta. The lattice constants decrease with increasing of Hf and Ta content. (Nb1-xTax)C and (Nb1-xHfx)C carbides are mechanically stable and brittle. Bulk modulus of (Nb1-xTax)C increases with increasing Ta content. In contrast, bulk modulus of (Nb1-xHfx)C decreases with increasing Hf content. Hardness of solid solutions shows the highest values at the (Nb0.25Ta0.75)C and (Nb0.75Hf0.25)C. In particular, (Nb0.75Hf0.25)C shows the highest hardness for the current system. The results indicate that the overall mechanical properties of (Nb1-xHfx)C solid solutions are superior to those of (Nb1-xTax)C solid solutions. Therefore, controlling the Hf and Ta element and content of the (Nb1-xTax)C and (Nb1-xHfx)C Solid solution is crucial for optimizing the material properties.

High-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels show excellent toughness when trace amounts of transition elements are added. In steels, prior austenite grain size (PAGS), which is often determined by the number of added elements, is a critical factor in determining the mechanical properties of the material. In this study, we used two etching methods to measure and compare the PAGS of specimens with bainitic HSLA steels having different Nb contents These two methods were nital etching and picric acid etching. Both methods confirmed that the sample with high Nb content exhibited smaller PAGS than its low Nb counterpart because of Nb’s ability to hinder austenite recrystallization at high temperatures. Although both etching approaches are beneficial to PAGS estimation, the picric acid etching method has the advantage of enabling observation of the interface containing Nb precipitate. By contrast, the nital etching method has the advantage of a very short etching time (5 s) in determining the PAGS, with the picric acid etching method being considerably longer (5 h).

This study explores reducing the oxygen content of a commercial Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb powder to less than 400 ppm by deoxidation in the solid state (DOSS) using Ca vapor, and investigates the effect of Ca vapor on the surface chemical state. As the deoxidation temperature increases, the oxygen concentration of the Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb powder decreases, achieving a low value of 745 ppm at 1100oC. When the deoxidation time is increased to 2 h, the oxygen concentration decreases to 320pp m at 1100oC, and the oxygen reduction rate is approximately 78% compared to that of the raw material. The deoxidized Ti-48Al-2Cr-2nb powder maintains a spherical shape, but the surface shape changes slightly owing to the reaction of Ca and Al. The oxidation state of Ti and Al on the surface of the Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb powder corresponds to a mixture of TiO2 and Al2O3. As a result, the peaks of metallic Ti and Ti suboxide intensify as TiO2 and Al2O3 in the surface oxide layer are reduced by Ca vapor deposition

NKN [(Na,K)NbO3] is a candidate lead-free piezoelectric material to replace PZT [Pb(Zr,Ti)O3]. A single crystal has excellent piezoelectric-properties and its properties are dependent of the crystal orientation direction. However, it is hard to fabricate a single crystal with stoichiometrically stable composition due to volatilization of sodium during the growth process. To solve this problem, a solid solution composition is designed (Na,K)NbO3-Ba(Cu,Nb)O3 and solid state grain growth is studied for a sizable single crystal. Ceramic powders of (Na,K)NbO3-M(Cu,Nb)O3 (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) are synthesized and grain growth behavior is investigated for different temperatures and times. Average normal grain sizes of individual specimens, which are heat-treated at 1,125 oC for 10 h, are 6.9, 2.8, and 1.6 m for M = Ca, Sr, and Ba, respectively. Depending on M, the distortion of NKN structure can be altered. XRD results show that (NKN-CaCuN: shrunken orthorhombic; NKN-SrCuN: orthorhombic; NKN-BaCuN: cubic). For the sample heat-treated at 1,125 oC for 10 h, the maximum grain sizes of individual specimens are measured as 40, 5, and 4,000 m for M = Ca, Sr, and Ba, respectively. This abnormal grain size is related to the partial melting temperature (NKN-CaCuN: 960 oC; NKN-SrCuN: 971 oC; NKN-BaCuN: 945 oC).

Orthorhombic DyMnO3 films are fabricated epitaxially on Nb-1.0 wt%-doped SrTiO3 single crystal substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. The structure of the deposited DyMnO3 films is studied by X-ray diffraction, and the epitaxial relationship between the film and the substrate is determined. The electrical transport properties reveal the diodelike rectifying behaviors in the all-perovskite oxide junctions over a wide temperature range (100 ~ 340 K). The forward current is exponentially related to the forward bias voltage, and the extracted ideality factors show distinct transport mechanisms in high and low positive regions. The leakage current increases with increasing reverse bias voltage, and the breakdown voltage decreases with decrease temperature, a consequence of tunneling effects because the leakage current at low temperature is larger than that at high temperature. The determined built-in potentials are 0.37 V in the low bias region, and 0.11 V in the high bias region, respectively. The results show the importance of temperature and applied bias in determining the electrical transport characteristics of all-perovskite oxide heterostructures.

In this study, we report the microstructure and characterization of Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 high-entropy alloy powders and sintered samples. The effects of milling time on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated in detail. Microstructure and structural characterization were performed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties of the sintered samples were analyzed through a compressive test at room temperature with a strain rate of 1 × 10−4 s−1. The microstructure of sintered Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 high-entropy alloy is composed of a BCC phase and a TiO phase. A better combination of compressive strength and strain was achieved by using prealloyed Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 powder with low oxygen content. The results suggest that the oxide formed during the sintering process affects the mechanical properties of Ta20Nb20V20W20Ti20 high-entropy alloys, which are related to the interfacial stability between the BCC matrix and TiO phase.

This study describes the doping effect of Yb2O3 on microstructure, electrical and dielectric properties of ZnO-V2O5- MnO2-Nb2O5 (ZVMN) ceramic semiconductors sintered at a temperature as low as 900°C. As the doping content of Yb2O3 increases, the ceramic density slightly increases from 5.50 to 5.54 g/cm3; also, the average ZnO grain size is in the range of 5.3-5.6 μm. The switching voltage increases from 4,874 to 5,494 V/cm when the doping content of Yb2O3 is less than 0.1 mol%, whereas further doping decreases this value. The ZVMN ceramic semiconductors doped with 0.1 mol% Yb2O3 reveal an excellent nonohmic coefficient as high as 70. The donor density of ZnO gain increases in the range of 2.46-7.41×1017 cm−3 with increasing doping content of Yb2O3 and the potential barrier height and surface state density at the grain boundaries exhibits a maximum value (1.25 eV) at 0.1 mol%. The dielectric constant (at 1 kHz) decreases from 592.7 to 501.4 until the doping content of Yb2O3 reaches 0.1 mol%, whereas further doping increases it. The value of tanδ increases from 0.209 to 0.268 with the doping content of Yb2O3.

Piezoelectric ceramic specimens with the Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.65Ti0.35O3 (PMN-PT) composition are prepared by the solid state reaction method known as the “columbite precursor” method. Moreover, the effects of the Li2O-Bi2O3 additive on the microstructure, crystal structure, and piezoelectric properties of sintered PMN-PT ceramic samples are investigated. The addition of Li2O-Bi2O3 lowers the sintering temperature from 1,200oC to 950oC. Moreover, with the addition of >5 wt.% additive, the crystal structure changes from tetragonal to rhombohedral. Notably, the sample with 3 wt.% additive exhibits excellent piezoelectric properties (d33 = 596 pC/N and Kp = 57%) and a sintered density of 7.92 g/cm3 after sintering at 950oC. In addition, the sample exhibits a curie temperature of 138.6oC at 1 kHz. Finally, the compatibility of the sample with a Cu electrode is examined, because the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy data indicate the absence of interdiffusion between Cu and the ceramic material.

Lu(Nb,Ta)O4:Eu3+ powders are synthesized by a solid-state reaction process using LiCl and Li2SO4 fluxes. The photoluminescence (PL) excitation spectra of the synthesized powders consist of broad bands at approximately 270 nm and sharp peaks in the near ultraviolet region, which are assigned to the Nb5+-O2− charge transfer of [NbO4]3− niobates and the f-f transition of Eu3+, respectively. The PL emission spectra exhibit red peaks assigned to the 5D0 → 7FJ transitions of Eu3+. The strongest peak is obtained at 614 nm (5D0 → 7F2), indicating that the Eu3+ ions are incorporated into the Lu3+ asymmetric sites. The addition of fluxes causes the increase in emission intensity, and Li2SO4 flux is more effective for enhancement in emission intensity than is LiCl flux. The substitution of Ta5+ for Nb5+ results in an increase or decrease in the emission intensity of LuNb1-xTaxO4:Eu3+ powders, depending on amount and kind of flux. The findings are explained using particle morphology, modification of the [NbO4]3− structure, formation of substructure of LuTaO4, and change in the crystal field surrounding the Eu3+ ions.