4.8 Article

Discovery of electrochemically induced grain boundary transitions

Journal

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 12, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

NATURE RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22669-0

Keywords

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Funding

  1. Aerospace Materials for Extreme Environments program of the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) [FA9550-14-1-0174, FA9550-19-1-0327]

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This study reveals how electrochemical reduction can cause a grain boundary disorder-to-order transition and demonstrates the electric field effects on microstructural stability and evolution. These findings advance our fundamental knowledge of grain boundary complexions and the impacts of electric fields on microstructures with broad scientific and technological implications.
Electric fields and currents, which are used in innovative materials processing and electrochemical energy conversion, can often alter microstructures in unexpected ways. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Using ZnO-Bi2O3 as a model system, this study uncovers how an applied electric current can change the microstructural evolution through an electrochemically induced grain boundary transition. By combining aberration-corrected electron microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, first-principles calculations, a generalizable thermodynamic model, and ab initio molecular dynamics, this study reveals that electrochemical reduction can cause a grain boundary disorder-to-order transition to markedly increase grain boundary diffusivities and mobilities. Consequently, abruptly enhanced or abnormal grain growth takes place. These findings advance our fundamental knowledge of grain boundary complexion (phase-like) transitions and electric field effects on microstructural stability and evolution, with broad scientific and technological impacts. A new method to tailor the grain boundary structures and properties, as well as the microstructures, electrochemically can also be envisioned. Electric fields and currents can alter microstructures of materials in unexpected ways. Here the authors report how electrochemical reduction can cause a grain boundary disorder-to-order transition and show the electric field effects on microstructural stability and evolution.

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