Functional Nanostructured Materials – Microstructure, Thermodynamic Stability and Atomic Mobility

TL;DR: In this article, new routes for nanostructure formation are presented by sequentially combining different non-equilibrium processing pathways that are based, for example, on rapid cooling or continuous strain energy input.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter deals with functional nanostructured materials. New routes for nanostructure formation are presented by sequentially combining different non-equilibrium processing pathways that are based, for example, on rapid cooling or continuous strain energy input. There are several aspects concerning the thermodynamic stability and the interface diffusion of nonstrustured materials that are drastically affected by the presence and atomic structure of heterophase interfaces as well as by the selection of synthesis and processing pathways. The modification of phase stabilities and phase diagrams for nanostructured materials as well as the seemingly inherent presence of high-mobility interfaces is described in the chapter. The observed behavior, such as a shift of the melting temperature either to higher or to lower temperature depending solely on the atomic structure of the interface or the presence of interfaces with diffusivities that are several orders of magnitude higher than usual (again apparently depending simply on the atomic-scale structure of the interface), highlights the future potential and the newly available range of opportunities for property modification that is uniquely offered by the class of nanocrystalline materials.