A New Family of Ternary Intermetallic Compounds with Dualistic Atomic Ordering – The ZIP Phases
Abstract
Abstract A new family of nanostructured ternary intermetallic compounds − named the ZIP phases − is introduced in this work. The ZIP phases exhibit dualistic atomic ordering, i.e., they form two structural variants: one with the fcc diamond cubic structure (space group Fd m ) and one with the hexagonal structure (space group P6 3 /mmc ). They are also characterized by metallic behavior, ionic bonding, and atomic zigzagging. Powder metallurgical routes involving pressure‐assisted densification are adopted to demonstrate ZIP phase synthesis in the Nb‐Si‐Ni, Nb‐Si‐Co, Ta‐Si‐Ni, V‐Si‐Ni, and Nb‐Si‐Fe ternary systems. Crucially, reactive hot pressing is capable of producing high‐purity ZIP phase materials after the judicious, elemental system‐specific optimization of the processing route. Synthesis of phase‐pure materials – demonstrated in the Nb‐Si‐Ni ternary system by the synthesis of quasi phase‐pure Nb 3 SiNi 2 and Ni 3 SiNb 2 ZIP phase‐based materials – is a steppingstone to the prospective exploitation of the ZIP phases. Characterization of Nb 3 SiNi 2 and Ni 3 SiNb 2 involves crystal structure determination, spatially resolved chemical analysis, and determination of select thermal, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, and physical properties. Density functional theory is used to assess the stability of Nb 3 SiNi 2 & Ni 3 SiNb 2 and derivative binary compounds at different temperatures, also exploring the exfoliation of these two ZIP phases along specific surfaces to produce 2D derivatives.
Article Details
Authors (25)
Matheus A. Tunes
Sean M. Drewry
Materials Science and Technology Division Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Bikini Atoll Rd Los Alamos NM 87544 USA
Franziska Schmidt
Materials Science and Technology Division Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Bikini Atoll Rd Los Alamos NM 87544 USA
James A. Valdez
Materials Science and Technology Division Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Bikini Atoll Rd Los Alamos NM 87544 USA
Matthew M. Schneider
Caitlin A. Kohnert
Materials Science and Technology Division Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Bikini Atoll Rd Los Alamos NM 87544 USA
Tarik A. Saleh
Saryu Fensin
Materials Science and Technology Division Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Bikini Atoll Rd Los Alamos NM 87544 USA
Stuart A. Maloy
Cláudio G. Schön
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Universidade de São Paulo Escola Politécnica Av. Prof. Mello Moraes 2463 São Paulo CEP 05508‐030 Brazil
Sylvain Dubois
Omri Tabo
Faculty of Physics Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Haifa 32000 Israel
Anna Eyal
Faculty of Physics Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Haifa 32000 Israel
Amit Keren
Asaf Pesach
Department of Physics Nuclear Research Centre – Negev P.O. Box 9001 Beer Sheva 84190 Israel
Ganesh K. Nayak
Materials Chemistry RWTH Aachen University Kopernikusstr. 10 D‐52074 Aachen Germany
Stavros‐Richard G. Christopoulos
Department of Computer Science School of Computing and Engineering University of Huddersfield Queensgate Huddersfield HD1 3DH UK
Marco Molinari
Department of Physical and Life Sciences School of Applied Sciences University of Huddersfield Queensgate Huddersfield HD1 3DH UK
Marcus Hans
Materials Chemistry RWTH Aachen University Kopernikusstr. 10 D‐52074 Aachen Germany
Nick Goossens
Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, BE-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Shuigen Huang
Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, BE-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Jochen M. Schneider
Materials Chemistry RWTH Aachen University Kopernikusstr. 10 D‐52074 Aachen Germany
Per O. Å. Persson
Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (IFM)
Jozef Vleugels
Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, BE-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Konstantina Lambrinou
School of Computing and Engineering, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, U.K.