Vladimir Vishnyakov

Influence of mechanical properties on the nanoscratch behaviour of hard nanocomposite TiN/Si3N4 coatings on Si

A dual ion beam system has been used to produce hard nanocomposite TiN/Si3N4 coatings on silicon substrate. Mechanical properties have been determined by nanoindentation and tribological properties have been measured by nanoscratch testing. Nanoindentation showed that harder nanocomposites exhibited higher ratios of hardness to modulus (H/E). The dependence of the resistance to plastic deformation (H3/E2) on hardness was approximately linear. The H/E value influenced the nanoscratch behaviour. Coatings with higher H/E showed higher critical loads for elastic–plastic transition and also the total coating failure occurring in front of the probe. However, coatings with higher H/E also exhibited an unloading failure, occurring behind the probe at much lower load than the loading failure. Optimizing this stress-related unloading failure could be more important for tribological applications.

Nano-impact testing of TiFeN and TiFeMoN films for dynamic toughness evaluation

TiFeN and TiFeMoN films were deposited on silicon wafers by ion-beam-assisted deposition. Their mechanical properties were measured by nanoindentation (quasi-static) and nano-impact (dynamic) techniques. Nano-impact testing enabled assessment of their toughness and resistance to fatigue fracture under repetitive loading. At low impact forces, films with a higher resistance to plastic deformation (H3/E2) were much more resistant to the formation of cracks throughout the test. At higher impact forces, these films initially show impact resistance but with continued impacts they are unable to protect the Si substrate, performing as poorly as films with lower H3/E2 and suffer delamination from the Si substrate over a large area.

The optimisation of facile substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering through galvanic replacement of silver onto copper

A fast and cost-effective approach for the synthesis of substrates used in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been developed using galvanic displacement. Deposition of silver onto commercially available Cu foil has resulted in the formation of multiple hierarchical structures, whose morphology show dependence on deposition time and temperature. Analysis of the surface structure by scanning electron microscopy revealed that the more complex silver structures correlated well with increased deposition time and temperature. Using Rhodamine 6G (R6G) as a model Raman probe it was also possible to relate the substrate morphology directly with subsequent SERS intensity from the R6G analyte as well as the reproducibility across a total of 15 replicate Raman maps (20 × 20 pixels) consisting of 400 spectra at a R6G concentration of 10(-4) M. The substrate with the highest reproducibility was then used to explore the limit of detection and this compared very favourably with colloidal-based SERS assessments of the same analyte.

Hydrogenation of Graphene by Reaction at High Pressure and High Temperature

The chemical reaction between hydrogen and purely sp(2)-bonded graphene to form graphenes purely sp(3)-bonded analogue, graphane, potentially allows the synthesis of a much wider variety of novel two-dimensional materials by opening a pathway to the application of conventional chemistry methods in graphene. Graphene is currently hydrogenated by exposure to atomic hydrogen in a vacuum, but these methods have not yielded a complete conversion of graphene to graphane, even with graphene exposed to hydrogen on both sides of the lattice. By heating graphene in molecular hydrogen under compression to modest high pressure in a diamond anvil cell (2.6-5.0 GPa), we are able to react graphene with hydrogen and propose a method whereby fully hydrogenated graphane may be synthesized for the first time.

Physicomechanical properties of ultrahigh temperature heteromodulus ceramics based on group 4 transition metal carbides

Abstract Abstract Highly densified TiC, ZrC and HfC based ultrahigh temperature heteromodulus ceramics (HMC), containing 10-50 vol.-% of low modulus phase in the form of particulate graphite, were prepared by hot pressing at 2700°C and 12 MPa in argon atmosphere. The microstructure, elastic characteristics, flexural and compressive static strength, fracture toughness, impact resistance, hardness and thermal expansion were investigated and compared with those available in earlier works for clear understanding the composition-property correlations and anisotropy of this type of HMC composites. Different thermal shock resistant parameters for the HMC were calculated on the basis of obtained experimental data. A new principle of optimum materials design for the compositions in the refractory carbide-graphite systems is exemplified by the TiC-C HMC materials.

Fracture toughness in some hetero-modulus composite carbides: carbon inclusions and voids

ABSTRACT Structure and mechanical characteristics of dense ceramic composites synthesised by reactive hot pressing of TiC–B4C powder mixtures at 1800–1950°C under 30 MPa were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM and EDX). The results show that during hot pressing solid-phase chemical reaction 2TiC + B4C = 2TiB2 + 3C has occurred with final products like TiB2–TiC–C, TiB2–C or TiB2–B4C–C hetero-modulus composite formation with around one micrometer size carbon precipitates. The fracture toughness depends on the amount of graphite precipitation and has a distinct maximum K1C = 10 MPa m1/2 at nearly 7 vol.-% of carbon precipitate. The fracture toughness behaviour is explained by the developed model of crack propagation. Within the model, it is shown that pores (voids) and low-modulus carbon inclusions blunt the cracks and can increase ceramic toughness in some cases.