Search

The arrangement of crystalline domains in semicrystalline polymers is key to understanding how to optimize the nanostructured morphology for enabling better properties. For example, in polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO), the degree of crystallinity and arrangement of the crystallites within the PEO phase plays a crucial role in determining the physical properties of the electrolyte. Here, we used four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy to directly visualize the crystal domains within the PEO-rich region of the PS-b-PEO block copolymer and show the relative angle of the domain with respect to the PEO-PS interface. As demonstrated here, our analysis method is applicable to other electron-beam sensitive materials, especially semicrystalline polymers, to unveil their local phase condition and distribution.

Exploratory synthesis has been the main generator of new inorganic materials for decades. However, our Edisonian and bias-prone processes of synthetic exploration alone are no longer sufficient in an age that demands rapid advances in materials development. In this work, we demonstrate an end-to-end attempt towards systematic, computer-aided discovery and laboratory synthesis of inorganic crystalline compounds as a modern alternative to purely exploratory synthesis. Our approach initializes materials discovery campaigns by autonomously mapping the synthetic feasibility of a chemical system using density functional theory with AI feedback. Following expert-driven down-selection of newly generated phases, we use solid-state synthesis and in situ characterization via hot-stage X-ray diffraction in order to realize new ternary oxide phases experimentally. We applied this strategy in six ternary transition-metal oxide chemistries previously considered well-explored, one of which culminated in the discovery of two novel phases of calcium ruthenates. Detailed characterization using room temperature X-ray powder diffraction, 4D-STEM and SQUID measurements identifies the structure and composition and confirms distinct properties, including distinct defect concentrations, of one of the new phases formed in our experimental campaigns. While the discovery of a new material guided by AI and DFT theory represents a milestone, our procedure and results also highlight a number of critical gaps in the process that can inform future efforts towards the improvement of AI-coupled methodologies.

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy is often used to characterize grain boundaries, but it is usually limited to special high symmetry boundaries with a high density of coincident sites. For these 'special' boundaries, both crystals can be brought into a low-index zone-axis with the boundary plane parallel to the incident electron beam. In this case the atomistic structure of the boundary can be solved, which is not possible for other, more general grain boundaries. In the present study, general grain boundaries in SrTiO3 were analyzed using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. These boundaries included at least one type of disconnection (i.e., defects that can have a step and/or a dislocation component). Since the dislocation component of disconnections along general grain boundaries cannot be fully resolved using the methods currently available, a plane matching approach was used to compare disconnections at different boundaries. Using this approach, the dislocation component of the disconnections was partially characterized and was found to have an edge component mainly parallel to {100} and {110}, close to normal to the macroscopic grain boundary plane. The step component of the disconnections was found to be aligned mainly parallel to the same crystallographic planes ({100} and {110}). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disconnections were recently shown to play a role in the mechanism of grain boundary motion in general grain boundaries in SrTiO3. In this work, we demonstrate the existence of disconnections in the viewing direction along the projected thickness of transmission electron microscopy samples and characterize possible aspects of the structure of these disconnections. We show that the presence of steps along the viewing direction may result in the appearance of a disordered region at the boundary, while it is actually composed of ordered crystalline material. We discuss the subsequent complications in analysis of transmission electron microscopy data and strict meaning of the term "edge-on" for grain boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfaces in as-processed β-Yb 2 Si 2 O 7 environmental barrier coating (EBC) ceramics, and those after high-temperature (1500 °C) interaction with a calcia-magnesia-aluminosilicate (CMAS) glass from Part I are studied in further detail using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), annular dark field scanning TEM (ADF STEM) and high-angle ADF (HAADF) STEM. Disconnections are detected, or inferred, at twin and general grain-boundaries and also at phase boundaries. Grain-boundary and facet planes are found to be aligned parallel to {110} planes of β-Yb 2 Si 2 O 7. When detected, step planes are also found to be aligned parallel to β-Yb 2 Si 2 O 7 {110} planes. At the same time, the dislocation component has major projections aligned parallel to {110} planes of β-Yb 2 Si 2 O 7. As such, both the step and the dislocation components of the disconnections are anisotropic. The tendency of the grain-boundary and facet planes at interfaces in the system to align parallel to β-Yb 2 Si 2 O 7 {110} planes, both before and after CMAS-interaction, is discussed. The chemistry of grain-boundaries in the vicinity of the disconnections is found to be non-stoichiometric, but this by itself cannot account for the extended contrast variations along twin boundaries. Thus, contrast variations along grain boundaries are associated mainly with the presence of disconnections and associated strain, as well as long-range distortions in the unit cells in twin boundaries. These anisotropic disconnections are associated with the mechanisms of grain-boundary and phase-boundary migration, and thus, they have implications on the evolution of microstructures in this system. Combined insights from Part I and this Part II elucidate the nature of the interfaces in β-Yb 2 Si 2 O 7 EBC ceramic and the mechanisms of CMAS glass penetration. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]