Experimental Study of Diamond-like Carbon Film on Aermet100 Steel and First-Principles Calculation of Interfacial Adhesion.

Three different types of surface-modified layers of N, C, and N+C are successfully prepared on AerMet100 steel by plasma-assisted thermochemical treatment, and diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are formed on the top surfaces of the latter two. The results show that the DLC films produced by prenitriding and then carburizing (N+C) exhibit a smoother and finer morphology and higher sp content than that without prenitriding (C). In addition, the wear resistance of the N+C specimen with a high hardness nitrided layer as the support for the outermost DLC films is superior to that of the C specimen.

Microstructure evolution and kinetics of B-site nanoparticle exsolution from an A-site-deficient perovskite surface: a phase-field modeling and simulation study.

Segregation-exsolution of B-site catalytic dopants as nanoparticles from A-site-deficient perovskite (A1-xBO3-δ) surfaces has been actively used in recent years to promote the activity and durability of perovskite oxides towards efficient fuel oxidation and water splitting. The mechanistic understandings are currently gained from equilibrium thermodynamics, such as atomic scale density functional theory calculations, in terms of segregation energy, interaction energy and elastic energy. Herein, we have developed a micro-scale phase-field model framework that describes the kinetics and microstructure evolutions of the B-site segregation and nanoparticle exsolution from the A1-xBO3-δ surface.