Title: Ultrahigh elastically compressible and strain-engineerable intermetallic compounds under uniaxial mechanical loading

Abstract

Intermetallic compounds possess unique atomic arrangements that often lead to exceptional material properties, but their extreme brittleness usually causes fracture at a limited strain of less than 1% and prevents their practical use. Thus, it is critical for them to exhibit either plasticity or some form of structural transition to absorb and release a sufficient amount of mechanical energy before failure occurs. This study observes that the ThCr ₂Si ₂-structured intermetallic compound (CaFe ₂As ₂) and a hybrid of its structure (CaKFe ₄As ₄) with 2 μm in diameter and 6 μm in height can exhibit superelasticity with strain up to 17% through a reversible, deformation-induced lattice collapse, leading to a modulus of resilience orders of magnitude higher than that of most engineering materials. Such superelasticity also can enable strain engineering, which refers to the modification of material properties through elastic strain. Density functional theory calculations and cryogenic nanomechanical tests predict that superconductivity in CaKFe ₄As ₄ could be turned on/off through the superelasticity process, before fracture occurs, even under uniaxial compression, which is the favorable switching loading mode in most engineering applications. Our results suggest that other members with the same crystal structure (more than 2500 intermetallic compounds) andmore » substitution series based on them should be examined for the possibility of manifesting similar superelastic and strain-engineerable functional properties.« less

Authors:

Song, Gyuho  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0653-6856"
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Borisov, Vladislav ^[2]; Meier, William R.  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-4060-5093"
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Xu, Mingyu ^[3]; Dusoe, Keith J. ^[4]; Sypek, John T. ^[1]; Valentí, Roser ^[2]; Canfield, Paul C.  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-7715-0643"
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Lee, Seok-Woo  ^[1]

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-6752-5694"
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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)
2. Goethe Univ., Frankfurt (Germany)
3. Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 North Eagleville Road, Unit 3136, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3136, USA

Publication Date:

2019-06-19

Research Org.:

Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1542866

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1527048

Report Number(s):

IS-J-9979
Journal ID: ISSN 2166-532X

Grant/Contract Number:  

TRR 49; NNX16AR60G; AC02-07CH11358; GBMF4411

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

APL Materials

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 7; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 2166-532X

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY