Effect of annealing atmosphere on the structure and dielectric properties of unfilled tungsten bronze ceramics Ba4PrFe0.5Nb9.5O30

Unfilled tungsten bronze ceramics with the nominal formula Ba₄PrFe_0.5Nb_9.5O₃₀ were synthesized via the standard solid-state sintering route, and the effects of oxygen vacancies on the dielectric and electrical properties were investigated in addition to the structure. Room-temperature X-ray diffraction showed that the N₂-annealed sample had the largest cell volume. Low-temperature spectrum showed that N₂ annealing rendered the dielectric constant and dielectric loss more frequency dispersive, whereas O₂ annealing inhibited the frequency dispersion. The dc conductivity of all the samples originated from the electrons produced in the second ionization of oxygen vacancies and was most likely controlled by a mixed conduction mechanism of the electron and oxygen-vacancy ions. The N₂-annealed sample has the highest dc conductivity owing to its high concentration of oxygen vacancies. The broadening of the Raman lines and the decrease of Raman intensity for the N₂-annealed sample originated from a significant structural disorder. X-ray photoelectron spectra demonstrated that the increased oxygen vacancies caused by the change of valences of Fe and Pr ions contributed to the structural disorder.     

Transformation of sputtered calcium copper titanate thin film into nanorods by sequential annealing

Rapid synthesis of long calcium copper titanate (CCTO) nanorods was carried out by sequential annealing. CCTO thin films have been deposited on p-Si substrate by RF sputtering technique and afterwards, the samples were thermally treated using a preheated furnace by varying the annealing temperature from 850 °C to 1100 °C. CCTO nanorods of 12 µm lengths and 400–600 nm diameters were synthesized at 1100 °C. Based on the FESEM observations, a plausible growth mechanism has been proposed to explain the formation of nanorods. The (220) XRD peak of the CCTO film became prominent for the annealing temperature of 950 °C. The presence of nanoscale crystals in amorphous matrix has been observed by HRTEM studies. The elemental mapping of CCTO nanorod has shown a spatial variation of elements throughout the nanorod. The oxide and interface charge density was found to be increased with the rise in annealing temperature.     

Growth and characterization of Ag–Al2O3 composites thin films for thermoelectric power generation applications

Thin films of Ag–Al₂O₃ composites were successfully grown on Si substrate by thermal evaporation method and their thermoelectric performance was modulated using post growth annealing technique. Pellet of Ag and Al mixture having 1:4 ratio was evaporated on Si substrate using the vacuum tube furnace. As grown sample was cut into pieces and post-growth annealing was performed at different temperatures using muffle furnace. XRD results suggested that as-deposited sample has amorphous nature, but crystallinity of the samples increase as an annealing temperature increase from 600 to 900^oC. This structural behavior of annealed samples was further verified by Raman spectroscopy measurements. We have reported an optimal annealing temperature (800 ⁰C) for the best thermoelectric performance of investigated composites. At this specific annealing temperature, charge carriers are highly mobile which resulted in the enhancement of thermoelectric power generation performance of Ag–Al₂O₃ composite. The value of power factor (1.38x10^?2 W/m-K^?2) reported in the current study is the highest value for Ag–Al₂O₃ composites so for reported in the literature according to the best of our knowledge.     

Effect of heavy cryo-rolling on the evolution of microstructure and texture during annealing of equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy

The effect of cryo-rolling on the evolution of microstructure and texture during annealing was investigated in equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy. For this purpose the alloy was cold- and cryo-rolled to 90% reduction in thickness followed by annealing at temperatures ranging from 700 °C to 1200 °C. The two alloys showed the development of predominantly brass type deformation texture consistent with profuse nano-twin formation reported in this alloy. The cryo-rolled material showed significantly finer grain size after different annealing treatments as compared to the cold-rolled alloy. This could be attributed to finer microstructure in the cryo-rolled material providing greater number of available sites for nucleation. The recrystallization texture of cold- and cryo-rolled materials showed the presence of similar texture components indicating that cryo-rolling had limited effect on the formation of annealing texture. The volume fractions of different texture components did not reveal significant dependence on the annealing temperature. The evolution of texture could be explained on the basis of absence of strong preferential nucleation and growth during annealing.     

Dielectric and electrochemical properties through-thickness mapping on extremely thick plasma sprayed TiO2

An extremely thick TiO₂ deposit was plasma sprayed using a water stabilized (WSP) spray system. Inexpensive natural rutile TiO₂ was used as feedstock powder. Reaching the required enormous thickness, 15 mm, was relatively fast thanks to a high feed-rate WSP gun, much more powerful than conventional spray systems. The massive deposits were cut into slices aligned parallel with the substrate and studied. Their microstructure is lamellar with defects typical for plasma sprayed ceramics. Differences between the near substrate slices, medium space slices and near surface slices of the deposit were found namely in physical properties. Besides the microstructure, dielectric spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were in the focus of investigation. The role of the grain interior and grain boundaries in the charge transport and the role of dipoles of various sizes are different near the substrate, in the middle and near the surface. The deposit was annealed to remove the oxygen sub-stoichiometry of the semiconductive as-sprayed titania and turn the behavior of the material to dielectric. Various differences are present also in the near substrate, medium space and near surface slices of the annealed deposit since they are inherited from the as-sprayed state, which was not completely overlaid by annealing.     

Intergranular corrosion behavior of the 7075-T6 aluminum alloy under different annealing conditions

The effect of annealing conditions producing various grain sizes on the intergranular corrosion behavior of high-strength aluminum alloy type 7075-T6 was investigated using electrochemical polarization techniques. Aluminum alloy specimens with large grain size exhibited lower breakdown potentials in deaerated 0.5 M NaCl solution. The breakdown potentials decreased with increasing grain size. Microscopic observations of the exposed surfaces during potentiostatic polarization testing showed that the coarse grain structure promotes intergranular crack growth.     

Effect of annealing on microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk nanocrystalline Fe3Al alloy with 5 wt.% Cu prepared by aluminothermic reaction

Microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk nanocrystalline Fe₃Al based alloy with 5 wt.% Cu prepared by aluminothermic reaction before and after annealed at 873, 1073 and 1273 K for 8 h were investigated. Microstructures of the alloy before and after the annealing consisted of a Fe-Al-Cu matrix, a little Al₂O₃ sphere and Fe₃AlC_x fiber phases. The matrix of the alloy before the annealing was composed a nanocrystalline phase with disordered bcc crystal structure and a little amorphous phase. The amorphous phase disappeared after the annealing and Fe₃Al phase with ordered DO₃ structure appeared in the alloy after annealed at 1073 and 1273 K in the matrix of the alloy. Size of the Fe₃AlC_x fiber phase increased with the annealing temperature. The alloy after the annealing had better plasticity, higher yield strength than that of the alloy before the annealing, and the alloy after annealed at 1273 K had the highest yield strength.     

The annealing phenomena and thermal stability of severely deformed steel sheet

However, there are many works on annealing process of SPDed non-ferrous metals, there are limit works on annealing process of SPDed low carbon steel. Therefore, in this study the annealing responses after constrained groove pressing (CGP) of low carbon steel sheets have been investigated. The sheets are subjected to severe plastic deformation at room temperature by CGP method up to three passes. Nano-structured low carbon steel sheets produced by severe plastic deformation are annealed at temperature range of 100-600 °C for 20 min. The changes of their microstructures after deformation and annealing are studied by optical microscopy. The effects of large strain and annealing temperature on microstructure, strength and hardness evolutions of the nano-scale grained low carbon steel are examined. The results show that annealing phenomena can effectively improve the elongation of SPDed sheets with preserving the hardness and mechanical strength. Also, the thermal stability of microstructure and mechanical properties can be observed through annealing temperatures up to 400 °C and temperature of 400 °C is achieved as an optimum annealing temperature in which both strength and elongation are increased and hardness inhomogeneity of the sheet is minimum. Annealing at temperatures of higher than 400 °C leads to abnormal grain growth.     

提高DC01产品延伸率与罩式炉退火工艺改进研究

根据当前市场用户对普碳产品低材高用的要求,通过对罩式炉机组实际生产情况和现行退火工艺分析,对炉台装炉量及退火工艺中的加热温度、保温时间进行调整,在生产实践的基础上,进行了一系列工艺优化实验,进而提高DC01产品延伸性能,满足客户使用要求,建立一套完善的退火工艺制度。     

Effect of rapid thermal annealing on pentacene-based thin-film transistors

The bottom contact pentacene-based thin-film transistor is fabricated, and it is treated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) with the annealed temperature up to 240 °C for 2 min in the vacuum of 1.3 × 10⁻² torr. The morphology and structure for the pentacene films of OTFTs were examined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction technique. The thin-film phase and a very small fraction of single-crystal phase were found in the as-deposited pentacene films. While the annealing temperature increases to 60 °C, the pentacene molecular ordering was significantly improved though the grain size only slightly increased. The device annealed at temperature of 120 °C has optimal electrical properties, being consistent with the experimental results of XRD. The post-annealing treatment results in the enhancement of field-effect mobility in pentacene-based thin-film transistors. The field-effect mobility increases from 0.243 cm²/V s to 0.62 cm²/V s. Besides, the threshold voltage of device shifts from −7 V to −3.88 V and the on/off current ratio increases from 4.0 × 10³ to 8.7 × 10³.