Discovery of Guinier-Preston zone hardening in refractory nitride ceramics

Traditional age hardening mechanisms in refractory ceramics consist of precipitation of fine particles. These processes are vital for widespread wear-resistant coating applications. Here, we report novel Guinier-Preston zone hardening, previously only known to operate in soft light-metal alloys, tak...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta materialia 2023-08, Vol.255, p.119105, Article 119105
Main Authors: Pshyk, O.V., Li, X., Petrov, I., Sangiovanni, D.G., Palisaitis, J., Hultman, L., Greczynski, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age hardening
Ceramics
Guinier-Preston zone
Spinodal decomposition
TiAlN
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Summary:Traditional age hardening mechanisms in refractory ceramics consist of precipitation of fine particles. These processes are vital for widespread wear-resistant coating applications. Here, we report novel Guinier-Preston zone hardening, previously only known to operate in soft light-metal alloys, taking place in refractory ceramics like multicomponent nitrides. The added superhardening, discovered in thin films of Ti-Al-W-N upon high temperature annealing, comes from the formation of atomic-plane-thick W disks populating {111} planes of the cubic matrix, as observed by atomically resolved high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and corroborated by ab initio calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. Guinier-Preston zone hardening concurrent with spinodal decomposition is projected to exist in a range of other ceramic solid solutions and thus provides a new approach for the development of advanced materials with outstanding mechanical properties and higher operational temperature range for the future demanding applications. [Display omitted]
ISSN:1359-6454
1873-2453
DOI:10.1016/j.actamat.2023.119105