title: Rapid control of phase growth by nanoparticles.
abstract: Effective control of phase growth under harsh conditions (such as high temperature, highly conductive liquids or high growth rate), where surfactants are unstable or ineffective, is still a long-standing challenge. Here we show a general approach for rapid control of diffusional growth through nanoparticle self-assembly on the fast-growing phase during cooling. After phase nucleation, the nanoparticles spontaneously assemble, within a few milliseconds, as a thin coating on the growing phase to block/limit diffusion, resulting in a uniformly dispersed phase orders of magnitude smaller than samples without nanoparticles. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated in both inorganic (immiscible alloy and eutectic alloy) and organic materials. Our approach overcomes the microstructure refinement limit set by the fast phase growth during cooling and breaks the inherent limitations of surfactants for growth control. Considering the growing availability of numerous types and sizes of nanoparticles, the nanoparticle-enabled growth control will find broad applications.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA [2] Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA [3] Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Lian-Yi
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA [2] Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Jia-Quan
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, USA.
authors.forename: Hongseok
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Konishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA [2] Materials Science Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA [3] Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Xiao-Chun
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Li