title: Topology-generating interfacial pattern formation during liquid metal dealloying.
abstract: Liquid metal dealloying has emerged as a novel technique to produce topologically complex nanoporous and nanocomposite structures with ultra-high interfacial area and other unique properties relevant for diverse material applications. This process is empirically known to require the selective dissolution of one element of a multicomponent solid alloy into a liquid metal to obtain desirable structures. However, how structures form is not known. Here we demonstrate, using mesoscale phase-field modelling and experiments, that nano/microstructural pattern formation during dealloying results from the interplay of (i) interfacial spinodal decomposition, forming compositional domain structures enriched in the immiscible element, and (ii) diffusion-coupled growth of the enriched solid phase and the liquid phase into the alloy. We highlight how those two basic mechanisms interact to yield a rich variety of topologically disconnected and connected structures. Moreover, we deduce scaling laws governing microstructural length scales and dealloying kinetics.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Pierre-Antoine
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Geslin
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: McCue
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gaskey
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
authors.forename: Jonah
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Erlebacher
authors.affiliation: Physics Department and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karma