When interpreting the results of the research, researchers pointed out that quasi-single crystal is almost a new physical concept. Twenty years ago, this concept was proposed when explaining the X-ray images of special materials for the synthesis of aluminum and manganese atoms. A strictly ordered arrangement of aluminum and manganese atoms can be clearly observed on this X-ray photo. However, this phenomenon cannot be explained by the classical crystallographic principle, because atoms are prohibited from being arranged in the ordinary single crystal material.
Researchers have found that in quasi-single-crystal materials synthesized from three atoms of iron, copper and aluminum, the arrangement of atoms is very special. Ordinary single crystal materials are composed of lattices formed by the same atoms, just like a wall consisting of the same brick. In this quasi-single-crystal material, although the arrangement of the atoms has a strict sequence, there is no crystal lattice which is the same everywhere in the ordinary single crystal material. The arrangement of atoms in them is a geometric sequence: there is a lattice-like arrangement, but without the repeatability of the lattice arrangement, the distance between the crystal lattices is always increasing.
When the researchers explained the method of synthesizing three atomic quasi-single-crystal materials of iron, copper and aluminum, they pointed out that the method they used was called mechanical-chemical synthesis, which was both simple and economical. During the synthesis process, the researchers used some special physical methods to use long balls to strike and strike the raw materials in a special device until the raw materials were processed to the atomic level, and in order to maintain the characteristics of the materials, The powder is sintered at a high temperature.
In studying the properties of quasi-single-crystal materials, researchers have found that composites made from such quasi-single-crystal materials on rubber and polymer substrates have unique properties, both metallic and ceramic. They are as hard as diamonds, have a lower coefficient of friction than any metal, are slightly larger than the ultra-slip fluorolayer material, and have high chemical stability and abrasion resistance. Experts pointed out that this unique quasi-single-crystal material will have broad prospects for industrial applications, such as filling of various rubber and plastic sealing plugs.
It is reported that Russian researchers have developed two kinds of quasi-single-crystal materials by mechanical-chemical synthesis: one is iron-copper-aluminum; the other is chrome-copper-aluminum. The research project has been funded by the Russian Foundation Research Fund.
Russia developed hardness as much as diamond composites
China Daily News: According to the Russian Science Information Agency, the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys has successfully synthesized a special quasi-single-crystal material in which the arrangement of the three metal atoms is not like ordinary single crystal. That has the same lattice, but still has a strict sequence, showing a geometric arrangement. The study found that composites made on the basis of the quasi-single-crystal material have a series of unique properties and have broad industrial application prospects.