@article{escobar_silverstein_ishrak_li_soulami_li_yu_mathaudhu_ortiz_koch_et al._2023, title={Microstructural evolution in shear-punch tests: A comparative study of pure Cu and Cu-Cr alloy}, volume={886}, ISSN={["1873-4936"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2023.145715}, DOI={10.1016/j.msea.2023.145715}, abstractNote={Understanding the mechanisms behind microstructural evolution during shear deformation has been a long-standing area of interest. However, establishing a connection between microstructure, mechanical properties, and the extent of shear deformation is challenging and requires refined experimental approaches. Shear-punch testing (SPT) provides a controlled method to introduce shear into small volumes of material that later can be subjected to detailed microstructural characterization. In this study, we utilize an SPT device to induce shear deformation to pure copper (Cu) and a binary copper-chromium (Cu-Cr) alloy. Electron backscatter diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to study the mechanisms of plastic deformation after SPT. Our results indicate that shear deformation of pure Cu produces a dense network of intercepting microshear bands upon sustained deformation. Twin boundaries in annealed Cu undergo transformation into high-angle grain boundaries due to simultaneous deviation from the axis-angle pair condition of 60° misorientation on [111] direction. The presence of 50 vol% Cr particles in the soft Cu matrix altered the shear deformation mechanism. Preferential deformation of the Cu matrix in Cu-Cr alloy led to accelerated shear-induced formation of low and high-angle grain boundaries and subsequent grain refinement. Comparatively, insignificant grain refinement occurred in pure Cu samples even at a strain ∼10 times larger (ε = 4.73) than that of the Cu-Cr case (ε = 0.42). This study sheds light on the microstructural evolution of Cu during shear deformation and highlights the significant influence of a hard second phase in modifying the microstructural response mechanisms of a softer matrix.}, journal={MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING}, author={Escobar, Julian and Silverstein, Joshua and Ishrak, Farhan and Li, Lei and Soulami, Ayoub and Li, Shuang and Yu, Anqi and Mathaudhu, Suveen and Ortiz, Angel and Koch, Carl and et al.}, year={2023}, month={Oct} }
 @article{ishrak_mayanovic_benamara_2023, title={Size-dependent magnetic properties of Mn-Co-NiO based heterostructured nanoparticles}, url={https://doi.org/10.1063/9.0000583}, DOI={10.1063/9.0000583}, abstractNote={In this work, we investigate the synthesis, along with the structural and magnetic properties, of novel Mn-Co-NiO-based heterostructured nanocrystals (HNCs). The objective is to develop novel, well-structurally ordered inverted antiferromagnetic (AFM) NiO–ferrimagnetic (FiM) spinel phase overgrowth HNCs. Inverted HNCs are particularly promising for magnetic device applications because their magnetic properties are more easily controlled by having well-ordered AFM cores, which can result in magnetic structures having large coercivities, tunable blocking temperatures, and other enhanced magnetic effects. The synthesis of the HNCs is accomplished using a two-step process: In the first step, NiO nanoparticles are synthesized using a thermal decomposition method. Subsequently, Mn-Co overgrowth phases are grown on the NiO nanoparticles via hydrothermal nanophase epitaxy, using a fixed pH level (∼5.3) of the aqueous medium. This pH level was selected based on previous work in our laboratory showing that NiO/Mn3O4 HNCs of constant size have optimal coercivity and exchange bias when synthesized at a pH of 5.0. The crystalline structure and gross morphology of the Mn-Co-NiO-based HNCs have been analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques, respectively. Analysis using these techniques shows that the HNCs are composed of a NiO core and a CoMn2O4 overgrowth phase. Rietveld refinement of XRD data shows that the NiO core has the rocksalt (Fm3̄m) cubic crystal structure and the CoMn2O4 overgrowth has the spinel (I41/amd) crystal structure. Moreover, an increased relative amount of the CoMn2O4 overgrowth phase is deposited with decreasing NiO core particle size during the synthesis of the HNCs. The results from PPMS magnetization and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization of the Mn-Co-NiO-based HNCs are discussed herein.}, journal={AIP Advances}, author={Ishrak, Farhan and Mayanovic, Robert A. and Benamara, Mourad}, year={2023}, month={Feb} }