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Structure and Properties of Quasicrystalline Materials

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A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Crystalline Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2018) | Viewed by 33638

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dmitry A. Shulyatev

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Guest Editor

Materials Modeling and Development Laboratory, National University of Science and Technology MISIS, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Interests: crystal growth and characterization; floating zone melting; perovskites; high Tc superconductivity; magnetoresistivity; quasicrystals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since 1984, when Shechtman and coworkers published their pioneering paper on non-crystallographic rotational symmetry in rapidly quenched Al₆Mn alloy, there has been an extraordinary interest in investigations of the structure and properties of this new type of atomic order in the solid state, termed “quasicrystals”. Quasicrystals have aperiodic long-range atomic order and symmetry, forbidden for periodic systems. They demonstrate unusual physical properties: Being alloys of “good” metals, they exhibit a large electrical resistance with a negative temperature coefficient, low thermal conductivity, very high hardness, low surface energy, low coefficient of friction, high catalytic activity, and a great deal of other interesting properties.

A massive amount of experimental and theoretical data on the structure and physical properties of quasicrystals has been accumulated over the more than 30 years of their investigation. This Special Issue will focus on the most recent advances in the field of quasicrystals and their crystalline approximants.

The possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Structure and Mathematical Modeling of Quasicrystals and Approximants
Soft Matter Quasicrystals
Formation and Stability of Quasicrystals
Phason Dynamics
Electron Microscopy and Surface Investigations of Quasicrystals and Approximants
Electronic Structure and Transport in Quasicrystals and Approximants
Magnetic, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Quasicrystals and Approximants
New Quasicrystalline alloys

Dr. Dmitry A. Shulyatev
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Quasicrystals
Approximants
Aperiodic structure
Phason
Electronic structure
Transport, Magnetic, Thermal and Mechanical Properties

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 4049 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quasicrystalline Ordering in Thin Liquid Crystal Films

by Jayasri Dontabhaktuni, Miha Ravnik and Slobodan Zumer

Crystals 2018, 8(7), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst8070275 - 29 Jun 2018

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4300

Abstract

Quasicrystalline ordering was first observed in synthetic multi-component metallic alloys. These solid state materials exhibit quasicrystalline atomic ordering at nanometer length scales. Softmatter systems are another class of versatile materials that can exhibit quasicrystalline ordering across supra-nanometer (>10 nm) to supra-micrometer (>10

μ

[...] Read more.

μ

m) length scales as recently observed in materials like-supramolecular dendritic molecules, ABC star polymers, binary nanoparticle systems and block co-polymers in condensed matter systems. The underlying mechanism in most of these soft quasicrystals seems to be the presence of two or more length scales in the system. Another class of development in self-assembled quasicrystals in softmatter is being observed in low molecular weight chiral and achiral nematic liquid crystals. Liquid crystal forms an efficient matrix for self- and directed-assemblies of colloidal structures where surface and geometry-tuning the particles in nematic liquid crystals gives rise to complex inter-particle interactions while the long-range order results in self-assembled structures of higher order rotational symmetries. Furthermore, there has also been attempts to generate colloidal quasicrystalline defect structures by directing the assemblies using multiple and single beam lasing techniques. In the present article, we will review self- and assisted-assembly of quasicrystalline structures in nematic liquid crystals (both chiral and achiral) and discuss the underlying mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Quasicrystalline Materials)

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Figure 1

17 pages, 3280 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lattice Correspondence and Growth Structures of Monoclinic Mg₄Zn₇ Phase Growing on an Icosahedral Quasicrystal

by Alok Singh and Julian M. Rosalie

Crystals 2018, 8(5), 194; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst8050194 - 01 May 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5871

Abstract

{Mg}_{4} {Zn}_{7}

phase, with a monoclinic unit cell, a layered structure and a unique axis showing pseudo-tenfold symmetry, grows over icosahedral quasicrystalline phase in a manner similar to a decagonal quasicrystal. In this study, the relationship of this phase to icosahedral [...] Read more.

{Mg}_{4} {Zn}_{7}

{Mg}_{4} {Zn}_{7}

phase growing on icosahedral phase in a cast Mg-Zn-Y alloy. Lattice correspondences between the two phases have been determined by electron diffraction. Planes related to icosahedral fivefold and pseudo-twofold symmetry are identified. Possible orthogonal cells bounded by twofold symmetry-related planes have been determined.

{Mg}_{4} {Zn}_{7}

phase growing on an icosahedral phase exhibits a number of planar faults parallel to the monoclinic axis, presumably to accommodate the quasiperiodicity at the interface. Two faults were identified, which were on {200} and {

\bar{2}

01} planes. Their structures have been determined by high resolution imaging in TEM. They produce two different unit cells at the interface. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Quasicrystalline Materials)

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Graphical abstract

12 pages, 21472 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Formation of Quasicrystalline Phases and Their Close Approximants in Cast Al-Mn Base Alloys Modified by Transition Metals

by Katarzyna Stan-Głowińska

Crystals 2018, 8(2), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst8020061 - 27 Jan 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3248

Abstract

The aim of the presented research was to study the influence of Cr, Co, Ni, and Cu additions on the formation of quasicrystalline particles in the 94Al-6Mn base alloy during casting at intermediate cooling rates. Based on the obtained results, Cu and Ni enhance quasicrystalline phase nucleation compared to the unmodified binary composition. In the case of Cu addition, formation of a quasicrystalline phase takes place along whole thickness of the prepared casting, but its fraction and morphology depends on the cooling rates present in different parts of the sample. Based on the previous works on the beneficial effect of Fe addition, a quaternary alloy containing both Fe and Cu was prepared to evaluate the effect of the simultaneous presence of these elements on the microstructure of the obtained castings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Quasicrystalline Materials)

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Figure 1

1896 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structurally Complex Frank–Kasper Phases and Quasicrystal Approximants: Electronic Origin of Stability

by Valentina F. Degtyareva and Natalia S. Afonikova

Crystals 2017, 7(12), 359; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7120359 - 04 Dec 2017

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3993

Abstract

Metal crystals with tetrahedral packing are known as Frank–Kasper phases, with large unit cells with the number of atoms numbering from hundreds to thousands. The main factors of the formation and stability of these phases are the atomic size ratio and the number of valence electrons per atom. The significance of the electronic energy contribution is analyzed within the Fermi sphere–Brillouin zone interaction model for several typical examples: Cu₄Cd₃, Mg₂Al₃ with over a thousand atoms per cell, and for icosahedral quasicrystal approximants with 146–168 atoms per cell. Our analysis shows that to minimize the crystal energy, it is important that the Fermi sphere (FS) is in contact with the Brillouin zones that are related to the strong diffraction peaks: the zones either inscribe the FS or are circumscribed by the FS creating contact at edges or vertices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Quasicrystalline Materials)

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Figure 1

5322 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methods for Calculating Empires in Quasicrystals

by Fang Fang, Dugan Hammock and Klee Irwin

Crystals 2017, 7(10), 304; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7100304 - 09 Oct 2017

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 11785

Abstract

This paper reviews the empire problem for quasiperiodic tilings and the existing methods for generating the empires of the vertex configurations in quasicrystals, while introducing a new and more efficient method based on the cut-and-project technique. Using Penrose tiling as an example, this method finds the forced tiles with the restrictions in the high dimensional lattice (the mother lattice) that can be cut-and-projected into the lower dimensional quasicrystal. We compare our method to the two existing methods, namely one method that uses the algorithm of the Fibonacci chain to force the Ammann bars in order to find the forced tiles of an empire and the method that follows the work of N.G. de Bruijn on constructing a Penrose tiling as the dual to a pentagrid. This new method is not only conceptually simple and clear, but it also allows us to calculate the empires of the vertex configurations in a defected quasicrystal by reversing the configuration of the quasicrystal to its higher dimensional lattice, where we then apply the restrictions. These advantages may provide a key guiding principle for phason dynamics and an important tool for self error-correction in quasicrystal growth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Quasicrystalline Materials)

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Review

Jump to: Research

1019 KiB

Open AccessReview

Defects in Static Elasticity of Quasicrystals

by Qin Xu, Jing Lu and Wu Li

Crystals 2017, 7(12), 373; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7120373 - 14 Dec 2017

Viewed by 3249

Abstract

A review on mathematical elasticity of quasicrystals is given. In this review, the focus is on various defects of quasicrystals. Dislocation and crack are two classes of typical topological defects, while their existence has great influence on the mechanical behavior of quasicrystals. The analytic and numerical solutions of dislocations and crack in quasicrystals are the core of the static and dynamic elasticity theory, and this paper gives a comprehensive review on the solutions for dislocations and crack with different configurations in different various important quasicrystalline systems. We review some results in linear elasticity of quasicrystals, referring to different boundary value problems. We also add some new achievements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure and Properties of Quasicrystalline Materials)

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