Establishing relationships between the electron work function and mechanical and tribological properties towards advanced materials design

建立电子功函数与机械和摩擦学特性之间的关系，以实现先进材料设计

• 批准号: 216815-2012
• 负责人: Li, Dongyang
• 金额: $ 1.75万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=570042
• 关键词: Establishing; relationships; between; electron; work

Conventional metallurgical rules have been successfully used in materials design for centuries but limitations are still there. Many expensive and time-consuming trial-and-error experiments are needed before a new material is successfully developed. With technological advances, it has been possible to develop more fundamental approaches for advanced materials design with higher accuracy and efficiency. It has long been a dream to design structural and tribological materials based more on the electron behavior, since the mechanical strength of a material is essentially governed by electronic interactions. However, the electronic theory of materials is so complicated and not easy to be applied by materials engineers for materials design. Recent studies have shown that it is feasible to a simple parameter, electron work function (EWF), to correlate the mechanical properties of materials with their electron behaviour. As an example, the Young's modulus of metals (E) exhibits a sixth power relation with their work function. However, although some correlations between materials properties and the work function have been observed, mechanisms behind are not well understood. In particular, how to use the concept of EWF effectively in guiding materials design is far behind the fundamental research on EWF itself. The main obstacle is the lack of established correlations between EWF and material properties and solid theory. Such correlations and relevant theory are highly desired not only for fundamental research but also for advanced materials design. The objectives of this research are 1) to understand and establish the correlations between EWF and mechanical and tribological properties; 2) to develop theoretical models to quantify the correlations; and 3) to explore applications of EWF in mechanical and tribological processes. The ultimate goal of the proposed research is to build foundations for effective incorporation of the electron behavior via a feasible parameter, electron work function, in advanced materials design and characterization.

几个世纪以来，传统的冶金规则已经成功地应用于材料设计，但仍然存在局限性。在一种新材料成功开发之前，需要进行许多昂贵且耗时的反复试验。随着技术的进步，有可能以更高的精度和效率开发更基本的先进材料设计方法。