EAGER: Self-Repairable Glass-Ceramic Composites for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

非技术描述：玻璃用于密封和连接材料在无数的技术应用，如真空技术，微电子和电力电子。新型高效能源生产设备也需要密封，如固体氧化物燃料电池（sofc），以保护有限的自然资源用于能源生产。sofc的密封件在非常高的温度下工作，并且在使用中容易开裂。这项研究工作有望开发出一种新型的玻璃和玻璃复合材料，这种玻璃和玻璃复合材料可以自我修复裂缝或损坏，从而为sofc的密封提供长寿命和经济高效的解决方案。该研究还具有巨大回报的潜力，通过(1)培养学生适用于学术界和工业界的宝贵技术和研究技能，以及(2)通过加强现有的用于高科技应用的玻璃和玻璃复合材料合成设施来推进加强机构的资源。技术细节：虽然玻璃有望用于制造sofc密封件，但由于其固有的脆性，当暴露于热瞬态时，它们容易开裂。最近，人们发现了一种具有革命性意义的自修复/自修复玻璃作为sofc密封件的概念，这需要对玻璃和玻璃陶瓷复合材料中裂纹愈合的动力学和机制有基本的了解。因此，本研究的主要重点是对具有自我修复能力的玻璃和玻璃陶瓷复合材料的裂纹愈合机制和动力学进行基础研究，以进一步推进sofc自修复密封的变革概念。有了这样的理解，就可以确定裂纹愈合机制，并能够预测实现自我修复所需的愈合时间。该方法包括合成含有结晶陶瓷相的致密玻璃和玻璃-陶瓷复合材料，并研究裂纹在愈合时的形态演变和裂纹愈合动力学。这种裂纹修复研究的方法包括使用维氏微压头创建控制几何形状的裂纹，然后通过测量裂纹形状和裂纹长度作为不同温度下时间的函数来确定裂纹修复动力学。这项研究具有创新性和变革性，因为其结果将是首次全面研究玻璃和玻璃陶瓷复合材料的裂纹愈合行为，这些材料可作为sofc的主动自修复密封材料。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Glasses are used for sealing and joining materials in a myriad of technological applications such as vacuum technology, microelectronics and power electronics. Seals are also needed for new and more efficient energy producing devices such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) for conservation of limited natural resources for energy production. The seals for SOFCs function at very high temperatures and are susceptible to cracking in service. The research work is expected to develop a new class of glass and glass-composites that self-repair cracks or damage thereby providing long-life and cost-effective solutions to seals for SOFCs. The research also has potentials for enormous payoffs by (1) training students in invaluable technical and research skills applicable to both academia and industry, and (2) advance enhancing the institutional the resources of institution by the enhancement of existing facilities for the synthesis of glasses and glass-composites for high-technology applications. TECHNICAL DETAILS: While glasses are promising for making seals for SOFCs, they suffer from cracking because of their inherent brittleness when exposed to thermal transients. Recently, a transformative concept of self-healing/self-repairable glasses as seals for SOFCs was discovered, which requires a fundamental understanding of the kinetics and mechanism of crack healing in glasses and glass-ceramic composites. Therefore, the primary focus of this research is a basic investigation of the crack-healing mechanism and kinetics in promising glass and glass-ceramic composites displaying self-repair in order to further advance this transformative concept of self-repairable seals for SOFCs. With such an understanding one can identify the crack-healing mechanism and be able to predict the healing time required for achieving self-repair. The approach involves the synthesis of dense glass and glass-ceramic composites containing a crystalline ceramic phase, and studying the morphological evolution of cracks upon healing and crack-healing kinetics. The approach to this crack-healing study involves creating cracks of controlled geometry using a Vickers microindenter and then determining the crack-healing kinetics via measuring the crack shape and crack length as a function of time at different temperatures. The research is novel and transformative because the results will be the first comprehensive study of the crack-healing behaviors of glasses and glass-ceramic composites useful as active self-repairable seals for SOFCs.