Giant uniaxial negative thermal expansion in FeZr2 alloy over a wide temperature range

Meng Xu; Qiang Li; Yuzhu Song; Yuanji Xu; Andrea Sanson; Naike Shi; Na Wang; Qiang Sun; Changtian Wang; Xin Chen; Yongqiang Qiao; Feixiang Long; Hui Liu; Qiang Zhang; Alessandro Venier; Yang Ren; Francesco d'Acapito; Luca Olivi; Danilo Oliveira De Souza; Xianran Xing; Jun Chen

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40074-7

Giant uniaxial negative thermal expansion in FeZr₂ alloy over a wide temperature range

Nat Commun. 2023 Jul 24;14(1):4439. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40074-7.

Authors

Meng Xu¹, Qiang Li², Yuzhu Song¹, Yuanji Xu³, Andrea Sanson^{4

5}, Naike Shi¹, Na Wang¹, Qiang Sun⁶, Changtian Wang¹, Xin Chen², Yongqiang Qiao⁶, Feixiang Long¹, Hui Liu¹, Qiang Zhang⁷, Alessandro Venier⁴, Yang Ren⁸, Francesco d'Acapito⁹, Luca Olivi¹⁰, Danilo Oliveira De Souza¹⁰, Xianran Xing², Jun Chen^{11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
² Institute of Solid State Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
³ Institute for Applied Physics, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padua, Padova, I-35131, Italy.
⁵ Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padua, Padova, I-35131, Italy.
⁶ International Laboratory for Quantum Functional Materials of Henan, School of Physics and Engineering, Zheng-zhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.
⁷ Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
⁸ Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 518057, China.
⁹ CNR-IOM-OGG c/o European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) 71 Av. des Martyrs, 38000, Grenoble, France.
¹⁰ ELETTRA Synchrotron Trieste, s.s. 14 km 163,500 in Area Science Park, 34149, Basovizza - Trieste, Italy.
¹¹ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China. junchen@ustb.edu.cn.
¹² Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, Hainan Province, China. junchen@ustb.edu.cn.

Abstract

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) alloys possess great practical merit as thermal offsets for positive thermal expansion due to its metallic properties. However, achieving a large NTE with a wide temperature range remains a great challenge. Herein, a metallic framework-like material FeZr₂ is found to exhibit a giant uniaxial (1D) NTE with a wide temperature range (93-1078 K, [Formula: see text]). Such uniaxial NTE is the strongest in all metal-based NTE materials. The direct experimental evidence and DFT calculations reveal that the origin of giant NTE is the couple with phonons, flexible framework-like structure, and soft bonds. Interestingly, the present metallic FeZr₂ excites giant 1D NTE mainly driven by high-frequency optical branches. It is unlike the NTE in traditional framework materials, which are generally dominated by low energy acoustic branches. In the present study, a giant uniaxial NTE alloy is reported, and the complex mechanism has been revealed. It is of great significance for understanding the nature of thermal expansion and guiding the regulation of thermal expansion.

Abstract

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