Scientists from the “BelSU” National Research University have developed a unique alloy that has no analogues in strength and plasticity at extremely low temperatures. They also noted that the material is not expensive to produce. It can be used in space exploration programs, in the World Ocean, in the Arctic and Antarctica. The results were published in the journal Material science and engineering.
Austenitic steels are used to work at extremely low temperatures. But scientists say their strength, ductility and other properties are lacking.
Scientists at Belgorod State National Research University have obtained an alloy of iron, cobalt, nickel, chromium and carbon that, in their opinion, has extraordinary properties at temperatures of -150°C and below.
They noted that at a liquid nitrogen temperature of -196°C, it was one and a half times stronger than the best analogue and had an excellent ductility of 24%.
“Combined with excellent fracture toughness, this provides an optimal balance between mechanical properties,” said Dmitry Shaisultanov, senior researcher at BelSU.
old Russian chemists developed metal “nano-icebergs” to speed up chemical reactions. Metals are known to speed up chemical processes, but their use in a catalyst is very expensive, so they are often sprayed onto the carbon surface. At the same time, both components must be very pure for the reaction to go in the right direction.
To do this, the scientists proposed synthesizing catalysts based on metal nanoparticles on carbon. They mixed calcium carbide with various metal salts and heated it in a stream of chlorine, creating a kind of metal iceberg in a sea of carbon.