Wide-angle X-ray scattering in conjunction with pole figure technique was used to study the texture of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) α and γ phase crystals in nanolayered polysulfone/poly(vinylidene fluoride) films (PSF/PVDF) produced by layer-multiplying coextrusion. In all as-extruded PSF/PVDF films, the PVDF nanolayers crystallized into the α phase crystals. A large fraction of those crys...

Advanced engineering and functional ceramics are sensitive to damage cracks, which delay the wide applications of these materials in various fields. Ceramic composites with enhanced fracture toughness may trigger a paradigm for design and application of the brittle components. This paper reviews the toughening mechanisms for the nanolayered MAX phase ceramics. The main toughening mechanisms for...

Article history: Received 17 March 2016 Received in revised form 21 May 2016 Accepted 22 May 2016 Available online 7 June 2016 X-ray nano-diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were conducted along the thickness of a ~4 μm thick CrN/AlN multilayer with continuously increasing AlN layer thicknesses from ~1 to 15 nm on ~7 nm thick CrN template layers. The experiments reveal coherent gro...

The selection and design of modern high-performance structural engineering materials such as nanostructured metallic multilayers (NMMs) is driven by optimizing combinations of mechanical properties and requirements for predictable and noncatastrophic failure in service. Here, the Cu/X (X = Zr, Cr) nanolayered micropillars with equal layer thickness (h) spanning from 5-125 nm are uniaxially comp...