Effects of cooling rate on the glass formation process and the microstructural evolution of Silver mono-component metallic glass

T El Hafi and O Bajjou and H Jabraoui and J Louafi and M Mazroui and Y Lachtioui, CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 569, 111873 (2023).

DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphys.2023.111873

In this study, using molecular dynamics simulations in combination with the embedded-atom approach, we investigate the effect of cooling rate on the microstructural evolution and the glass formation process of Silver monatomic metallic glass. In order to accomplish our investigation, we have utilised a variety of analytical techniques, including the pair distribution function, the bond angle distribution, the Voronoi tessellation anal-ysis, the coordination number, and the five-fold symmetry. The splitting of the second peak in the pair distri-bution function during the cooling process confirms that glass formation occurs. Via the Went-Abraham parameter, we have found that a faster cooling rate leads to a higher glass transition temperature Tg, and a less relaxed glass has a lower density due to its greater free volume and disordered structure. In the same context, the bond angle distribution revealed that the cooling rate clearly influences the icosahedral short-range order in the quenched system, and the Voronoi tessellation analysis indicated that the percentage of mixed-like and icosahedral-like clusters grows as the cooling rate increases. Furthermore, the coordination number indicated that when the temperature drops throughout the cooling process, the local environment and topological structure of the amorphous Silver change. Lastly, we have also revealed that the five-fold symmetry controls the formation of the amorphous structure and that the highest cooling rate yields the greatest amount of icosahedral-like clusters in the vitreous phase, implying that fast cooling rates subserve the formation of glassy states with icosahedral-like features.

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