Main studies carried out during September:

- preparation of thin foils by electropolishing from ribbons samples with vanadium, molybdenum, titanium, zirconium and chromium addition for observation with Transmission Electron Microscopy

- microstructure observation of melt-spun ribbon with Cr addition using TEM, determination of phases chemical composition

- participation in 10th Multinational Congress on Microscopy in Urbino in Italy (4-9.09.2011), during conference attendance in poster session with the poster: “TEM study of the quasicrystalline phase transformation in Al-Mn-Fe melt-spun ribbon”.

- preparation of the article and oral presentation for the 39th School in Materials Science in Krynica, with the title: “Microstructure, mechanical properties and thermal stability of Al-Mn-Fe melt-spun ribbons”.

- participation in 39th School in Materials Science in Krynica (27-30.09.2011), during session A (non-ferrous metal alloys) oral presentation was given with the title mentioned above

- preparation of article for Archives of Metallurgy and Materials with the title: “Characterization of as-spun and annealed Al-Mn-Fe ribbon”.

Whole month was spent on reading scientific literature about my topic. I was focused on the information about morfology and energies of grain boundaries in polycrystalline samples.

In 27-30.09.2011 in Krynica I attended in 39th School in Materials Science.
I presented the presentation (based on the article) during session A (non-ferrous metal alloys).
Below the abstract of mine article:

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN RECRYSTALLIZATION
OF AA1050 ALUMINIUM ALLOY PROCESSED BY ECAP
J. Poplewska, A. Tarasek, K. Berent, H. Paul
Abstract
This paper describes the development of microstructure after deformation and during recrystallization of AA1050 aluminium processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). The nucleation of new grains and further grain growth were observed in bulk samples after static recrystallization at 270°C. The samples were deformed along route A (no rotation between consecutive passes) through 6 passes, then slightly annealed to obtain the different states of recrystallization. The microstructure was analyzed using high resolution scanning electron microscopy equipped with the local orientation measurements facility. It was observed that the ECAP-processing lead to strong microstructure fragmentation. The as-deformed microstructure was composed of flat (pancake-type) grains with the distance between high angle boundaries in normal direction of about 0.35µm. The low temperature recrystallization led very quickly to microstructure globularization and to their coarsening. After more advanced recrystallization stages the inhomogeneous structure composed of grain classes of different sizes were observed.

Keywords: AA1050 Aluminium alloy; ECAP; Recovery and rekrystallization; Grain growth; EBSD;

One of the goal of this conference was integration PhD students involved in the field of ‘Materials Science’. In this conference about 120 people were attended from seventeen centers in Poland.
There were invited well-known professors who gave lectures on:
- Professor Miroslaw Handke: ‘Silicate materials - from Stone Age to the Present’;
- Professor Marian Szczerka: ‘Tribology - friction and wear in the macro-, micro-and nono-scale’.

In August 2011 I continue the study of stability of homogeneous Zn(II)-Sn(II)-Mo(VI) citrate solutions and the study of electrochemical properties of citrate complexes presented in examinated solutions by cyclic voltammetry method. I conducted research in different hydrodynamic conditions, in the following solutions:
1) 0,65 M Na3HCit; pH=5;
2) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; pH=5;
3) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,08 M SnSO4; pH=5;
4) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; 0,08 M SnSO4; pH=5;
5) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,16 M ZnSO4; pH=5;
6) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; 0,16 M ZnSO4; pH=5;
7) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,08 M SnSO4; 0,16 M ZnSO4; pH=5;
8) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; 0,08 M SnSO4; 0,16 M ZnSO4; pH=5;
9) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,02 M C3H6O; pH=5;
10) 0,65 M Na3HCit; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
11) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
12) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,08 M SnSO4; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
13) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; 0,08 M SnSO4; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
14) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,16 M ZnSO4; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
15) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; 0,16 M ZnSO4; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
16) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,08 M SnSO4; 0,16 M ZnSO4; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
17) 0,65 M Na3HCit; 0,24 M Na2MoO4; 0,08 M SnSO4; 0,16 M ZnSO4; ¬0,12 M Na2SO3; pH=5;
All the research which I conducted are not completed and I cannot draw out unequivocal conclusions but I’ve got a lot of important information and planned out further investigation.

My research in August:

I used nano-AlN powder to produce third series of composites with 7475 aluminium alloy matrix. As previously, the composites were produced through powder-metallurgy processing. Pre-alloyed 7475 aluminium powders were mixed with ceramic particles and milled in a high energy planetary ball mill.

I also made an literature review concerning heat treatment of composites with aluminium alloy matrix with particular emphasis on precipitation hardening in aging process.