Nanosynthesis of Magnetostrictive Iron-Gallium Enabled by Cryogenic Ball Milling
Abstract
The maintenance required to keep a nuclear power plant running is causing them to lose money and shut down. This is because of the inefficient ways of telling when repair is needed. With magnetostrictive guided-wave sensors real time data of temperature and structural integrity can be gathered. We have chosen to focus on Iron-gallium (Galfenol) alloy for use in magnetostrictive wave sensors. Galfenol was chosen for its high temperature tolerance (< 700 °C), gamma radiation tolerance (> 26 X 103 MGy), neutron radiation tolerance (> 1020 n/cm2), tensile strength (580 MPa [3]), and coefficient of thermal expansion (~12.4ppm/ °C between 27 and 557 °C [4]). To use galfenol in these sensors it must be 3D printed. 3D printing the material allows for direct printing onto a sample for monitoring and easy integration into reactors. The current challenge with printing Galfenol is producing nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are necessary for various printing techniques, such as inkjet, aerosol jet, and plasma jet. Inks based on iron-gallium nanoparticles have a longer shelf-life, but currently there is no way to mass produce these Galfenol nanoparticles. Cryogenic ball milling is one feasible way to synthesize iron-gallium nanoparticles because the cryogenic temperature embrittles the material.
Nanosynthesis of Magnetostrictive Iron-Gallium Enabled by Cryogenic Ball Milling
The maintenance required to keep a nuclear power plant running is causing them to lose money and shut down. This is because of the inefficient ways of telling when repair is needed. With magnetostrictive guided-wave sensors real time data of temperature and structural integrity can be gathered. We have chosen to focus on Iron-gallium (Galfenol) alloy for use in magnetostrictive wave sensors. Galfenol was chosen for its high temperature tolerance (< 700 °C), gamma radiation tolerance (> 26 X 103 MGy), neutron radiation tolerance (> 1020 n/cm2), tensile strength (580 MPa [3]), and coefficient of thermal expansion (~12.4ppm/ °C between 27 and 557 °C [4]). To use galfenol in these sensors it must be 3D printed. 3D printing the material allows for direct printing onto a sample for monitoring and easy integration into reactors. The current challenge with printing Galfenol is producing nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are necessary for various printing techniques, such as inkjet, aerosol jet, and plasma jet. Inks based on iron-gallium nanoparticles have a longer shelf-life, but currently there is no way to mass produce these Galfenol nanoparticles. Cryogenic ball milling is one feasible way to synthesize iron-gallium nanoparticles because the cryogenic temperature embrittles the material.