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Sheared Aluminum's Odd, Possibly Useful Behavior
Chiggy_Von_Richtoffe writes "Researchers at Ohio State University have turned up some interesting things about aluminum when sheared at the atomic leavel. Apparently it
mimics certain ceramics and semiconductors, as well as having a stronger shear-strength than copper. I can't wait until we can get all sorts of cool new toys from this vein of research."
Hey, that's what I did my PhD thesis work in! :-)
Aluminum is the largest component of the most easily formed
"quasicrystals", and this analysis seems to be yet another indication that the seemingly normal metal face-centered-cubic structure of alumnium is actually not very far removed from some quite strange states of matter. Further evidence is right there on the periodic table - gallium, just below Al, has one of the strangest ground-state structures of any metal, and melts at a balmy 35 degrees Celsius!
For those who have access, I actually wrote a paper on this over 10 years ago... ah the memories...
Energy: time to change the picture.
What environment was this shearing done in and was the aluminium used pure? If it was done in a non-sterile environment, acidic particulates could have reacted with the momomolecular aluminium sheet. Assuming the alumininum was pure, they should have left a control which is a polymolecular block of the element, left in the shearing environment. That way they could check the top layer of the control and if any changes had occured, the top momomolecular layer, the experiement would have been invalid because a change would ahve occured in the momomolecular sheet. Aluminium is quite reactive so was an inert gas placed over the sample as it was sheared?... Otherwise it may have reacted or oxidised. It would require very little contamination to ruin the sheet since it is only one molecule thick.