The Fall 2021 MatSE 590 for graduate students consists of an exciting and jam-packed schedule. MATSE 590 is a colloquium (1-3 credits) consist of a series of individual lectures by faculty, students, or outside speakers. Fall 2021 Speakers
Graduate students will receive a weekly email with information via @psu.edu email. Graduate students are required to attend all 590 Seminars. If you have any questions, please email Hayley Barnes at hjc24@psu.edu.
*Due to the ongoing Covid Pandemic this program is being offered virtually through Zoom. Please reference the weekly email from Hayley Barnes (hjc24@psu.edu) for Zoom link.
September 23, 2021
“Advanced electron microscopy characterization of interfacial dynamics under extreme environments”
Yang Yang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Penn State
Abstract
The degradation of materials under extreme environments, such as corrosion, radiation damage, mechanical deformation, and high temperatures, has significant social and economic impacts. Degradation not only limits the lifetime and robustness of portable devices, bridges, and buildings, etc., but it also compromises the safety of nuclear energy. A mechanistic understanding of how materials fail is key to the development of more damage-resistant materials. However, research in this direction has been challenging because the degradation processes are highly dynamic and usually occur at interfaces that are difficult to probe.
In this talk, Dr. Yang will discuss how advanced electron microscopy techniques – such as in-situ transmission electron microscopy (in-situ TEM), environmental TEM (E-TEM), and four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) – open new avenues to overcoming these challenges. First, he will show why aluminum has a superior oxidation resistance in dry air by comparing the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) process in aluminum with that of zirconium. Also, he will present the study of molten salt corrosion, typical of next-generation nuclear reactors. Finally, he will discuss how in-situ TEM techniques could help elucidate the improved radiation damage tolerance in novel nanostructured materials.
Biographical Information
Dr. Yang Yang is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) and the Materials Research Institute (MRI) of the Pennsylvania State University (University Park, USA). Dr. Yang conducted postdoc research at National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory between Jan 2019 -May 2021. He received a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. During his Ph.D. study, he was a visiting student at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at Brookhaven National Laboratory for more than two years to conduct in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy studies. His research interests include advanced electron microscopy characterization of materials degradation under extreme environments, as well as developing advanced computation tools for understanding interfacial dynamics during ion radiation in solids. He is one of the leading developers of IM3D, a full-3D Monte Carlo (MC) simulation tool for ion radiation in matter.
