To date, a large number of different sensors (for example, pressure and vibration sensors, as well as sonars) work on the so-called magnetoelastic effect, i.e. the change in the magnetization of a metal element under the influence of an applied mechanical force. For example, when you want to track the location of a submarine, an ultrasonic signal is sent through the water and, reflecting from the surface of the submarine, it returns back in a slightly modified form. The sensor, due to fluctuations in its size, captures these changes, thus, it is possible to determine the location of the submarine.

Under laboratory conditions, the magnetostrictive effect (sample size change under the influence of an applied magnetic field, which is reverse to magnetoelastic effect) is measured to assess the functional characteristics of sensor materials. The more magnetostriction a material has, the more possibilities a product made of it demonstrates. Among the “champions” are alloys of iron with gallium (Fe-Ga or Galfenol). In them, the change in the size of the sample reaches is 0.04%, while in pure iron, this figure is about 0.0015%.

Research teams from the United States have shown that the best functional properties are shown by alloys with nonequilibrium and inhomogeneous structure, in which several phases with very close lattice parameters coincide. This opens up new prospects for their application in the field of high-precision sensors, but the question remained: how to create and stabilize this nonequilibrium nanoheterogenic structure at climatic temperatures, so that it could be preserved at room temperature?

Scientists from NUST MISIS Department of Non-Ferrous Metals together with experts from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research revealed a number of relationships between the processing temperature of galfenols and their crystal structure. These studies form a complete picture of the processes taking place inside the crystal, which allows choosing the necessary conditions for processing the sample to stabilize the required non-equilibrium structure. The results of the work were presented in the form of a series of equilibrium and nonequilibrium phase diagrams, schemes of structural transformations of the crystal lattice. In addition, scientists have shown that alloying Fe-Ga alloys with microscopic doses of rare earth elements can not only further increase their magnetostriction, but also stabilize the metastable phases at room temperature.

“Valeria Palacheva and Abdelkarim Mohamed, post-graduate students of NUST MISIS, started the study of structural transformations in galfenols a few years ago. An important stage of research was cooperation with the group of experimental physicist Professor Anatoly Balagurov from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The aim of the joint project is to systematically study the structure and properties of iron-based alloys in a nonequilibrium state, including neutron reactor studies in conjunction with physical metal science methods such as scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray, magnetometry, internal friction and others”, Professor Igor Golovin, head of the research, comments.

Thanks to a systematic approach to the study of the structure of galfenols, scientists were able to establish under what conditions of heat treatment alloys demonstrate their best functional properties.

The research is carried out within the framework of grants from the Russian Science Foundation. Next, the team plans to expand the field of research, more widely applying alloying with rare earth metals and using compounds of iron and other metals.

Leticia Medina is a doctoral fellow at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in Texas, where she has also been a Lecturer in the Writing Program and an instructor in the English for International Students (EIS) program.
Leticia’s teaching experience encompasses instruction in academic writing as well as teaching World and British literature. Most recently, Leticia taught Advanced English for Academic Purposes to international PhD students from a number of foreign countries, including India, Iran, Bangladesh, México, Brazil, China, Russia, and Angola, among others.
Leticia is an enthusiastic proponent of the collaborative classroom, in which students are encouraged to participate in the decision-making process in terms of curricula and assignment schedules. The idea is to create a classroom environment that allows students to claim agency in their own learning process.
Leticia’s life-long love of literature has led her to develop a passion for all things having to do with language. Spanish speaking by birth and then Spanish-English bilingual via immigration, Leticia is fluent in both those languages and has now also added French and Italian to the mix. Currently, she is attempting to learn Russian and finds this language utterly beautiful. Having lived and worked in China, Italy, México, and France, Leticia has developed strong coping skills necessary to adapt to different cultures, languages, and ways of life.
Leticia looks forward to the challenges and the joys that the English Language Fellows Program has in store for her and is excited to collaborate with the excellent faculty at NUST MISiS this coming academic year.

Natalia Kuznetsova, a graduate of a NUST MISIS master’s program “Technologies and Materials of Digital Fabrication”, has developed a new biodegradable composite material with nettle fiber as a filler.

 Chemelot Campus (Netherlands), one of the largest chemical clusters in Europe became interested in the project. Under the contract with Chemelot Campus, Natalia Kuznetsova will bring the project to the stage of the first batch of material, ready for use on an industrial scale. Chemelot Campus funding for the development will be 60 thousand euros. In August 2019, Natalia Kuznetsova, an NUST MISIS graduate, concluded a contract with the Dutch company Chemelot Campus, one of the largest chemical hubs in Europe, to continue developing the nettle composite at the company’s site in the Netherlands. The project to create a biodegradable composite was the graduate thesis at the University’s master’s program “Technologies and Materials of Digital Fabrication”.

Chemelot is a large chemical industry complex, consisting of industrial facilities of the leading European, Japanese, Middle Eastern and Asian petrochemical companies and a campus for innovative companies developing new products.

“Various thermoplastic polymers can be used as a matrix for a composite material. The uniqueness of this material is that the nettle filler reduces the cost of the polymer when calculating the price per kilogram of the material while maintaining its strength characteristics and increasing its elasticity and heat resistance,” — says the author of the project, Natalia Kuznetsova.

So, if we take a biodegradable material — polylactide as the matrix of a nettle composite, then the composite will turn out to be biodegradable and will be cheaper than the analogs. At the same time, due to the new property — heat resistance, it becomes possible to use the new material in products that come in contact with hot liquids, for example, in tableware.

If nettle fiber is used together with recycled polymers, then the polymer content can be reduced to 50%, leaving the possibility to further process this composite and use it as secondary raw material.

From this hybrid, you can make bio-packaging for household chemicals and food products, environmentally friendly children’s toys, jewelry, dishes, office supplies, and even bodies for electronic devices. All these products will be environmentally friendly, functional and at the same time inexpensive.

Interestingly, Natalia Kuznetsova by her first education is not a chemist at all, and not even an engineer, but a financial manager.“The master’s degree in digital production at the country’s leading technical university was my conscious choice, I realized that only managerial skills are not enough to implement a project of this scale. Now I have a development which I created with my own hands with the support of the NUST MISIS professors and engineers. At the same time, I have my successful experience as a manager, which I am sure will help me to make a successful business out of development.”

In the near future, the first industrial batch of the new environmentally friendly material will be produced at the site of the Chemelot Campus chemical hub. In the future, the company is planning to sell it to its corporate partners throughout Europe. The biodegradable composite project was also included in the four finalists of Unilever’s annual acceleration program, with which the negotiations on cooperation are currently being held.

https://en.misis.ru/university/news/misc/2019-08/6246/

NUST MISIS scientists together with JSC “Shchelkovo Plant of Secondary Precious Metals” developed an innovative cascade method for purifying silver from spent batteries used in submarines and military aircraft. Secondary use of pure precious metal from one such battery can help save up to 500 million RUR for creating a new one.

In some versions of submarines and military fighters, huge alkaline batteries weighing about 14 tons, capable of operating up to 12 years uninterruptedly, are used as an electrochemical energy source. Each of these devices uses 7 tons of pure silver plates, which, after being spent in terms of energy resource, goes to refineries (industrial processing of precious metals), where it is purified and prepared for reuse.

Recycling of such heavy-duty “strategic” batteries in 100% of cases falls into the sphere of state defense order, as the resulting silver is used for the manufacture of new batteries in the interests of the Russian Navy. The required quality of the metal from which the raw material for the battery is produced is strictly regulated by GOST (state standards), and the purity of silver should not be lower than 99.99%.

However, in the last decade, local manufacturers of silver-zinc batteries add 10-15 % lead to the silver. This lowers the costs and does not affect the performance of the product, but almost completely blocks the process of subsequent recycling of the battery.

To solve the problem of extracting lead from the silver, specialists from NUST MISIS Department of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold developed a fundamentally new technological scheme for processing silver-zinc batteries containing lead.

“The technology is a two-stage melting of silver, as a result of which the melt is separated from the slag. Subsequent rapid cooling enables the capture of oxygen, which oxidizes the lead in the composition of the silver material. In the second melting under the coating layer of flux (magnesium and sodium salts) oxidized lead is separated and goes into the slag? Sergey Rogov”, Sergey Rogov, one of the developers, Associate Professor of NUST MISIS Department of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold, PhD, explains.

As a result of this two-stage process, lead is removed, and a commercial product of 99.99% purity is obtained from raw materials with 85% silver content. The pure product corresponds to all GOSTs and is suitable for the manufacture of a new battery.

Currently, the technology has been successfully implemented at one of the refining domestic enterprises — JSC “Shchelkovo Plant of Secondary Precious Metals”. For its implementation, no additional equipment was required, except for a low-cost installation of high-speed melt cooling unit.

“The use of the new technology has allowed involving previously non-recyclable waste of silver-zinc batteries in the production, increasing the volume of products manufactured by the plant by 7.5%”, Aleksandr Savisko, Director for Production at JSC “Shchelkovo Plant of Secondary Precious Metals”, sais.

Originally Published at NUST MISiS Web

https://en.misis.ru/university/news/science/2019-05/6146/

If you’re prepared to put in the work, you can improve your writing skills. Here are some tips to help you.

Capture Attention Immediately

Using the internet is rather like having to navigate through a jungle of information. When looking for information, we tend to go to numerous sources. If your content does not draw attention in a few seconds, people will simply move on to the next source.

It doesn’t matter if yours is the most perfectly researched article in the world. Nobody’s going to read it if the headline doesn’t grab them and make them want to read more.
The headline

Your headline has to give a good indication of what the content is about. If it’s too vague, people will tend to ignore it. Some of the common elements of a good headline include the following:

• A trending topic
• Emotional appeal
• A specific number of tips or strategies
• A how-to guide – a practical explanation

The first paragraph

Just think about it – have you ever taken the time to read further if the first paragraph is confusing and convoluted? It’s difficult to come up with a scintillating first paragraph every time but some of the following ideas can work:

• Start with a catchy quote
• Be very clear and direct about what the article offers
• Give a glimpse into a secret you’ll share in the article
• Ask a question for which you know people want an answer
• Start off with a personal story and tie it to a larger theme

In an interesting case study, heatmaps show that the most engaging or important information needs to be in the first two paragraphs.

Subheadings etc.

Most people give the content a quick scan, looking at subheadings and bullet points to see whether it’s worthy of a more detailed read. If these indicate that the content is indifferent or stale, they will quickly move on. What they want is content that is concise and clear, easy to scan, conversational and relevant to their needs.

When you’re creating a piece of content, it helps to create an outline before you begin. Having a clear path for your content helps to you write more clearly. College paper writing services would be able to advise you on how to create outlines and approach writing methodically.

Tell Stories

Stories, especially inspiring ones, capture an audience more than just about any other form of content because as humans, we are hardwired to tell and listen to stories.

Bombard readers with too many facts or lists of the features of products and you will bore them. Rather tell them a story about how your products have benefited other people like them.

Post your stories on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and capture your audience. Inspiring stories that carry conviction persuade them to take action.

Case studies are also a great way to show your audience how someone benefited from using your products or services. If you’re unsure of how to write a case study, get an expert writer’s help.

Find Your Own Voice

Research and an in-depth knowledge of a subject do not necessarily mean you create content that people want to read. What draws people is authenticity. Being inspired by other writers is a good thing but trying to copy them is not. It’s often easier to write in your own voice and use your own personality than to copy someone else.

Deal With Writer’s Block

Trying to write the perfect post is the best way to suffer from writing paralysis. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar or even a good writing style when you create your first draft. Just sit down, begin writing and don’t stop until you have your draft. It will probably stink but it’s a good start.

It helps to keep a swipe file of content research. Just reading this can help you to come up with countless ideas. It can also give you plenty of examples you can use in your content.

Write Persuasively

It’s challenging to write in a persuasive manner but when writing online content, you want to persuade people to take action and so it’s essential. Here are some of the principles of persuasive writing:

• Appeal to their sense of reason – they need to believe what you’re telling them is logical.
• Appeal to their emotions – do it subtly rather than in a soppy way.
• Appeal to tradition – people should accept it because it has stood the test of time.
• Use reciprocity – give them valuable information if you want to get something from them.

If you’re battling to write persuasively, it may help to read papersowl reviews to try and find help.

Stay Organized

Use a content calendar and develop monthly themes to write about. This helps you to use a good mix of content and avoid writing about the same material too much. If you need to cope with writing content and doing assignments, some help from BrillAssignment wouldn’t go amiss.

Know Your Audience

You’re writing for an audience. Focus your message by imagining a member of your audience sitting across the desk from you.

Use Tools

Your content represents you and your brand. You can’t afford to post copy riddled with errors. Once you’ve finished a post, step back from it for a while and then look at it again with fresh eyes.

Fortunately, there are many tools you can use to help you improve your content. Some of them are:

• Grammarly will help you to pick up errors in spelling and grammar.
• Hemingwayanalyzes your writing and identifies ways to make it easier to read.
• Edu birdie – get the help of a writing service

Conclusion

By following these basic tips and using some online tools to help you with your grammar and spelling, you are certainly able to improve your content writing. Add a good dash of creativity, know what your audience expects and they will love your content.

Author Bio:

Peter Hill is one of the best essay writers online named Best Essays. He is a socially active person, likes traveling and photo/video editing. In his free time, he finds himself in custom writing. You can find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Integrated PhD — an educational program that combines the levels of graduate and postgraduate studies in one educational track. The goal of the program is to prepare young researchers focused on careers in science, as well as employees for the R&D departments of companies engaged in high-tech industries. The training will be held in three relevant scientific areas: “Biomaterials”, “Additive technologies for the manufacturing industry” and “Quantum materials science”. Among the partners of the IPhD program NUST MISIS: the N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Centre of oncology, N.F. Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Oxford, University of Southampton, Technical University of Dortmund, etc.

The Integrated PhD (IPhD) program allows to bring the training of young scientists to a qualitatively new level: in fact, the student begins to prepare for his PhD work, while still studying for a master’s degree.

The main feature of IPhD is that the educational component is not divided from the scientific one: the scientific and educational track is formed individually for each student in accordance with his scientific scope. The program provides both an in-depth study of specialized scientific topics, and the breadth of knowledge that a modern scientist needs.

Training within the framework of the NUST MISIS Integrated PhD program will be carried out in three topical scientific areas: “Biomaterials”, “Additive technologies for the manufacturing industry” and “Quantum materials science”. Education is designed for 5 years: 2 years of study on a Master’s level and 3 — on a PhD level.

Alevtina Chernikova, Rector of NUST MISIS:

“Increasing the share of young promising researchers under the age of 35 by 25% by 2024 is one of the tasks, which the national higher educational institutions face today as part of the federal project ‘Development of human resources in research and development’. For several years NUST MISIS has been implementing a set of programs aimed at creating an integrated system for training scientific personnel, which include creating a modern research infrastructure, holding competitions for PostDocs, attracting young scientists to implement joint research and development projects with business, etc. The new Integrated PhD program, designed specifically to train young researchers, will be another step in this direction”.

Training in all three areas is based on an interdisciplinary approach, the foundation of which will be materials science. NUST MISIS is the leading university in this subject area in Russia, ranking in the 101+ group among the best universities in the world (according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject-2019).

Academic and business partners of the university take part in the program, including the world’s best scientific and educational centers and leading corporations: N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Centre of oncology, N.F. Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Technical University of Dortmund (Germany), Oxford University (United Kingdom), University of Leiden (Netherlands), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), Turin Polytechnic University (Italy), University of Southampton (United Kingdom), as well as the Konmet Company, Scientific-Technical Center “Technologies of special metallurgy ”, LLC “Biomimetiks” and others.

A wide range of partners is an opportunity for students of the Integrated PhD program to be trained at the best foreign universities, to take part in international scientific conferences, to solve project and research cases based on real manufacturing challenges from business partners.

The first recruitment to the Integrated PhD program will begin with the start of the admission campaign — June 20, 2019. However, you can communicate with potential scientific advisors, learn about the opportunities and features of studies and apply for the program now by filling out the form on the university website.

Publishing expert, consultant, and chemist with 7+ years of experience in the academic publishing industry

April 30, 2019 08:30 – 09:30 AM (EDT)

Register now:

https://www.enago.com/academy/how-e-learning-can-help-in-publishing-your-research/

The research article is published in Sensors.

The uniqueness of the developed sensors is the use of lithium niobate single-crystal, which does not contain lead (in contrast to the PZT ceramics used today by manufacturers of such sensors), Ilya Kubasov, researcher at NUST MISIS Department of Materials Science of Semiconductors and Dielectrics, said.

According to him, this will allow manufacturers operating in the European market to comply with the EU RoHS Directive, which postulates the gradual abandonment of lead.

“Vibration sensors can be used in devices for diagnosing the condition of buildings and bridges, as they allow detecting any dangerous vibrations in time, take measures and evacuate people. They can also be used in spacecraft and security systems, as they allow strengthening control over the territory with limited access or the state border,” Ilya Kubasov said.

Operation principles of vibration sensors are based on the piezoelectric effect: the piezoelectric element deforms under vibration excitation and sends an electric signal, which is then processed and analyzed by special equipment.

So far, sensor manufacturers faced a number of problems related the use of a piezoelectric element based on lead zirconate-titanate (PZT), which loses sensitivity when the temperature regime is changed. Now these problems can be solved, because lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) is a single-crystal material, that is, it does not contain small grains, like PZT ceramics, and its properties are stable in a very wide temperature range.

“Scientists from NUST MISIS Department of Materials Science of Semiconductors and Dielectrics, led by Head of the Department, ScD, Professor Yuriy Parkhomenko, developed and patented the process of obtaining the new material for highly sensitive sensors. In the future, these developments will allow to switch to more accurate and stable methods of measuring dangerous vibrations for the diagnosis of the state of urban and industrial facilities”, NUST MISIS Rector, Alevtina Chernikova, comments.

Lithium niobate has been known since the middle of the 20th century and is widely used for laser optics. However, few research groups have tried it in vibration sensors because of its rather weak piezoelectric properties (about 10 times worse than PZT). NUST MISIS scientists managed to increase the sensitivity of lithium niobate to external vibrations via the formation of so-called “bidomain structure”.

“Using heat treatment, we change the properties of the crystal so that the upper half of the plate reflects the lower half. External vibration summs the signals from these halves (they are called ferroelectric domains) up, and the sensitivity of the sensor increases significantly,” Ilya Kubasov explained.

The process of obtaining bidomain crystals is developed at NUST MISIS Department of Materials Science of Semiconductors and Dielectrics and patented. According to scientists, the cost of their production is not much higher than that of PZT.

The development of a new type of sensors based on single-crystal piezoelectric transducers will reduce the minimum acceleration detected by such devices to 10^-7 g (one ten-millionth of the gravity acceleration), as well as significantly expand the operating temperature range.

NUST MISiS

http://en.misis.ru/university/news/science/2019-02/5997/

22.03.2019, 13.00 -16.00

Marine Melkonyan, Yulia Krasilnikova, NCP for Research Infrastructures, NUST MISIS