Scientists from Tomsk took part in United Scientific Councils of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

In Novosibirsk, meetings of 11 United Scientific Councils of SB RAS took place. Anatoly Maznoy – Deputy Director for Science at Tomsk Scientific Center of SB RAS – spoke at the USC on physical sciences, presenting a report on the modification of powder and granular materials by applying a rare-earth metal (REM) coatings. This implementation-ready result was achieved through successful collaboration of several scientific divisions of the Tomsk Scientific Center.

“This innovation originated in the Department of Structural Macrokinetics, where we – while working on self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) of porous intermetallic cylindrical parts used as infrared burners – discovered that such burners oxidize rather quickly at high temperatures. We hypothesized that doping the base alloy with just 0.05 atomic percent of rare-earth elements like dysprosium, yttrium, or hafnium could solve this issue. As the literature suggests, even such a small addition can substantially extend the lifespan of the alloy under high-temperature oxidation conditions," – explained Anatoly Maznoy.

The challenging part was to introduce such a small addition into the alloy. SHS is a powder technology, so scientists at Tomsk Scientific Center proposed an effective method for creating powder materials containing rare-earth elements.

"We came up with an idea: we take one of the powders we use, such as aluminum or chromium, and apply a thin rare-earth metal film to its surface to make a surface alloy. This would produce what is referred to as master alloy powder. Using master alloy powders ensured uniform microalloying and final products of higher quality. The use of such powders significantly increased the durability of the alloys developed at Tomsk Scientific Center, which are the basis for porous burners used in various fields," – continued Anatoly Sergeyevich.

In cooperation with the Laboratory of Advanced Technologies TSC SB RAS, a technology for applying thin films to non-magnetic metal powders was developed. All work was conducted using the "RITM-SP" electron beam machine for material surface engineering, developed by the Institute of High Current Electronics of SB RAS and the innovative company "Microsplav".

To ensure uniform processing and application of the powders, scientists developed a special manipulator that provided continuous movement of powder particles and fine-tuned the operational modes of the device. The coating of rare-earth elements was applied using the magnetron sputtering method, resulting in particles with a core-shell structure. Low-energy high-current electron beam treatment of these powders demonstrated the possibility of creating a surface alloy on the particles.

Provided there’s feedback from industrial partners, scientists at TSC SB RAS are ready to scale up this technology to produce several kilograms of master alloy powders in a single vacuum cycle using the "RITM-SP" installation.

At the USC on physical sciences chaired by Academician Nikolai Ratahin, Andrey Solovyov – head of the Laboratory of Applied Electronics at the Institute of High Current Electronics SB RAS - reported on "Vacuum installation for ion-plasma deposition of electrolyte for solid oxide fuel cells," and Igor Razenkov, senior researcher at the Laboratory of Wave Propagation at the Institute of Atmospheric Optics SB RAS, spoke about an airborne lidar system for the on-the-fly detection of clear air turbulence.

At the USC on chemical sciences, Alexander Vosmerikov – director of the Institute of Chemistry of the SB RAS – reviewed past year s achievements. At the USC of SB RAS on power industry, machine building, mechanics and control processes, Evgeny Kolubaev – director of the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science SB RAS, presented a report titled "Friction stir welding: fundamental research and industrial application".