\n\tThe Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, announce that their researchers have demonstrated for the first time the phenomena of shape memory and self-healing in gold microparticles. Achieved through defects-mediated diffusion in the particle, the discovery could one day lead to development of micro- and nano-robots capable of self-repair; mechanically stable and damage-tolerant components and devices; and targeted drug delivery.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe study, published in the journal Advanced Science<\/em>, was conducted by doctoral student Oleg Kovalenko and Dr. Leonid Klinger, led by Prof. Eugen Rabkin of the Technion Department of Materials Science and Engineering, together with Dr. Christian Brandl of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).<\/p>\n \n\tThis is the first time the phenomenon of shape memory has been demonstrated in sub-micrometer particles of gold. The researchers indented the gold particles with a sharp diamond tip controlled by an atomic force microscope (AFM). Annealing of the indented particles at a temperature of 600\u00b0C (about 65% of the absolute melting temperature of gold) resulted in full healing of the damage and recovery of the particles’ original shape prior to deformation.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to Prof. Rabkin, the discovery of the shape memory effect in these particles is surprising for two reasons: “First, the particles’ original shape was not perfect in terms of energy and thermodynamic equilibrium. Second, gold in its solid state is not characterized by polymorphism.”<\/p>\n \n\tThe transformation of the austenite phase to the martensite can be activated by applying mechanical load to the material, or by cooling it down. The low-symmetry structure of the martensite allows the material to absorb considerable plastic strain by re-orienting the distorted crystals of martensite according to the direction of the stress applied to it. Even after plastic deformation, the martensite crystals “remember” their parent austenite phase and are capable of restoring it in its original configuration. This will happen if the material is heated up, causing the reverse martensite-austenite phase transformation and transforming the thermal energy into mechanical energy that will restore the material to its original shape.<\/p>\n \n\tUntil now, this shape memory effect has only been observed in very few metal alloys, such as Nitinol. These alloys are characterized by polymorphism \u2013 multiplicity of possible stable crystalline phases.<\/p>\n