Metal aesthetics of metallic jewelry. Some metals have specialized uses; mercury is a liquid at room temperature and is used in switches to complete a circuit when it flows over the switch contacts. Radioactive metals such as uranium and plutonium are used in nuclear power plants to produce energy via nuclear fission. Shape memory alloys are used for applications such as pipes, fasteners and vascular stents. Metals can be doped with foreign molecules—organic, inorganic, biological and polymers. This doping entails the metal with new properties that are induced by the guest molecules. Applications in catalysis, medicine, electrochemical cells, corrosion and more
Metal-induced embrittlement a layer of embrittler that’s thick enough to be characterized as self-diffusion at the crack tip. In comparison, LMIE dominant mechanism is bulk liquid flow that penetrates at the tips of cracks. Studies have shown that Zn, Pb, Cd, Sn and In can embrittle steel at temperature below each embrittler’s melting point. Similar to liquid metal embrittlement (LME), solid metal-induced embrittlement results in a decrease in fracture strength of a material. In addition, a decrease in tensile ductility over a temperature range is indicative of metal-induced embrittlement. Although SMIE is greatest just below the embrittler’s melting temperature, the range over