Phase transitions and nucleation mechanisms in metals studied by nanocalorimetry: A review

Nanocalorimetry is profound in studying phase transitions in metallic materials for its ultrafast scanning rates and ultrahigh sensitivity compared with conventional calorimetric methods. This review illustrates recent findings in phase transitions and nucleation in metals employing nanocalorimetry. The melting behavior of nanoparticles was summarized. Furthermore, the glass transition, crystallization and martensite-austenite transformation were reviewed. Attributing to the ultrahigh sensitivity, small thermal changes in the solid reaction of the thin films were possible to be captured, which helped to understand its transformation mechanism. In rapid cooling processes, the nucleation of thin films and single droplets was conducted under controllable conditions, and the undercooling evolution was quantitatively investigated with different nucleation models. Moreover, the internal structures of samples after nanocalorimetric measurements were characterized using different methods. In summary, nanocalorimetry opens up a new field to reveal phase transitions in metallic samples, making it possible to compare the theoretical estimates and experimental results. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.