Organic food is seen as a less harmful alternative to conventional products, both in terms of personal benefits as well as environmental benefits. Therefore, because health became a major concern ...during the COVID-19 pandemic, green consumption was one of the alternatives through which people tried to take care of their health. Changes also occurred in the organizations involved in the organic food market, these being forced to adapt to the new market context. This paper aims to highlight the most relevant characteristics of the organic food market in Romania, in the context of the Covid pandemic, from the perspective of the supply chain participants. The research method used was the in-depth individual interview, conducted among specialists from organic certified companies. The research was conducted among producers, processors, distributors and retailers, to provide an integrative view on the researched topic. The results showed that the growing interest of consumers in recent years in leaning towards organic food has been accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This trend was intensified by the "democratization" of organic products observed among general retailers, which determined the gap between the prices of organic food and similar conventional alternatives to be smaller. However, the Romanian organic food market is still a niche, characterized by a low level of education among consumers regarding green consumption and by the lack of involvement of institutions empowered in the development of this market. These realities also lead to a small number of organic certified processors, which is reflected in the significantly limited number of locally packaged organic products. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a significant and unexpected impetus, sustained efforts must still be made by stakeholders to develop this market segment.
Marketing communication for green brands and products should not be seen exclusively as a means to attract and impress consumers with the most beautiful and spectacular green messages. All messages ...communicated to the public must have a solid foundation, which most of the time can be represented by the attributes of the green product or by its benefits for the environment, community and for the current and future generations of consumers. In this regard, marketing communication, as part of the green marketing strategy, faces several challenges. On the one hand, green communication has the role of educating and informing the public about the specific benefits of green products in order to determine the public to adopt a pro-ecological behavior. On the other hand, the communication approaches must respond to the exigencies of the green field, in order to avoid the social and ecological criticisms, as well as the categorizing of the organization’s actions as part of the greenwashing phenomenon. Therefore, the purpose of this theoretical paper is to identify the typology of green marketing communication strategies. The paper is based on secondary data sources, namely the literature on green marketing communication, focusing on specific communication strategies. This study reviews and synthesizes 39 relevant articles related to the researched subject, which have been identified in academic databases. In literature have been identified five defining criteria for communication strategies, along with specific strategic alternatives. We note the need to continue the research in this field, in order to develop other strategic alternatives that respond to the specific problems of this market and that offer the opportunity for green brands to position themselves effectively.
β-stabilized Ti-alloys present several unexplored and intriguing surprises in relation to orthorhombic α″ phases. Among them are (i) the diffusion-controlled formation of transitional α″
, α″
and α″
...phases and ii) the highly anisotropic thermal expansion of martensitic α″. Using the prototypical Ti-Nb system, we demonstrate that the thermodynamic energy landscape reveals formation pathways for the diffusional forms of α″ and may lead to a stable β-phase miscibility gap. In this way, we derive temperature-composition criteria for the occurrence of α″
and resolve reaction sequences during thermal cycling. Moreover, we show that the thermal expansion anisotropy of martensitic α″ gives rise to directions of zero thermal strain depending on Nb content. Utilizing this knowledge, we propose processing routes to achieve null linear expansion in α″ containing Ti-alloys. These concepts are expected to be transferable to other Ti-alloys and offer new avenues for their tailoring and technological exploitation.
The large plasticity observed in newly developed monolithic bulk metallic glasses under quasi-static compression raises a question about the contribution of atomic scale effects. Here, nanocrystals ...on the order of 1-1.5 nm in size are observed within an Fe-based bulk metallic glass using aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The accumulation of nanocrystals is linked to the presence of hard and soft zones, which is connected to the micro-scale hardness and elastic modulus confirmed by nanoindentation. Furthermore, we performed systematic simulations of HRTEM images at varying sample thicknesses, and established a theoretical model for the estimation of the shear transformation zone size. The findings suggest that the main mechanism behind the formation of softer regions are the homogenously dispersed nanocrystals, which are responsible for the start and stop mechanism of shear transformation zones and hence, play a key role in the enhancement of mechanical properties.
The Invar effect is universally observed in Fe-based bulk metallic glasses. However, there is limited understanding on how this effect manifests at the atomic scale. Here, we use in-situ ...synchrotron-based high-energy X-ray diffraction to study the structural transformations of (Fe
B
Y
)
Nb
and (Fe
B
Y
)
Mo
bulk metallic glasses around the Curie temperature to understand the Invar effect they exhibit. The first two diffraction peaks shift in accordance with the macroscopically measured thermal expansion, which reveals the Invar effect. Additionally, the nearest-neighbor Fe-Fe pair distance correlates well with the macroscopic thermal expansion. In-situ X-ray diffraction is thus able to elucidate the Invar effect in Fe-based metallic glasses at the atomic scale. Here, we find that the Invar effect is not just a macroscopic effect but has a clear atomistic equivalent in the average Fe-Fe pair distance and also shows itself in higher-order atomic shells composed of multiple atom species.
Metallic glasses and their descendants, the so-called bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), can be regarded as frozen liquids with a high resistance to crystallization. The lack of a conventional structure ...turns them into a material exhibiting near-theoretical strength, low Young's modulus and large elasticity. These unique mechanical properties can be only obtained when the metallic melts are rapidly cooled to bypass the nucleation and growth of crystals. Most of the commonly known and used processing routes, such as casting, melt spinning or gas atomization, have intrinsic limitations regarding the complexity and dimensions of the geometries. Here, it is shown that selective laser melting (SLM), which is usually used to process conventional metallic alloys and polymers, can be applied to implement complex geometries and components from an Fe-base metallic glass. This approach is in principle viable for a large variety of metallic alloys and paves the way for the novel synthesis of materials and the development of parts with advanced functional and structural properties without limitations in size and intricacy.
Ti-alloys represent the principal structural materials in both aerospace development and metallic biomaterials. Key to optimizing their mechanical and functional behaviour is in-depth know-how of ...their phases and the complex interplay of diffusive vs. displacive phase transformations to permit the tailoring of intricate microstructures across a wide spectrum of configurations. Here, we report on structural changes and phase transformations of Ti-Nb alloys during heating by in situ synchrotron diffraction. These materials exhibit anisotropic thermal expansion yielding some of the largest linear expansion coefficients (+ 163.9×10
to -95.1×10
°C
) ever reported. Moreover, we describe two pathways leading to the precipitation of the α-phase mediated by diffusion-based orthorhombic structures, α″
and α″
. Via coupling the lattice parameters to composition both phases evolve into α through rejection of Nb. These findings have the potential to promote new microstructural design approaches for Ti-Nb alloys and β-stabilized Ti-alloys in general.
Soft magnetic Fe-based bulk metallic glass cylindrical specimens with a diameter of 2mm and height of 6mm have been successfully fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) and the effect of scan ...speed v and laser power P on the microstructure, thermal stability and soft magnetic properties has been investigated. The results indicate that low v and high P lead to the formation of SLM samples with high relative densities, which can reach values of about 99.7%. This can be ascribed to the optimal energy transfer during processing at low v and high P. Structural and calorimetric studies prove that the SLM samples are fully amorphous. In addition, magnetic measurements reveal that the amorphous structure of the SLM material is identical to the parent atomized powders. Although additional work is required to remove the residual porosity and to avoid the formation of cracks during processing, the present results confirm that additive manufacturing by SLM represents an alternative processing route for the preparation of bulk metallic glass components with designed geometry having excellent magnetic softness.
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•Successful synthesis of 3-dimensional fully glassy components using SLM•Components have same thermal and intrinsic magnetic properties as parent powders.•Relative densities of the SLM samples reach values of about 99.7%.
Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) with its fast, precise, non-destructive and non-contact nature, working both ex situ and in situ, is the ideal characterization tool for thin films in terms of ...optical, struactural and electrical information obtained over wide application domains. The review aims to prove the versatility of such a powerful technique, starting with the basic knowledge of the ellipsometry, extending the application field from UV–vis-NIR to VUV and IR domains, and then advancing to the analyses of porosity, anisotropy, surface mapping and bowing parameter. The examples shown in this review illustrate the complementarity of ellipsometry with other characterization techniques, highlighting the sensitivity and the quality of the results especially in the domain of the sol–gel films.
Spectroscopic ellipsometry: all-in-one technique for a variety of material characteristics.
Highlights
Versatility of the ellipsometry is illustrated on sol–gel films.
SE, all-in-one technique, for the study of a variety of material characteristics.
Possibility to obtain optical constants on a large spectral range (0.193–33 μm) is shown.
Suitability of SE for anisotropy, porosity, vibrational, mapping, and bowing parameter analysis is presented.
Detailed complementary information is obtained combining SE with other characterization methods.
Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are high-strength, highly elastic materials due to their disordered atomic structure. Because BMGs require sufficiently high cooling rates to bypass crystallization, ...laser-based additive manufacturing (AM) methods have recently been employed for the fabrication of BMGs. In this study, we present an optimized Laser Powder-Bed Fusion (LPBF) process on a Zr-based BMG (Zr59.3Cu28.8Al10.4Nb1.5, in at.%), with a focus on characterization, mechanical properties, and dimensional accuracy. A volumetric density of 99.82% was achieved. Although the sample was qualified as amorphous via laboratory X-ray diffraction experiments, a more meticulous study using synchrotron radiation revealed nanocrystals in the heat-affected zones (HAZs) of the melt pool. Fast differential scanning calorimetry (FDSC) and numerical simulations were then employed to illustrate the mechanism of crystallization. The LPBF-processed alloy revealed excellent mechanical properties, such as high hardness, wear resistance, compressive strength, and flexural strength. Apart from vein-like patterns, the fracture surfaces of the compression test samples showed liquid-like features, which indicate a significant local temperature increase during fracture. The dimensional accuracy was assessed with a benchmark exhibiting complex geometrical features and reached at least 40 μm. The results indicate that LPBF processing is a promising route for the manufacturing of BMGs for various applications.
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•Advanced characterization is required to detect nanocrystals formed during the Laser powder-bed fusion process•Results of finite element simulation and fast differential scanning calorimetry unveil the mechanism of crystallization•Despite the presence of nanocrystals in the Zr-based BMG, excellent mechanical properties are achieved•Using optimized parameters, a benchmark with complex features is fabricated with excellent geometrical accuracy
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