We report a new three-step mechanism for the formation and growth of carbonaceous spheres by hydrothermal carbonization of saccharides using sucrose as a precursor material. Carbonaceous spheres with small diameters and narrow size distribution were synthesized via a rapid heating route, and a notable phenomenon of a sudden drop in the mean diameter of the carbonaceous spheres at low concentration with the extension of time was observed. The morphology, chemical structure of carbonaceous spheres and the chemical composition of residual solutions were analysed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and solution ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) respectively. Based on these results, evolution of solid products is clearly revealed. The formation contains two stages, and oversaturation of primary particles attributed to autocatalysis of fructose by the yielded acid (formic acid) results in the appearance of large amounts of carbonaceous spheres in the second stage of formation, which accounts for the sudden drop in mean diameter.

The properties of a material are sensitive to chemically-ordered structure in multi-element alloys. Understanding the effects of chemical short-range order (SRO) on magnetic and mechanical properties is important. In this work, we use the Monte Carlo method in combination with density functional theory to investigate atomic nearest neighbor distribution, magnetic moment and elastic modulus in FeCoNi (AlSi)_x alloys. It is found that the prominent feature of the FeCoNi (AlSi)_x alloys is the change of SRO parameters: the SRO parameters are positive between Al-Al, Al-Si, Si-Si pairs and negative between Ni-Al, Co-Si, Fe-Co, Ni-Si and Fe-Si pairs. The Al and Si elements tend to bond with Fe, Co, Ni elements to form an SRO structure. The change of the atomic nearest neighbor environment leads to a reduction in the atomic magnetic moments of magnetic elements. The calculated saturation magnetizations by considering the effect of SRO are in good accord with the experimental values. We further show that SRO leads to an increase of the elastic modulus, by sacrificing ductility and isotropy. In the study of the structure and properties of high entropy alloys, the effect of SRO should not be ignored.