Quasicrystal Surfaces

Studies of ordered, yet nonperiodic, metallic alloys known as quasicrystals have generated exciting questions and fundamental insights about the relationship between surface atomic structure and surface properties. In this review, I give examples from oxidation, friction, heterogeneous catalysis, and solid film growth, in which the Al-rich quasicrystals exhibit unusual properties, relative to crystalline materials of similar composition.