Bamboo-like dual-phase nanostructured copper composite strengthened by amorphous boron framework.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37563103.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-40580-8 and PMC identifier 10415290.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Grain boundary engineering is a versatile tool for strengthening materials by tuning the composition and bonding structure at the interface of neighboring crystallites, and this method holds special significance for materials composed of small nanograins where the ultimate strength is dominated by grain boundary instead of dislocation motion. Here, we report a large strengthening of a nanocolumnar copper film that comprises columnar nanograins embedded in a bamboo-like boron framework synthesized by magnetron sputtering co-deposition, reaching the high nanoindentation hardness of 10.8 GPa among copper alloys. The boron framework surrounding copper nanograins stabilizes and strengthens the nanocolumnar copper film under indentation, benefiting from the high strength of the amorphous boron framework and the constrained deformation of copper nanocolumns confined by the boron grain boundary. These findings open a new avenue for strengthening metals via construction of dual-phase nanocomposites comprising metal nanograins embedded in a strong and confining light-element grain boundary framework.