Dual-phase nano-glass-hydrides overcome the strength-ductility trade-off and magnetocaloric bottlenecks of rare earth based amorphous alloys.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38755225.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-48531-7 and PMC identifier 11099109.
- 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
Metal-hydrogen systems have attracted intense interest for diverse energy-related applications. However, metals usually reduce their ductility after hydrogenation. Here, we show that hydrogen can take the form of nano-sized ordered hydrides (NOH) homogeneously dispersed in a stable glassy shell, leading to remarkable enhancement in both strength and ductility. The yield strength is enhanced by 44% and the plastic strain is substantially improved from almost zero to over 70%, which is attributed to the created NOH and their interplay with the glassy shell. Moreover, the hydride-glass composite GdCoAlH possesses a giant magnetic entropy change (-ΔS<sub>M</sub>) of 18.7 J kg<sup>-1</sup>K<sup>-1</sup> under a field change of 5 T, which is 105.5% larger than the hydrogen-free sample and is the largest value among amorphous alloys and related composites. The prominent ΔS<sub>M</sub>-ductility combination overcomes the bottlenecks of amorphous alloys as magnetic refrigerants. These results provide a promising strategy for property breakthrough of structural-functional alloys.