| Posted: February 4, 2009 |
Super strong nanometals - a Chinese-Danish success |
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(Nanowerk News) Research shows that it is possible to produce copper about 4 times stronger than commercial material – and doing so while also having a ductile material. As the thermal and electrical conductivity are also good, the manufacturing of, for example, electrical conductors with improved mechanical properties looks promising (
Revealing the Maximum Strength in Nanotwinned Copper).
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The strength of metal depends on the microstructure – the finer the structure the stronger the metal. But one may wonder if this fundamental principle also applies to extremely fine structures?
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Materials scientists worldwide have taken up this challenge and now a Chinese-Danish research collaboration has lead to a break-through in the understanding. The results are scientifically important, but also of interest to technology.
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As expected, the strength of copper material increases when the structure becomes finer but when the structure dimension becomes smaller than 15 nanometers (1 nm = 10-6 mm) the metal unexpectedly becomes softer. The physical processes giving rise to this unusual softening have also been identified based on electron microscopy studies of the structure.
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Super strong nanometals are perfect for continuation of the research collaboration between China and Denmark and their exploitation in practical applications are indeed promising.
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